WWAC (1020 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, ...

, and serving the Atlantic City area of the Jersey Shore. It is owned by WIBG, LLC, and broadcasts a Spanish-language Contemporary Hits

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. WWAC is co-owned with WIBG-FM, an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

station licensed to

Avalon, New Jersey Avalon is a borough in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on Seven Mile Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the full-time borough population was 1,243, a decline of 91 from the 2010 census enumeration of 1,334,

. By day, WWAC is powered at 1,900

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, non-directional. WWAC's signal reaches from Toms River to

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...

. But 1020 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for 50,000 watt Class A KDKA

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. So at night, WWAC must go off the air to avoid interference. During

critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Se ...

, WWAC is powered at 680 watts. Programming is also heard on several

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

s around the clock: W267BP 101.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

in Pleasantville, W270DV 101.9 MHz in Palermo and W298DI 107.5 MHz in Port Norris.

History

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air on . The original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

was WSLT and the original frequency was 1520 kHz. The studios were on Asbury Avenue and the original owner was Salt-Tee Radio. The call letters were changed to WIBG in 1978 after the call sign went out of use in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The station broadcast with various formats over the years including middle of the road (MOR), Top 40,

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. In the early 1980s, WIBG lost the lease on its transmitter site in Somers Point and went off the air for a time. A replacement site in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are f ...

was eventually located. The station built a new tower site and returned to the air, changing its frequency to 1020 kHz in the process. The revived WIBG aired Spanish-language programming and tourist information before adopting a Christian radio format. On November 19, 2008, the then-WIBG joined

Radiolicious Radiolicious was an internet radio service created by MySimBook, based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Users were able to search and listen to terrestrial radio stations. While listening, users are offered the ability to send in song requests to DJs, e ...

and began streaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch. In October 2011, the station changed to a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

format. In May 2013, WIBG dropped its syndicated talk programs and began programming music on weekdays, with some local talk shows and religious broadcasts continuing to be broadcast on weekends, along with "Wibbage Gold" oldies. On June 3, 2013, the format changed to Spanish hits "En Vivo 1020". In January 2017, the station changed its moniker to "La Mega 101.3" and the call sign was switched to WWAC on April 7, 2021. The moniker refers to the dial position of WWAC's primary FM translator.

References

External links

WWAC official website

La Mega website
* * * * * * {{coord, 39, 13, 45, N, 74, 40, 53, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title WAC News and talk radio stations in the United States WAC WAC Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in New Jersey