
Pittsburgh Area AM StationsBy Eric O'Brien pbrtv@aol.comupdated on June 7, 2011 540 WWCS CANONSBURG PA Owner: Birach Broadcasting Format: Silent Was a 5000-day, 500-night watt station that could be picked up all over the area, but the power has been decreased. The station used to run programming from the BBC's world service, plus ethnic programming and music shows. Prior to that, the station played classical music. At one time, the station was WARO. The station also broadcast in AM stereo for a time. In February, 2001, Birach Broadcasting signed an LMA with ABC/Disney to bring Radio Disney programming. That agreement came to an end at the end of 2010 when WEAE dropped the ESPN programming and moved Radio Disney over to 1250. The station's low frequency signal has been heard as far away as the Nation's Capital when conditions allowed.590 WMBS UNIONTOWN PA Owner:Fayette Broadcasting Corporation Format: Adult Standards This Adult Standards station has a rather weak signal in the Pittsburgh area. The signal is Southeast of Pittsburgh toward the West Virginia/Maryland border. Picked up Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" syndicated format in early 2003.620 WKHB IRWIN, PA Owner: Broadcast Communications, Inc Sister stations: WKFB-AM 770, WANB-AM 1580, WKVE-FM 103.1 Format: Health Talk/ 60s 70s & 80s ![]() Once the dominant station in Westmoreland County, 620 kHz is now a regional station, with a daytime 5.5 kW signal reaching five states. It signed on in 1934 as WHJB (named for the owner, H.J. Brennan), and was a sister station to WJAS. WHJB was located in the Penn-Albert Hotel in Greensburg and later had an FM station on 107.1; WHJB also built one of the first local cable TV systems. After the sale of 107.1 to the owners of WAMO-FM, and the loss of its transmitter site, WHJB declined. In 1996, it was purchased by Robert and Ashley Stevens' Broadcast Communications Inc., which built a new transmitter site, increased the power, and relocated the studios to a new facility. WKHB now airs health-talk and advice shows during the day, and '60s and '70s oldies at night. WKHB has applications pending to move to Brentwood, Pa., and boost its nighttime signal.660 WAMO Wilkinsburg PA Owner: Martz Communications (dba - Radio Power Inc.) Format: Urban 660 used to be 1570 (WFJY, nee WZGO, nee WHYM, nee WZGO) in Portage PA in the central part of the state. In the early 2000s, the station went dark and was moved to Wilkinsburg (near Pittsburgh) on 660 AM with the callsigns WCIX. Langer Communications later turned the station into WPYT and now "sports" an outdoors/sports format. Randy Tantlinger, owner of RT Media, was responsible for most of the format and bought the air time. After the sale of Sheridan's WAMO-AM/FM and WPGR in 2009, local broadcaster Eddie Edwards (who once owned WPTT-TV 22) attempted to buy the station to bring back a voice to the African American community. The deal fell through quickly when Mr. Edwards needed to focus his efforts on his health. In, December 2010, a little over a year after Edwards' attempt to buy the station, it was sold to Martz Communications. Martz switched the format to Urban in June 2011 and brought back the heritage WAMO calls.680 WISR BUTLER, PA full service Owner: Butler County Radio Network Sister stations: WBUT-AM 1050, WLER-FM 97.7 Format: Full Service WISR is a part of the Butler County Radio Network and is teamed up with WLER-FM and WBUT-AM. Orignally, when all AM stations had to have an FM sister, WISR was assigned to FM at 97.7.730 WPIT PITTSBURGH PA Owner: Salem Broadcasting Sister station: WORD-FM 101.5 Format: Religious This is WORD-FM's sister station. Founded in 1947, WPIT-AM had an FM counterpart. (During the days when the FCC had you take an FM with an AM.) The studios were originally on Smithfield Street, then the Roosevelt Hotel, and Gateway Towers. The Berkman family (known for owning Steubenville's Channel 9) owned the station until the 1980's when it was sold to Pyramid Broadcasting. The station was sold to Salem Broadcasting (the current owners) in the late 80's as a part of Pyramid's consolidation with Federated Ventures. (This eventually became the CBS/Infinity Group.) Unfortunately, the deal with Federated, which was the reason for WPIT being sold in the first place, fell through a few months after the sale of the Pittsburgh properties was completed. What was left of Pyramid was merged with Evergreen Broadcasting, which eventually became part of the Clear Channel Communications empire. The biggest remaining element of Pyramid (beside their Flagship KISS-FM in Boston), was Broadcast Architecture, which is basically CC's consulting arm. WPIT was moved to 101.5 and a few years later the FM channel became