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WLW (700 AM) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
news/talk 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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...
radio station
licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...
to
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. Owned by
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...
, WLW is a
clear-channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...
, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios are located in Sycamore Township (with a Cincinnati address). WLW operates with around the clock. The
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
site features a distinctive diamond-shaped
Blaw-Knox tower The Blaw-Knox company was an American manufacturer of steel structures and construction equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company is today best known for its radio towers, most of which were constructed during the 1930s in the Un ...
in nearby Mason. Its daytime signal is heard at city-grade strength as far as
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
;
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
; and
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, with secondary coverage as far as
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
and the outer suburbs of
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
and Detroit. At night, with a good radio, it can be heard in much of North America. WLW is a primary entry point station in the
Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a Emergency population warning, national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via Cable television, cable ...
for Southwest Ohio, Kentucky and Eastern Indiana. Besides its main
analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...
, its programming is simulcast on 99-watt
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 tr ...
W233BG on and on an HD
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
of co-owned
WKFS WKFS (107.1 FM, "Kiss 107.1") is a radio station in the Cincinnati, Ohio, market, licensed to nearby Milford. It broadcasts a gold-based Top 40 format and is owned by iHeartMedia. The WKFS studios are located in Kenwood Towne Centre, and th ...
. Launched by industrialist
Powel Crosley Jr. Powel Crosley Jr. (September 18, 1886 – March 28, 1961) was an American inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He was also a pioneer in radio broadcasting and owner of the Cincinnati Reds major league baseball team. In addition, Crosley's ...
, WLW became the flagship station of the
Crosley Broadcasting Corporation The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation was a radio and television broadcaster founded by radio manufacturing pioneer Powel Crosley Jr. It had a major influence in the early years of radio and television broadcasting, and helped the Voice of Americ ...
, later a part of
Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...
. One of four charter affiliates of the
Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...
, WLW holds the distinction of being the only AM radio station authorized by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) to broadcast with a power of , which happened in the 1930s.


Programming

WLW serves as the Cincinnati
network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...
for
ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
; the AM
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
for the
Cincinnati Reds Radio Network The Cincinnati Reds Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 69 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cincinnati Reds, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cincinnati station WLW (700&n ...
; a co-flagship station for the
Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network The Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network is an American radio network consisting of 37 radio stations which carry coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals, a professional American football, football team in the NFL. Three Cincinnati radio stations—WCKY ...
; and the home of radio personalities Mike McConnell, Rocky Boiman and Bill Cunningham. WLW has a 24-hour
local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...
department and is affiliated with
ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
. The station airs a nearly entirely locally produced talk format. Bill Cunningham hosts a weekday program, and WLW is the
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
for his ''Live on Sunday Night'', which is syndicated by
Premiere Networks Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It is th ...
. Other notable personalities on the station include morning host Mike McConnell, afternoon hosts Eddie Fingers and Rocky Boiman, and evening host Gary Jeff Walker. A one-hour version of ''America's Trucking Network'', hosted by Eric Boulanger (under the alias of "Bubba Bo"), aired at midnight until Boulanger's death in February 2023, followed by ''
Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...
'', the station's only weekday long-form syndicated offering. WLW is the flagship radio station for the
Cincinnati Reds Radio Network The Cincinnati Reds Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 69 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cincinnati Reds, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cincinnati station WLW (700&n ...
, and also airs
Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...
and
Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 19 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Mus ...
college games. WLW also serves as a co-flagship station for the
Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network The Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network is an American radio network consisting of 37 radio stations which carry coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals, a professional American football, football team in the NFL. Three Cincinnati radio stations—WCKY ...
alongside sister stations WCKY and
WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Net ...
, airing any games that do not conflict with Reds games. This is primarily to improve coverage of Bengals games at night when WCKY must readjust its signal to protect KFBK in
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
. The combined footprints of the two stations allow Bengals night games to be heard across almost all of North America. WLW also will air an
FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...
game, specifically their 2023
MLS Eastern Conference The Eastern Conference () is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Western Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with c ...
Final game against in-state rivals the
Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...
, on December 2, 2023.


