WORD (AM)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2014) |
| Simulcasts | |
|---|---|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | February 17, 1930 |
Former call signs | WSPA (1930–2002) |
Call sign meaning | Word; no particular meaning otherwise |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 66390 |
| Class | D |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 34°58′53.00″N 81°59′14.00″W / 34.9813889°N 81.9872222°W |
| Translator(s) | 97.1 W246CV (Spartanburg) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WORD (950
History
WORD signed on September 1, 1940, at 910 AM as Spartanburg's second radio station. under the ownership of Spartanburg Advertising Company which also owned WSPA, a station that was established a decade previous. WORD utilized studio and tower space from WSPA.
In 1944 the FCC ordered the WSPA-WORD combo to be broken up due to ownership regulations which prohibited an owner from having more than one AM station per market. This was completed on March 17, 1947, when WORD was sold to Spartan Radiocasting. Sister FM station WDXY (100.5 FM) signed on the air April 14, 1948,[2] but would sign off the air by the end of the 1950s.
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In 1952, a dispute erupted between both Spartan Radiocasting and Liberty Life over a proposed allocation for VHF TV channel 7 in Spartanburg. It was settled in 1958 when Spartan Radiocasting bought back WSPA-AM and FM from Liberty Life Insurance and spinning off WORD and WDXY to different ownership.
WORD was well known as Spartanburg's
In 2002,
WORD's transmitter is located near the Spartanburg Community College campus (3 miles northwest of downtown Spartanburg) at 245 Broadcast Drive. Its general coverage area is from Gaffney to Greer (Spartanburg Metro), with secondary coverage in the Greenville area. Although WORD transmits with 5,000 watts of power like its counterpart, WYRD, its signal is somewhat stronger due to its lower dial position.
The station added WYRD-FM, now at 98.9 on the dial (originally stationed at 106.3), as a second simulcast partner in 2008.[3] The simulcast continued until the switch from talk to sports by the AM stations.[4]
Until its change in format from talk to sports on March 29, 2014,[5] News Radio WORD carried Russ and Lisa, Mike Gallagher, Coast to Coast AM, Rush Limbaugh, Kim Komando, Lars Larson, Dave Ramsey, Sean Hannity and Bob McLain.
On March 23, 2022, WORD rebranded as "The Fan Upstate" and switched affiliations from
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WORD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WDXY (FM) Launched at Spartanburg, S.C." (PDF). wpsb. April 19, 1948. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
- ^ "The Upstate's No. 1 News Talk Radio Station Can Now Be Heard on 95.1 FM in Clemson, Pickens and Seneca". Audacy. May 4, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Entercom launches new sports brand". Inside Radio. March 29, 2014. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Entercom launches new sports brand". Inside Radio. March 29, 2014. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ ESPN Upstate Relaunches As The Fan Radioinsight - March 23, 2022
External links
- FCC History Cards for WORD
- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 66390 (WORD) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WORD in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- Facility details for Facility ID 151679 (W246CV) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- W246CV at FCCdata.org