home to WORD which was first heard at 104.7. WPIT's original FM frequency was 101.5, but it went dark when FM was not the dominant carrier. When the FM signed back on, it became eventually the Religious Broadcasting powerhouse in Pittsburgh. The format, which from the late 70's on became a mixture of Contemporary Christian Music and block religious programming proved to have a deep and loyal following. The proof was shown at the many "Pirate Family Nights" at The old 3 Rivers Stadium, the Gospel concerts at the 3 Rivers Arts Festival, or "Family Day" at Kennywood every Labor Day. When Salem came into the market in 1990 or so, their aim was to take WPIT down--it was not successful and eventually bought the stations from then financially-struggling Pyramid for $6.5 Million. WORD was then moved from 104.7 to WPIT's frequency at 101.5 in 1993, and the rest is history. Religion is not the only word of the day at WPIT, Network Talk Programming is also on the air with Michael Medved, Dr. Laura and Dave Ramsey. Michael Komichak still does his Ukrainian Program on WPIT on Sundays. He has been with WPIT since the beginning. In fact, he dug the furrows to put the ground wire down at the Transmitter site in the 40's!770 WKFB JEANNETTE, PA Owner: Broadcast Communications, Inc. Sister stations: WKHB-AM 620, WANB-AM 1580, WKVE-FM 103.1 Format: Oldies/talk This is the sister station of WKHB (620). WKFB was founded in the late 1960s by Al Calisti and was originally known as WBCW on 1530 kHz. The studios were on South Fourth Street in Jeannette, and the station ran ethnic music, talk shows, local sports and other programs. In 1999, the call letters were changed to WKTW, and the station was purchased by Broadcast Communications Inc. WKTW began sharing a building with WKHB in Greensburg and was known as "K-Talk." The FCC approved a change to the lower frequency of 770 in 2001. The frequency move, made in 2003, improved the station's range significantly, and it now covers much of the Pittsburgh market. Currently, WKFB runs '50s and '60s oldies - primarily overseen by Frankie Day, speciality talk programs, and ethnic shows.810 WEDO MCKEESPORT PA Owner: 810 Incorporated Format: Time Brokered - Health Talk/Religious/Ethnic A small station within the confines of Allegheny County which was where famed announcer Al McDowell made is debut. WEDO is a daytime-only station and features a block of oldies programming along with various time brokered programming. The station is owned by 810 Incorporated.860 WAOB MILLVALE PA Owner: St. Joseph Missions Sister Stations: WAOB-FM 106.7; WPGR-AM 1510 Format: Catholic 860 was originally licensed to Homestead and started as WHOD. It was at WHOD where "Your Platter pushin' poppa" Porky Chedwick first began his legendary career. WAMO eventually had an FM sister station first at 105.9 FM and later at 106.7. The last format on WAMO was an urban talk format consisting of Steve Harvey, Sheridan Broadcasting's own Bev Smith, and, for a brief period of time at the end, Lynn Cullen. WAMO and its sisters were sold in 2009 to St. Joseph Missions and went dark on September 8 of that year. The station returned to the air in February 2010 as a simulcast to its FM sister WAOB-FM.910 WAVL APOLLO, PA Owner:Evangel Heights Assemply of God Format:Talk Although owned by a religious institution, this station changed formats in 2010 to a talk format featuring several syndicated talkers. Prior to that, it was a religious format with a mission to offer an alternative to secular mainstream radio for the churched and unchurched. In the mid-2000s, WAVL and then-WPTT (1360) entered into an FCC application to swap frequencies with 1360 moving to Apollo and 910 moving to Mount Lebanon. The deal fell through.940 WFGI CHARLEROI PA Owner: Keymarket Communications Format: Country WFGI is sister to WOGI-FM and the other Froggy Stations (formerly WESA-AM & FM). South of the city on route 51, the signal is weak most of the time and more reachable in the South Hills areas. WFGI is a simulcast station for WOGI-FM in from Duquesne broadcasting the Froggy Country Format. Before its current simulcast, the station was WPNT and aired a nostalgic format.970 WBGG PITTSBURGH PA Owner: Clear Channel Communications Sister stations: WWSW-FM 94.5, WKST-FM 96.1, WDVE-FM 102.5, WPGB-FM 104.7 & WXDX-FM 105.9 Format: Sports Originally WWSW-AM and was once known as "Double Country". Double most likely stood for the fact that WWSW was often referred to as "Double Double". For a time, this was "Talkin' Pittsburgh WTKN. Many Pittsburghers thought it was blasphemous to change the historic WWSW callsign into WTKN. In the mid 80's WWSW returned to the AM waves as well as to it's FM signal on 94.5 after a stint as