History


Origin

WLW was the outgrowth of an interest in radio by
Powel Crosley Jr. Powel Crosley Jr. (September 18, 1886 – March 28, 1961) was an American inventor, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He was also a pioneer in radio broadcasting and owner of the Cincinnati Reds major league baseball team. In addition, Crosley's ...
, although information about his earliest activities is limited. Crosley recounted that his introduction to radio occurred on February 22, 1921, when he took his son to the local Precision Equipment Company store to investigate purchasing a receiver. He was shocked to find that a high-end receiver would cost (equivalent to $ in ), and after assembling his own receiver from parts, he realized that commercial mass production could be done at much lower prices. Starting with individual parts, then moving on to complete receivers, in the 1920s the Crosley Radio Corporation was a leading manufacturer of inexpensive sets, and Powel Crosley became known as "the Henry Ford of radio". Crosley was also an early experimenter with making radio transmissions. Most accounts say he began in July 1921, using a 20-watt set located in an upstairs billiard table room, repeatedly playing a phonograph record of " Song of India", while asking local amateur radio enthusiasts to call if they heard his signals. In 1921 the Crosley Manufacturing Company was issued two radio station licenses: one for a standard amateur station, 8CR, located at 5723 Davey Avenue, which was Crosley's College Hill home, and the other for an Experimental station, 8XAA, located at the company's Blue Rock Street factory building in Northside.


WLW

Initially there were no formal standards for radio stations making broadcasts for the general public, and a variety of stations, most operating under Experimental or Amateur station licenses, conducted broadcasts on a regular schedule. On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted the first regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports. The Precision Equipment Company was the first in Cincinnati to receive one of the new broadcasting station licenses, when its experimental station, 8XB, was relicensed as WMH on December 30, 1921. The Crosley Manufacturing Company also applied for one of the new licenses, which was granted on March 2, 1922, for operation on the 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength, and issued the randomly assigned call letters of WLW. WLW made its debut broadcast on March 23, 1922, beginning at 7:15 pm. Station studios and transmitter were located at the Blue Rock Street building. Although the transmitter power was a fairly modest , station publicity boldly predicted that although previously only the smaller type of sending apparatus has been employed in Cincinnati, The equipment of the Crosley Manufacturing Company is of such great power that the concert emanating from Cincinnati will be heard as far as a distant point in Canada; as far east as the Atlantic Ocean; west as far as the Rocky Mountains, and south to the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys, and possibly to ships in the Gulf of Mexico? and that This inaugural concert will put Cincinnati 'on the map' of the radio world. The single shared entertainment wavelength of 360 meters meant that stations within a given region had to make timesharing agreements to assign operating timeslots. On August 7, 1922, WLW's programs were scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 pm, while WMH's ran from 8:15 p.m. to 10:00 pm. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power increased to 500 watts in September 1922, and to 1,000 watts in May 1924. In 1923 Crosley bought the Precision Equipment Company, and in January shut down WMH's operations. Precision held the rights to use the valuable Armstrong regeneration patent, and was technically the surviving company in the merger, and was subsequently renamed the Crosley Radio Company. In May 1923 the Department of Commerce set aside a band of "Class B" frequencies reserved for stations that had quality equipment and programming, and the Cincinnati region was assigned exclusive use of 970 kHz. In the summer WLW began operating on this new frequency, sharing time with another Cincinnati station,
WSAI WSAI (1360 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwo ...
. In May 1924 a third Class B station was established in Cincinnati, WFBW (now WKRC), which the next month revived the WMH call letters. WLW was unhappy with having to split time with two other stations, so in June 1924 government regulators moved WLW to 710 kHz, sharing time with WBAV (now
WTVN WTVN (610 AM) – branded as "News Radio 610 WTVN" – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Columbus, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Columbus metro area. The WTVN studios area located in the McKinley Avenue ...
) in Columbus. At the Third National Radio Conference, held in October 1924, the
Radio Corporation of America RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
's (RCA) vice president and general manager,
David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...
, announced that his company planned to embark on the construction of a 50,000-watt station for New York City. At this time 1,000 watts was the maximum permitted, so this brought up fears by smaller stations that a group of powerful stations would monopolize the airwaves. However, Powel Crosley fully endorsed the idea, stating: "Our idea of the solution to the static problem is increase in power. We talk today of 5,000 watts being superpower, when we all know that five years from now certain broadcasting stations will be using from 50 to 200 kilowatts. When that day comes, there will be no more static." In late 1924 Western Electric began selling radio transmitters capable of operating at 5,000 watts, but the Commerce Department, wary of the high-powered sets overwhelming local receivers, did not immediately allow stations to use the full power. Instead stations could start operating with up to 1,500 watts, then, only if approved by the region's Radio Supervisor, increase powers in successive 500-watt steps, while ensuring that it was not causing excessive interference. WLW ordered one of the 5,000-watt-capable Western Electric transmitters, originally hoping to have it in operation by the end of December. In addition, a new remote transmitter site was constructed at Harrison, Ohio, located away from the city to limit the possibility of the station's signals overwhelming local receivers. On January 27, 1925, WLW began using its 5,000-watt-capable transmitter, although not yet at full power. The Commerce Department's cautious approach toward power increases was based on the assumption that station transmitters were located in heavily populated areas. However, in May 1925 it recognized that WLW's Harrison and WSAI's Mason, Ohio transmitter sites were both far enough from population centers that they could immediately begin operating as the first two stations in the nation transmitting with the full 5,000 watts. A ''Cincinnati Post'' writer investigated the effect of WSAI and WLW's May 11 introduction of the use of 5,000 watts, and found that despite claims that their "superpower broadcasting" would eliminate static within 500 miles, it was only "a start in the right direction". Listeners reported that the stations now sounded about twice as strong, and also noted that KDKA in Pittsburgh's 10,000 watts was even better. Shortly after WLW began operating with 5,000 watts, the major radio manufacturers began work on producing more powerful transmitters. Development was led by
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
, and in July 1925 that company's WGY in Schenectady, New York began conducting tests of a 50,000-watt transmitter, which began regular usage later that year.


