WKRD (AM)

Add links
Coordinates: 38°11′34″N 85°31′14″W / 38.19278°N 85.52056°W / 38.19278; -85.52056
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
WKRD
  • Cardinal sports
Technical information
Facility ID53587
ClassB
Power5,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Links
WebcastListen Live
Website790louisville.iheart.com

WKRD (790

radio station in the Louisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia, and is known as Sports Talk 790AM. The station is best known for being a Top 40 powerhouse in the 1960s and 1970s as WAKY. The station's studios are located in the Louisville enclave of Watterson Park and the transmitter site is in east Louisville southwest of the I-64/I-265
interchange.

History

790 AM in Louisville was originally WGRC, and featured a variety of programming typical of radio in the pre-rock era. In 1958, broadcaster

black
-oriented station, was a daytimer).

Having lost listeners during the 1970s to FM rock stations such as

adult contemporary sound in 1978, declaring, "The station you grew up with has grown up with you." This was followed by format changes to oldies in 1982, to automated beautiful music in June 1986, to automated country music, back to adult contemporary in March 1988 as WVEZ (dropping the heritage WAKY calls to reflect its simulcast with 106.9 FM), to classic country in August 1989 as WWKY, and then to a talk
format in February 1991. On May 10, 2001, WWKY changed to the current sports-talk format as WXXA ("Xtra Sports 790") before changing to the current WKRD calls.

The legendary WAKY calls, which had been used by a station in Springfield, Kentucky, returned to the Louisville market on May 11, 2007, as oldies station WASE (103.5 FM), licensed to Radcliff, Kentucky with studios in Elizabethtown, became WAKY. The new station includes many nods to the original WAKY, including original and re-sung versions of "The Big 79"'s classic jingles.

Sports programming that airs on WKRD include

Truck Series, and Cincinnati Bengals
football.

From August 2007-February 2022, Louisville football and men's basketball have aired on WKRD when their games conflicted with University of Kentucky football and men's basketball on WHAS radio. On April 16, 2007, WKRD began simulcasting on WKRD-FM 101.7 (formerly WLPP).

Former logo

Cincinnati Reds games were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 101.7 in favor of Louisville Bats games.

University of Louisville sports were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 93.9 FM and 970 AM.

On January 5, 2023, WKRD was rebranded as "SportsTalk 790AM".[1] This aligned with several programming moves consolidating Louisville's sports talk programming on the station, including the popular Kentucky Sports Radio show, which had spent the past decade on sister station WKJK.

In March 2024, WKRD was announced as the primary carrier of Racing Louisville FC's National Women's Soccer League broadcasts.[2]

References

  1. ^ "WKRD Louisville Relaunches As SportsTalk 790 - RadioInsight". 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  2. ^ "Racing, iHeart Media announce landmark radio broadcast partnership". Racing Louisville FC. Retrieved 2024-04-16.

External links

38°11′34″N 85°31′14″W / 38.19278°N 85.52056°W / 38.19278; -85.52056

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WKRD_(AM)&oldid=1219155885"