top-40 WPEZ. The two stations were a simulcast of the oldies programming. August 28, 2000 saw a big switch as WWSW-AM became a part of the newly formed Fox Sports Radio Network. This event had been highly discussed time and time again through the rumor mill and finally becoming reality. The WBGG callsign came in October of 2000. The format was retained for a decade and became the AM home to most play-by-play sports events as Clear Channel had the contracts to air games. With the arrival of KDKA-FM (93.7), in 2010 WEAE-AM (1250) lost a lot of ground in the ratings and soon dropped the ESPN programming in favor of Radio Disney. Upon this announcement, WBGG replaced the Fox Sports format with ESPN's format all while retaining most, if not all of the local air staff.1020 KDKA PITTSBURGH PA Owner: CBS Radio Inc Sister stations: KDKA-FM 93.7, WBZZ-FM 100.7 & WDSY-FM 107.9 Format: News/talk 1050 WBUT BUTLER PA adult contemporary/news/talk WBUT is sister to WLER (note the trend --- BUT and LER) and plays host to a partial simulcast of the FM sister. WBUT is primarily a News/Talk outlet.1080 WWNL PITTSBURGH PA Owner: Wilkins Communications Network Format: Religious Contemporary Christian. Perhaps long recognized as WEEP, this station competed with KQV's top-40 format in its early days. It was in the 60's that WEEP became a country station and carried the reigns until its FM sister station became WDSY in the 70's. The station soon went all news and in the mid-90's, it simulcast WDSY's Country signal for a while. Soon after, Mortenson Broadcasting took over and made it Gospel-formatted WPGR. In 1999, Mortenson took the station callsign of WPGR and the format to 1510 WXVX in Monroeville, leaving 1080 dark for about a month. WWNL was unveiled in September of 1999 creating a newer religious-style format in town. Owned by Wilkins Communications Network.1110 WKZV WASHINGTON PA Owner: My-Key Broadcasting Format: Country WKZV started out a number of years ago as WKEG and now boasts a Country format.1130 WASP BROWNSVILLE PA Owner: Keymarket Communications Format: Classic Oldies WASP had long been a station that served the Brownsville area as News/Talk. When Forever Broadcasting purchased the station in 2000, the format became Nostalgia as FM counterpart WASP-FM became WOGG. In 2001, when WPKL signed on with the classic oldies format, WASP became one of the simulcasters of its newer FM sister.1150 WGBN NEW KENSINGTON PA Owner: The Rev. Loran Mann, Temple Development Corp. Format: Contemporary Gospel Once a top-40 style WKPA and sister to WYDD-FM, WGBN is now owned by The Rev. Loran Mann (A former WPXI anchor). The station, begun in 1992, was the first to air gospel 24 hours a day and offers news, sports and weather. Salem Broadcasting owned the station - then WKPA - and WYDD 104.7 in the late 80s. 104.7 later became WEZE-FM and simulcast its beautiful music programming on WKPA. When WEZE become WORD-FM, Salem donated the station to Pentecostal Temple Development Corporation & Rev. Mann in order to meet ownership limits while purchasing WPIT-AM/FM. The station still broadcasts from a location near its original home in New Kensington. At one time the station (and 104.7) were owned by Nelson Goldberg.1210 WANB WAYNESBURG PA Owner: Broadcast Communications Inc. Sister stations: WKHB-AM 620, WKFB-AM 770, WKVE-FM 103.1 Format: Country WANB-AM serves Greene County with a current format of country. The station's callsign comes from the city of license, WAyNesBurg. In 2007 Broadcast Communications was granted a Construction Permit which would allow the facility to be moved from its former position at 1580 AM to 1210. The new antenna remained on the same tower, but gives the station a much stronger power with 5000 daytime watts as opposed to the old 720 watts 1580 put out. 1210 formally went on the air on December 31, 2009 putting an end to 1580. 1580 was simulcast on 103.1 FM, the one-time WANB-FM which, in 2010, will be moved to Mt. Pleasant, PA. 1210 AM also serves the FM band with a translator station W286AL at 105.1.1230 WBVP BEAVER FALLS PA Owner: Iorio Broadcasting Format: Full Service WBVP was sister to WWKS before WXDX took over 106.7 in 1996. Now the station is co-owned with WMBA by Iorio Broadcasting.1250 WDDZ PITTSBURGH PA Owner: ABC/Disney (Sports Radio Group, LLC) Format: Radio Disney One of the five original stations in town, it signed on as WCAE on May 3, 1922. When WTAE Channel 4 came to life in 1958, The radio station became WTAE as well. This played host to a mostly talk outlet until SFX purchaced WTAE-AM and WVTY-FM from Hearst. 