"The Nation's Station"

By the summer of 1928, in addition to WGY, WEAF (now
WFAN WFAN may refer to: * WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...
) in New York City and KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were also broadcasting with 50,000 watts, and WLW was making plans to join them. In May Crosley purchased WSAI, and began to consolidate the two station's operations. This included WLW moving its transmitter site from Harrison to sharing WSAI's facility at Mason. There is where WLW's 50,000-watt Western Electric transmitter would be installed, with its completion initially hoped to be by September. It was actually October 29, 1928, when WLW became the fourth member of the select group of U.S. stations operating with 50,000 watts. However, at the dedication ceremonies the station proclaimed that, because WLW was more centrally located than the other 50,000 watt stations, it was "America's ''first'' really national Broadcasting station", with a signal that "cut through static like a knife". In early 1929 Crosley company advertising began referring to WLW using the slogan "The Nation's Station". The station even branched out into international service, including a weekly program in Spanish which was intended for listeners in Cuba. In 1926, there had been a temporary suspension of government regulation of radio due to a court ruling that the Commerce Department had overstepped its legal authority. This eventually resulted in the formation of the
Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
(FRC), which as part of its re-establishment of control moved WLW to 700 kHz in June 1927, the frequency on which it has operated ever since. In November 1928, under the provisions of the FRC's
General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
, 700 kHz was one of 40 frequencies designated as "clear channels", and WLW was assigned exclusive use of this frequency within the United States and Canada. At 50 kilowatts, WLW was heard easily over a wide area from New York to Florida, but Crosley still was not satisfied. In early 1933, it was announced that RCA had been awarded a contract to oversee the construction of a 500,000-watt transmitter, "the largest broadcasting transmitter in the world", although initially it would only be operated during the hours of 1 to 6 am.


