WHAM (1180

kHz 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 on ...

) is a commercial clear channel AM

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 radio ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, United States. It is owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

and airs a news/talk

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. The studios and offices are at

Five Star Bank Plaza Five Star Bank Plaza is a high-rise building located in Rochester, New York, United States, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It is the sixth tallest building in Rochester and was originally built as Marine Midland Plaza. Site preparation w ...

in downtown Rochester. Its 50,000-

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non-directional

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, located in Chili, New York, operates the maximum power for commercial AM stations in the

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and

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. During the day, it provides at least secondary coverage to all of

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

, including Buffalo. It can also be heard in much of Southern Ontario, including

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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, and

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. At night, WHAM can be received across much of the Eastern United States and

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with a good radio. It is the

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's primary entry point station for Western New York.

Programming

WHAM carries two local newsblocks on weekdays: ''The WHAM Morning News'' and ''The WHAM 5 O'Clock Hour News''. Local talk shows are

Bob Lonsberry Bob Lonsberry (born July 18, 1959) is an American radio talk show host, columnist, author and conservative. He has been a newspaper reporter, columnist, photojournalist and editor, as well as a magazine writer and commentator on radio and televisio ...

and ''Talking Back with Shannon Joy''. The rest of the schedule is nationally syndicated talk shows, mostly from co-owned

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

: ''

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'' is an American radio program hosted by former Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis and former '' America Now/The Buck Sexton Show'' host Buck Sexton. It is broadcast on over 400 talk radio stations n ...

'', Sean Hannity and '' Coast to Coast AM'' with George Noory. In addition, WHAM carries Mark Levin from Westwood One and Joe Pags, who is based at co-owned WOAI in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. Weekend programming includes shows on money, health, home repair, cars, technology and law. Weekend hosts include

Bill Cunningham Bill Cunningham may refer to: People *Bill Cunningham (rugby union) (1874–1927), New Zealand rugby union player *Bill Cunningham (footballer), Irish international footballer active in the 1890s *Bill Cunningham (infielder) (1886–1946), profes ...

, computer expert Leo Laporte "The Tech Guy", and some brokered programming.

History

University of Rochester

The station first

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 . While not the first station to be licensed to the Rochester market (that distinction belongs to the defunct WHQ), it is the oldest surviving station in the area. The selection of the "WHAM" call letters came from a suggestion from industrialist George Eastman, the founder of the

Eastman Kodak Company The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

, based in Rochester. He helped the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

launch the station and thought the "WHAM" name would prove to be a clever marketing tool. Jim Barney helped the university get the station on the air.

Stromberg-Carlson

In 1927, WHAM was acquired by

Stromberg-Carlson Stromberg-Carlson was a telecommunications equipment and electronics manufacturing company in the United States. It was formed in 1894 as a partnership by Swedish immigrants Alfred Stromberg (1861 Varnhem, Sweden - 1913 Chicago) and Androv Ca ...

, a maker of radio and telecommunications equipment then based in Rochester. The company expanded the station's operations and boosted its signal to 5,000 watts shortly after the acquisition. It was relocated from 1080 to 1150

in the overall national reorganization of the AM radio band by the Federal Radio Commission in 1928. In 1933, WHAM was allowed to increase power to 25,000 watts. A ceremony marking the event included a three-hour broadcast from the Eastman Theatre with "a galaxy of stars" participating. It later got a boost to its current 50,000 watt level. In the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

(NARBA), the AM band was shuffled in March 1941. WHAM changed frequency once more to its current 1180 kHz.

Rochester Radio City

In February 1948, WHAM and its FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

, WHFM (now 98.9

WBZA WBZA (98.9 FM) is an adult hits station in Rochester, New York. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. (formerly Entercom Communications), who purchased the station from Sinclair Broadcasting in 1999. Before its current format, the station played oldies ...

), moved into a new facility, Rochester Radio City. The building included 24 offices and six studios, the largest of which could accommodate 400 people in the audience. WHAM has ties to two of the city's television stations. It put the city's first station on the air, WHAM-TV, in 1949. That station is now WROC-TV, the area's CBS affiliate. In 2005, the area's

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affiliate, WOKR, changed its

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to WHAM-TV. Clear Channel Communications (now known as

) bought the station in 2002 and sold its entire television group to

Newport Television Newport Television, LLC was a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. History In September 2007, Newport ag ...

(controlled by Providence Equity Partners) in 2007; the two stations still have a news partnership.

Controversy

WHAM radio host

has often been the source of controversy, due to his on-air remarks. He was fired from his show in 2003, but was later brought back due to boycotts by aggrieved fans. News articles were circulated about him comparing a derogatory racial reference to the term "Boomers" - a colloquial reference for people born during the

Baby Boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ca ...

. Lonsberry's show is also broadcast later in the day on co-owned WSYR

570 AM The following radio stations broadcast on the AM frequency of 570 kHz : 570 AM is a regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * Radio Argentina in Buenos Aires Brazil * ZYH-613 in Juaziero Norte * ZYH-614 in Itapipoca * ZYH-750 in Bariri * ...

and

106.9 FM The following radio stations broadcast on FM frequency 106.9 MHz: Argentina * Mix in Capitán Bermudez, Santa Fe Australia * Hill FM in Broken Hill, New South Wales * 4BNE in Brisbane, Queensland * 2XXX in Newcastle, New South Wales * 2UNE i ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

References

External links

WHAM 1180 home page
* *
FCC History Cards for WHAM
{{Authority control HAM Radio stations established in 1922 IHeartMedia radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States 1922 establishments in New York (state) Clear-channel radio stations Radio stations licensed before 1923 and still broadcasting