99% of the staff at both stations were fired at the time. WVTY became WDRV and WTAE went from all talk to sports, with the exception of Doug Hoerth. Mr. Hoerth later moved over to WPTT 1360. When Chancellor Media (now Clear Channel) bought out SFX in 1998, Chancellor traded WTAE for a station in Cleveland from Jacor (now ironically Clear Channel). Before being sucked up by Clear Channel, Jacor sold WEAE to ABC/Disney. Under Jacor's ownership, the heritage WTAE callsign was switched to WEAE and became the region's ESPN outlet. In 2009 and 2010, several long-time staff members were gradually let go from the station and many felt that things were not good for the one-time successful music outlet. In the fall of 2010, following the successes of newcomer KDKA-FM (93.7) and its sports format, local programming was dropped in favor - at least temporarily - of the national ESPN feed full time. It was announced that on New Year's Day 2011 the ESPN format would be dropped for Radio Disney which aired under LMA agreement on WWCS Canonsburg until that time. The station is still located with its former sister WTAE-TV on Ardmore Boulevard. Jeff Roteman has a tribute page to the old WTAE-AM which can be reached at: http://1250wtae.andmuchmore.com/.1320 WJAS PITTSBURGH PA Owner: Renda Broadcasting Inc. Sister Stations: WMNY-AM 1360, WSHH-FM 99.7 Format: Adult Standards/Nostalgia 1340 WYJK CONNELLSVILLE PA Owner: Keymarket Communications Format: Classic Oldies Long a local favorite with Connellsville listeners, WCVI went through some legal problems with it's sister station WPQR (99.3 FM). (See WPKL on the FM page.) As much as people hated to see their local station go, WCVI came back on the air after an ownership change to simulcast its FM sister station now known as WPKL.1360 WMNY MCKEESPORT PA Owner: Renda Broadcasting Inc. Sister stations: WJAS-AM 1320, WSHH-FM 99.7 Format: Financial WIXZ was owned in the late 60's by Wain & Weiss who made the station a carbon copy of their successful top-40, 1260 WIXY in Cleveland. Jeff Christie (now known as the talk host Rush Limbaugh) and voice-over artist Mark Roberts were a couple of the voices you could hear on the air. If you take a further step back, you will find that 1360 was once WMCK with a callsign that could truly identify its location. Introduced during that time was the "TL" Sound and Terry Lee's Music for Young Lovers which carried over to WIXZ. In 1974, the station was the first to be owned by a new local company called Renda Broadcasting. Later, it would be sold off so that Renda could buy WSHH (99.7) In the mid-90's, Serena Communications and Renda Broadcasting became one, joining WIXZ with WSHH and WJAS. WIXZ was the first station to carry all-sports and was running Prime Sports Radio and then Sports Fan Radio. When Jack Bogut started at WJAS in 1997, Bruce Keidan's show was moved over to SportsRadio WIXZ. Not long after, WTAE-AM decided it was going to fully change formats. WIXZ soon became 1360 WPTT with a talk radio format. Bruce Keidan did a short-lived non-topical show and Doug Hoerth and Lynn Cullen were brought in from the old WTAE Radio. Keidan later returned to the Post-Gazette. The station carries several syndicated talk shows and simulcasts WTAE-TV's morning newscast from 5:00 - 7:00 AM. Hoerth was dismissed in late 2007 in a budget cut. On September 1, 2008 the station began a new financial/money format. A filing to swap frequencies with WAVL (910) in Apollo had been made in the mid-2000s but the deal fell through.1380 WTYM KITTANING PA Owner: Family-Life Media-Com, Inc. Format: Talk The station signed on in 1948 as WACB. While owned by Vernal Enterprises, the station played oldies. Following owner Larry Schrecongost's death in 2010, the station was sold to Family-Life Media-Com, Inc. and the format was changed to talk.1410 KQV PITTSBURGH PA Owner: Calvary Broadcasting Format: News 1450 WJPA WASHINGTON PA Owner: Washington Broadcasting Company Sister station: WJPA-FM 95.3 Format: Oldies WJPA is sister to WJPA-FM which also airs olides. Most of the AM signal is a simulcast of the FM signal with regular sports coverage from teams like Washington & Jefferson football to high school wrestling matches. Owned by Washington Broadcasting Company.1460 WMBA AMBRIDGE PA Owner: Iorio Broadcasting Sister station: WBVP-AM 1280 Format: News/talk/sports WMBA is sister to WBVP and the stations together are simulcast. WMBA went on the air in the late 50's and was direct competition for WBVP. The two operations became one in 2000 and moved in with WBVP. Both stations served as "training grounds" for some of Pittsburgh's well-known broadcasters. Owned by Iorio Broadcasting.1480 WCNS LATROBE PA Owner: Longo Media Group Format: Oldies This oldies station serves Westmoreland County and is owned by Longo Media Group whose chief, John Longo, got his start at the station 30 years