500,000-watt "superpower" operation

Crosley obtained a construction permit from the
Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
(FRC) for the addition of a 500-kilowatt transmitter amplifier at the Mason complex, and spent some $500,000 ($ in ) constructing the equipment and facilities for the new amplifier and installation of an tall antenna. In January 1934, WLW began broadcasting with 500,000 watts after midnight under the experimental call sign W8XO. In April 1934 the station was authorized to operate at 500,000 watts during regular hours using the WLW call letters. On May 2, 1934, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
ceremonially pressed the same golden telegraph key that Wilson had used to open the Panama Canal, officially launching WLW's 500-kilowatt signal. As the first station in the world to broadcast at this strength, WLW received numerous complaints from around the United States and Canada that it was interfering with other stations, most notably from
CFRB CFRB (1010 AM) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. One of the oldes ...
, then on 690 kHz, in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. In December 1934, WLW was instructed to cut back to 50 kilowatts at night until it had eliminated the interference. The station began construction of two shorter towers southwest from the main tower to create a directional antenna, which successfully reduced the signal broadcast towards Canada. With these antenna towers in place, full-time broadcasting at 500 kilowatts resumed in early 1935. However, WLW was continuing to operate under special temporary authority that had to be renewed every six months; each renewal brought complaints about interference, and undue domination of the market by the high-powered station. In September 1934, WLW was one of the founding members of the
Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...
, although it withdrew as a primary participant and became a regular affiliate two years later. The station found that with its tremendous signal it could independently compete with the national radio networks, with a rate card comparable to what the major networks charged. One result was that by 1936 there was increasing pressure on the FCC to start allowing additional clear channel stations to operate with 500,000 watts, and in October there were a reported 14 outstanding applicants to join the "superpower" ranks. In 1928 the FRC's
General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
had established the basic structure of the AM broadcast band in the United States, grouping transmitting frequencies into three major categories: "local", limited to 100 watts, "regional", with up to 1,000 watts, and "clear", with an unspecified limit that was generally capped at 50,000 watts the next month by General Order 42. Over time the maximum daytime powers were increased to 250 watts for local stations, and 5,000 watts for regional ones. In June 1938 the FCC held a series of hearings on the future of the AM band, including power levels. An important factor in their deliberations was the " Wheeler resolution". On June 13, 1938, the U.S. Senate adopted resolution 294, sponsored by Burton K. Wheeler (D-Montana), which stated that it was the "sense of the Senate... that the Federal Communications Commission should not adopt or promulgate rules to permit or otherwise allow any station operating on a frequency in the standard broadcast band (550 to 1600 kilocycles) to operate on a regular or other basis with power in excess of 50 kilowatts". Wheeler, an avid anti-monopolist who wanted to protect the smaller stations, was also concerned that domination of the airwaves by high-powered stations could lead to a dictator like Mussolini, Hitler or Stalin, who had each used control of radio to support their rise to power. This resolution, unlike a law, was not binding on the FCC; however it was seen as having an important influence on the outcome of its hearings. In early 1939 the FCC announced its new regulations, which narrowed the differences between low and high-powered stations. Local stations could now use up to 250 watts at night, and regional 5,000 watts. On the other hand, in language that largely echoed the financial arguments of the Wheeler resolution, clear channel stations were still limited to 50,000 watts, and WLW's temporary authorization to use 500,000 watts, except experimentally during early morning hours, was terminated.


Return to 50,000 watts

Beginning in 1939, WLW used the overnight hours to transmit READO
radiofax Radiofacsimile, radiofax or HF fax is an analogue mode for transmitting grayscale images via high frequency (HF) radio waves. It was the predecessor to slow-scan television (SSTV). It was the primary method of sending photographs from remote sit ...
newspapers. However, the system was unable to compete with standard newspaper delivery, and was shut down a few years later. On March 1, 1939, WLW resumed operations at 50,000 watts. The station had unsuccessfully attempted to reverse the decision in the courts, and now had to shut down the huge amplifiers, except for brief, experimental night periods as W8XO."WLW's Big-arse Transmitter"
(ominous-valve.com)
Because of the impending war, and the possible need for national broadcasting in an emergency, the W8XO experimental license for 500 kilowatts remained in effect until December 29, 1942. In the 1930s, WLW occupied the entire 48th floor of
Carew Tower Carew Tower is a 49- story, Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1931 in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The second-tallest building in the city, it was Cincinnati's tallest from 1930 until 2011, when it was surpassed by Great American To ...
. In 1942, the station moved its studios into the Crosley Square building, a converted
Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...
Lodge No. 5 in downtown Cincinnati. WLW's sister television station,
WLWT WLWT (channel 5) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Young Street, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, both in th ...
(then branded WLW-T), was founded in the same building. In 1955, WLW and WLWT became the first radio and television station to own a
weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...
. A major promotion of the station in the 1940s was the Boone County Jamboree. A 1942 advertisement in the trade publication ''Billboard'' noted: "WLW Boone County Jamboree acts played to 169,406 persons, July 4 to October 4. An all time record of 63 bookings in seven States. New attendance records established at 14 events.". The Jamboree featured a number of country music performers who later became iconic and a few who entered the
Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
. Among these were
Grandpa Jones Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and Old-time music, old time/country music, country music singer. He was inducted as a member of the Country Musi ...
,
Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of Ameri ...
and
The Delmore Brothers Alton Delmore (December 25, 1908 – June 9, 1964) and Rabon Delmore (December 3, 1916 – December 4, 1952), billed as The Delmore Brothers, were country music pioneer singer-songwriters and musicians who were stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the ...
. Other significant artists who worked there were Joe Maphis,
Hank Penny Herbert Clayton Penny (September 18, 1918 – April 17, 1992) was an American musician who played banjo mainly in the Western swing genre. He also worked as a comedian best known for his backwoods character "That Plain Ol' Country Boy" on TV wi ...
,
Smiley Burnette Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and ...
, Lazy Jim Day and
Shug Fisher Shug Fisher (born George Clinton Fisher Jr.; September 26, 1907 – March 16, 1984) was an American character actor, singer, musician, and comedian. During his 50-year entertainment career, he performed in many Western films, often as a mem ...
. The August 1941 adoption of the Federal Communications Commission's "duopoly" rule restricted licensees from operating more than one radio station in a given market. At this time the Crosley Corporation owned both WLW and WSAI, so to conform with the new regulation in 1944 WSAI was sold to Marshall Field. The next year Crosley sold WLW to the Aviation Corporation of the Americas (
Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron, which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...
), earning a handsome return on his original investment of a quarter-century earlier. The Crosley name was so well respected that Avco retained it as the name of its broadcast division until 1968. From the 1950s until the 1970s, broadcasts for WLW were moved across Elm street to the COMEX building, where people could watch radio broadcasts from the sidewalk through plate glass windows. By 1962 there were only 13 unduplicated clear channel frequencies left in the United States, and the FCC was investigating whether to "break up" these remaining frequencies by adding secondary stations. In response the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 714, which gave support to having the frequencies remain assigned exclusively to a single station, and a number of the stations, calling themselves the "Clear Channel Broadcasting Service", applied for higher powers. This included WLW, which submitted an application to operate with 750 kilowatts. However, the FCC denied these applications and went ahead with the additional stations, located mostly in under-served western states. Despite no longer being the sole occupant of 700 kHz, WLW's signal still sometimes spanned impressive distances, and in 1985 overnight host Dale Sommers received a call from a listener in Hawaii. Reception at the United States Air Force's Thule Air Base in Greenland (4,235 km) has been reported as sufficiently good for routine listening with an ordinary commercial AM-FM radio receiver at night during the Arctic winter. Avco began exiting broadcasting in 1975. WLW was one of the last properties to be sold in 1976. From that point until the 1990s, WLW had different owners, including Queen City Communications, Mariner Communications, Seven Hills Broadcasting and
Jacor Communications Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...
, before Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...
). The Clear Channel merger made WLW a sister station to Cincinnati's other 50,000-watt "flamethrower", WCKY. The latter station had been licensed to
Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers, across from Cincinnati to the north ...
(hence its callsign), for much of the early part of its history, a quirk that allowed it to get a clear-channel designation despite WLW's presence. From the late 1970s to 1989, WLW's studios were located downtown at 3 East 4th Street, now the site of the National City Bank (now PNC) Tower in downtown Cincinnati. From 1989 to 2005, WLW was located in Mt. Adams, a trendy neighborhood overlooking downtown. The address remained 1111 St. Gregory Street. WLW was originally on the fourth floor, where it shared studios with sister station
WEBN WEBN (102.7 FM) – branded as 102-7 WEBN – is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving Greater Cincinnati. Owned by iHeartMedia, WEBN serves as the FM flagship for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Net ...
. In 1990, the station began broadcasting in
C-QUAM C-QUAM (Compatible QUadrature Amplitude Modulation) is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by Norman Parker, Francis Hilbert, and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in ...
AM stereo AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers. There are two main classes of systems: independent sideban ...
. In 1992, as Jacor started to consolidate stations, the fifth floor was taken over by the
human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...
and traffic departments, along with new studios for 550 WLWA, formerly WKRC. In 1995, Jacor moved all of its stations into the Mt. Adams facility, leasing the entire building. In February 1999, WLW stopped broadcasting in AM stereo. A
Bell 47G The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...
traffic helicopter leased by the station was severely damaged in an emergency landing at Maketewah Country Club on May 20, 1982, that injured the pilot and reporter Bill Beahr. Along with other Clear Channel talk stations, WLW switched from
ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
to
Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...
. However, on June 26, 2006, a realignment of network affiliations by Clear Channel's Cincinnati AM stations reunited WLW with ABC News Radio. ( WKRC picked up Fox News Radio, while WCKY took CBS Radio). Not included in the rearrangement was ABC Radio commentator
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
. WLW continued to carry Harvey's commentaries through all the changes, although after extended absences, Harvey was dropped by WLW in April 2008. WLW eventually stopped calling itself "The Nation's Station" and adopted the slogan "The Big One". For a time in the early 1960s, it also called itself the "World's Highest Fidelity Radio Station". Although Crosley also owned the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
along with WLW from 1934 to 1945, WLW did not become the Reds' flagship station until 1969, a status it has retained ever since. Over the years, WLW has also been the flagship for
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
football,
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
football and basketball,
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
basketball, and the games of the Cincinnati Royals (now the
Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...
) of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
. In 2013, WLW purchased an
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 tr ...
from
Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...
to be used for simulcasting, and moved it to Port Union, Ohio. The station is W233BG on 94.5, operating at 120 watts. This would later be moved to Cincinnati, drop power to 99 watts, and switch to repeating WKFS-HD2. Until 2015, WLW was also associated with
Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom ...
's
WXIX-TV WXIX-TV (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, United States, serving the Cincinnati metro as the market's Fox affiliate. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WBQC-LD (channel 25) a ...
.