before purchasing the station.1510 WPGR MONROEVILLE PA Owner: St. Joseph Missions Sister Stations: WAOB-FM 106.7; WAOB-AM 860 Format: Catholic The Thompson family originally owned the station when the late Bill Lynch helped them put 250 watt daytime WPSL on the air in the 60's. Back in those days, Charlie Appel (the famed doo-wop guru) held down the fort at WPSL. The Broadcast Arts Academy of Monroeville was hosted by WPSL in those days before going dark in 1978. WRUA was eventually the replacement after Dr. Barua from Greensburg purchased the station. A soft AC format took over with the daily lineup including Jeff Roteman, Dave Garrett, Gregg Stone -- Mornings from State College -- and Dennis Reed. Many financial problems plaugued the station which soon became WCXJ and was an urban format untder the direction of Del King. Just before that former jocks, such as WLOA's (96.9) Chauncey Ross and WIXZ's Terry Lee tried to make it go. Back in the late 80s and early 90s this became WXVX, "X-15," a progressive/alternative rock station under the direction of Bree Freeman. It took on the format after "Rock Of The 80s" was dumped from 100.7, then WXXP-FM. The format is now Gospel. In 1999, Mortenson Broadcasting took their WPGR callsign from the sister station at 1080 and began full operation on 1510. WAMO's parent company, Sheridan Broadcasting took over the station in the early 2000s. In 2009, the station and its sisters were sold to St. Joseph Missions who have Catholic programming on the1550 WLFP BRADDOCK PA Owner: Wurp East, Inc. Format: Talk WLFP used to be the AM sister to WRRK-FM (then WHYW-FM), used to run an urban adult format and was owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. The station was later acquired by WHAT-AM/Philladelphia. It flipped to a black news/talk format with some shows tailored for Pittsburgh and some shows with a statewide feel. The owners decided that most of the programming would originate from WHAT-AM in Philly due to the lack of advertising in Pittsburgh and complaints that certain callers would dominate the shows coming from WCXJ. In 2000, the station was purchased by a New York Company which brought a Gospel religious format. It became WURP. In early 2002, the station went dark due to a little budget. The station is 1000 watts-day and 4 watts-night/critical hours. It was then operated under an LMA by Pittsburgh Radio Werks Inc. with talk various syndicated talk programming. The station is owned by Business Talk Radio with their own programming.1570 WQTW LATROBE PA oldies Owner: L. Stanley Wall Sister station: WLSW-FM 103.9 Format: Oldies Simulcast of WLSW Scottdale. Owned by L. Stanley Wall. Wall purchased the station in 1984, but the station's history goes back to 1952 as the second station in Westmoreland County behind WHJB.1580 dark - former home to WANB WAYNESBURG PA See 1210 above1590 WZUM CARNEGIE PA (dark) Last Owner: Believe and Achieve Family and Educational Center Last Format: Religious WZUM was on the air in the 70's as a rock station. Bob Hickling bought the station and it became WPLW and took over the format with religious programming. WZUM originally played the same rock that a young, but strong 102.5 WDVE was playing. Michael Horvath got his start at WZUM, purchased the Crafton/Carnegie station WPLW following Bob Hickling's death in late 1998 and turned it back into WZUM. The station remained on the air playing a "smooth jazz" blend of music til 1999 when the signal went dark. Not long after the turn of the millenium, Engineer Mike Horvath rebuilt the station and brought it back to the airwaves. A new 3-tower array was built in Crafton but the station operated out of West Mifflin. Horvath sold the station and it carried time brokered programming for a few years before picking up a Catholic programming network. When Starboard Broadcasting bought the station, it took on the "Relavant Radio Christian Network." Starboard sold the station to Believe & Achieve Family and Educational Center out of Virginia in 2009 and the station went into disrepair. Bills started piling up and went unpaid. The studio was padlocked by creditors not allowing access to properly operate the station and it soon went off the air. In December 2010, despite an offer to purchase the station, Crafton Borough, having not received owed payments for the lease of the land on which the towers sat, ordered the towers knocked down. The license was let to expire in March 2011 without renewal. All original material on this website is copyright 1998-2011 by PBRTV. Station logos are incorporated for illustrative purposes only and are incorporated under the fair use provisions of U.S. Copyright Law. They remain trademarks of their respective owners. | ||||