XM Radio simulcast

From March 1, 2006, to March 6, 2009, WLW was simulcast on
XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable ...
channel 173, expanding the station coverage to the entire continental United States. Excluded from the simulcast was Cincinnati Bengals play-by-play coverage, as the station did not own the national rights. However, college sport play-by-play from the Xavier Musketeers and the Cincinnati Bearcats was carried, as were Cincinnati Reds games (XM had purchased the rights to Major League Baseball separately). The station was placed on the satellites by then Clear Channel programming executive
Sean Compton Sean Compton is a Chicago-based radio and television executive. Biography Compton began his career in radio in 1990. In 1993 he became Program Director of Cincinnati radio station WSAI eventually rising to VP of programming in 1999 for Clear Ch ...
(brother of WLW overnight personality Steve Sommers, whose program continues to be broadcast on the platform), who claimed WLW was his favorite radio station. Compton left the company in 2008 for the
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
, and shortly thereafter WLW was dropped from XM.


Shortwave operations

In 1925 Crosley received a license for an experimental shortwave station, 8XAL (W8XAL after 1928). In August 1926 the company announced that it was planning to establish a shortwave link to relay programs from Cincinnati for retransmission by a newly acquired station, WARC, located near Boston, Massachusetts, however this link was never implemented. In 1926 8XAL was on air with 100 watts, which increased to 10,000 watts in 1931. In 1940 the station was relicensed as a commercial station, with the callsign WLWO. In early 1941 it was operating with 75 kilowatts, with a program service particularly aimed at South America, and was known as "The Inter-Nation Station"."On Short Waves: Crosley's International Voice"
by Charles A. Morrison, ''Movie and Radio Guide'', week ending March 28, 1941, page 40.
The station transmitted on 5.69 MHz from 1924 to 1929 and 6.06 MHz (June 1929 November 1, 1942). In 1941, operations were described as "the only international station in the United States authorized to operate on each of the six short-wave bands with unlimited frequencies and unlimited time. WLWO's assigned frequencies are: 6.08, 9.59, 11.71, 15.25, 17.80 and 21.65 megs", with programs in English, Spanish and Portuguese. In 1943, Crosley engineers built the U.S. government's Bethany shortwave transmitter site, which was later taken over by the
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...
.


Mason, Ohio transmitter site

WLW's distinctive diamond-shaped antenna is featured on the official seal of the city of Mason. Designed and erected by
Blaw-Knox Tower The Blaw-Knox company was an American manufacturer of steel structures and construction equipment based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company is today best known for its radio towers, most of which were constructed during the 1930s in the Un ...
company in 1934, it was the second of its type to be built, after WSM's in Nashville, Tennessee, and is one of eight still operational in the United States. WLW's 500,000-watt "RCA 1" transmitter was in operation between 1934 and 1939, and was the highest power ever used in the United States for public, domestic radio broadcasting. It was designed as an amplifier of the regular 50 kW transmitter. It operated in class C with high-level plate modulation, and required two dedicated 33 kilovolt
electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station an ...
lines and a large cooling pond complete with spray fountains. It operated with a power input of about 750 kW (plus another 400 kW of audio for the modulator) to produce 500 kW. Even after 1939, when regular WLW programming was prohibited from operating with more than 50,000 watts, the station continued post-midnight high-powered operation as experimental station W8XO, which helped to greatly improve the RCA 1 transmitter's power and reliability. By the end of World War II, it was capable of producing one million watts, and it "loafed along" at 600 kW. WLW's 500,000-watt authorization included the requirement that the station limit its nighttime skywave signal toward Canada to the equivalent of 50,000 watts, which led to the construction of two shorter towers, electrically a quarter wavelength in height and separated by a half wavelength, that were located southwest of the main tower. The two shorter towers were fed using trolley car wire to produce an 85 kW signal at 96 degrees out-of-phase with the principal signal, which produced a null in the opposite direction from the main tower. Many reports have surfaced over the years, from those who lived near the 500-kilowatt transmitter, of power fluctuations. Residents would see their lights flicker in time to the modulation peaks of the transmitter. It was widely reported that the signal was so overpowering that some people picked up WLW radio on the metal coils of mattresses and boxed bedsprings, but those reports have been assessed as possible
urban legends Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...
.
Arcing An electric arc (or arc discharge) is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The current through a normally nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma, which may produce visible light. An ar ...
often occurred near the transmission site. Even though WLW was now using ten times the power, listeners subjectively said it only sounded two or three times louder than before. One important factor affecting long-distance nighttime coverage was that the power upgrade included a switch from a horizontal "flattop" antenna to a vertical tower, which significantly helped the local "groundwave" coverage, at the expense of reducing the increase in distant "skywave" signals. Even so, one listener remembered being able to easily pick up WLW's nighttime signal away in Denver, Colorado. Another issue was that some of the earliest towers like WLW's were being built too tall, which at night caused cancellation issues where the groundwave and skywave signals interfered with each other causing excessive fading. Because of this, WLW's tower, originally at , was reduced to . In October 1940 a suspicious fire broke out in the WLWO tuning house, which led to an increase in security, and in early 1941 it was reported that "Today you would have little chance of getting close enough to the equipment to do any damage, for out at Mason, Ohio, where the transmitters of WLW and WLWO are located, a special guardhouse high has been built, a high metal fence encloses the grounds which are patrolled by a staff of twelve guards twenty-four hours out of each day, and a battery of floodlights illuminates every foot of the grounds day and night." The station's original 50 kW 1927 Western Electric 7a transmitter was reactivated on the night of December 31, 1999, when it was powered up and used from 10:45 p.m. until 12:15 a.m. at the start of the next year. Chief Engineer Paul Jellison replaced a bad vacuum tube, and successfully operated the water-cooled equipment, which he noted was quieter than the newer transmitters cooled by air blowers. The transmitter output was fed through a modern
Orban Orban, also known as Urban (; died 1453), was an iron founder and engineer from Brassó, Transylvania, in the Kingdom of Hungary (today Brașov, Romania), who cast large-calibre artillery, Basilic, for the siege of Constantinople by the Otto ...
9100 audio processor, and Jellison reported that it "sounded fine and the news department mentioned the fact that we were operating on it in their news casts".


Former on-air staff

The station claims many well-known alumni, including:
Jack Berch Jack Berch (August 26, 1907 or 1911Grunwald, Edgar A., Ed. (1940). ''Variety Radio Directory 1940-1941''. Variety, Inc. P. 877. – December 10, 1992) was an American baritone singer best known for his radio variety/talk programsDeLong, Thomas A. ...
,Grunwald, Edgar A., Ed. (1940). ''Variety Radio Directory 1940–1941''. Variety, Inc. P. 877.
Mary Jane Croft Mary Jane Croft (February 15, 1916 – August 24, 1999) was an American actress best known for roles as Betty Ramsey on ''I Love Lucy'', Miss Daisy Enright on the radio and television versions of ''Our Miss Brooks'', Mary Jane Lewis on ''The L ...
,
Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of Ameri ...
,
Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...
,
Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...
, Ruth Lyons,
Bob Braun Robert E. Braun (April 20, 1929 – January 15, 2001) was an American local television and radio personality, best known for a program originating in Cincinnati, Ohio, named ''The Bob Braun Show''. The show, which he hosted from 1967 to 1984, had ...
, Wally Phillips,
Jean Shepherd Jean Parker "Shep" Shepherd Jr. (July 26, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American storytelling, storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film ''A Christm ...
, Frazier Thomas,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sportscasters
Cris Collinsworth Anthony Cris Collinsworth (born January 27, 1959) is an American former professional football player and sports broadcaster who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981–1988) with the Cincinnati Bengal ...
and
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television sin ...
, "Sportstalk" host
Bob Trumpy Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), from 1968 through 1977. ...
, Dale Sommers (better known as the "Truckin' Bozo" and whose son Steve Sommers continued to hold the overnight slot until he was fired in late 2020),"America's Trucking Network Host Steve Sommers Exits WLW"
by Lance Venta, November 2020 (radioinsight.com)
J. R. Gach,
Gary Burbank Gary Burbank (born Billy Purser, July 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American radio personality. He was heard daily on WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 15, 1981, until December 21, 2007, and nationally as the voice of his fictional character, ...
(comedy talk host, impressionist, and creator of the nationally syndicated
Earl Pitts Earl Edwin Pitts (born September 23, 1953) is a former FBI special agent who was convicted of espionage for selling information to Soviet and Russian intelligence services. History Pitts was arrested in 1996 for selling U.S. intelligence secrets ...
monologues), former program director and personality Darryl Parks and former Clear Channel radio CEO Randy Michaels.
Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...
, the creator of the classic TV series ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'', worked for WLW from 1947 to 1948"Serling, Rod" Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010. Document Number: H1000089528 producing historical documentaries, community profiles and commercials, before leaving to pursue other opportunities in the broadcasting industry. Bill Nimmo, who later served as Johnny Carson's sidekick on the show ''
Who Do You Trust? ''Who Do You Trust?'' (originally titled ''Do You Trust Your Wife?'' until July 1958) is an American television game show. Under the title ''Do You Trust Your Wife?'', the show premiered in prime time on CBS in January 1956 and was hosted by E ...
'' and its predecessor '' Do You Trust Your Wife?'', also worked at WLW beginning in 1947.


See also

*
List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States reviews the first standard radio broadcasting stations that were authorized in the United States. This review begins with the introduction of the broadcasting service in the United S ...


Further reading

* * *


Notes


References


External links

* * * * ( Guide to reading History Cards) (covering 1927–1979) {{Authority control 1922 establishments in Ohio Clear-channel radio stations IHeartMedia radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States Peabody Award winners Radio stations established in 1922 LW