WQOF
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Frequency | 1260 kHz |
Branding | Relevant Radio |
Programming | |
Format | Catholic–talk radio |
Network | Relevant Radio |
Ownership | |
Owner | Relevant Radio, Inc. |
History | |
First air date | December 22, 1924 |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 8681 |
Class | B |
Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 38°59′59″N 77°3′27″W / 38.99972°N 77.05750°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | relevantradio |
WQOF (1260
WQOF operates with 35,000 watts during the day, but to protect other stations on 1260 AM from interference, it reduces power to 5,000 watts at night. Its transmitter site is off Brookville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland.[3]
History
Early years as WRHF and WOL
The station was first licensed on December 10, 1924, and made its debut broadcast twelve days later, as WRHF[4] at 525 Eleventh Street, with 50 watts on 1170 kHz.[5] The call sign stood for "Washington Radio Hospital Fund". Its initial daily broadcasts, lasting one hour, were "composed entirely of current events and short stories", "intended primarily for the 'shut-ins' of Washington and vicinity who are unable to read newspapers and magazines". Broadcasting equipment was a rebuilt transmitter originally intended for the YMCA building at 17th and G Streets NW. Studios were on the third floor of the Radio Parlor building at 525 11th Street NW.[4]
The station was briefly deleted on November 28, 1925,
WOL became the Washington network affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System during radio's "golden age" and fed the Fulton Lewis Jr. nightly newscast to the network. On September 22, 1938, the station increased power in conjunction with a move to 1230 kHz.[10] In March 1941, stations on 1230 kHz, including WOL, were moved to 1260 kHz as part of the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement.
WWDC
From 1928 until 1950 the station call sign was WOL.[11]
On January 26, 1950, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the sale of WWDC (1450 AM) by Capital Broadcasting, which had just bought WOL from Cowles Broadcasting, to Peoples Broadcasting Corporation, an affiliate of the local People's Drug Stores, and announced the two stations would be swapping call letters.[12] The change took place February 20, 1950. WOL lost its Mutual affiliation in the process to WEAM in Arlington, Virginia.[13] This swap moved the WWDC call letters to 1260 AM for the rest of the century.
During the 1960s, radio personalities such as Jimmy Dean and Fred Fiske had programs on this station. The format was middle-of-the-road. WWDC staked out a place in radio and music history by being the first American radio station to play a Beatles song when it aired "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in December 1963.[14]
During the 1970s, WWDC was a moderately popular top 40 station. In 1981, the station began to simulcast of the morning and afternoon drive shows on sister FM rock station WWDC-FM ("DC101"), with separate shows and the same music format during other dayparts. In 1984, it broke off the simulcast completely and became an adult standards station. WWDC changed its call letters to WGAY in 1999, following the discontinuation of the long-time beautiful music format on 99.5 WGAY-FM. (That station became WJMO-FM and then WIHT).
Business, news, sports and progressive talk
In early 2003, the station ended the business format and became a full-time audio relay of
The progressive format attracted low ratings: The Washington Post reported WWRC's December 2006 ratings as "an almost imperceptible audience".[18] The station booked a .4 rating in the summer 2008 and a .1 rating in winter 2008.
Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WTNT, WTEM and WWRC from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008.[19] On September 15, 2008, WWRC was branded as "Obama 1260" while maintaining its progressive talk format, plus news coverage from CNN and CNBC. The temporary branding was a stunt coinciding with conservative-oriented sister station WTNT's own rebranding as "McCain 570", and was expected to last throughout the 2008 presidential election.[20] While WTNT was re-branded "Freedom 570" right after the election, WWRC retained its Obama 1260 branding beyond Illinois senator Barack Obama's Presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009.
The Washington Post reported on February 2, 2009, that WWRC would be changing to a business talk format the following week. (Although the Ed Schultz Show was moved to sister station WTNT, he would eventually be dropped from that station's lineup.)[21] Starting on February 9, 2009, WWRC broadcast a syndicated business talk format under the brand, "Money 1260". Chiefly an outlet for the Business Talk Radio Network, the station also carried Ray Lucia and Clark Howard.
Salem Media and Relevant Radio
WWRC was sold to
Prior to Salem's purchase of WWRC, the station aired
In late October 2014, WWRC carried a series of promos alluding to a rebranding to occur after the
On November 20, 2017, Salem moved the talk programming, "The Answer" branding, and WWRC call sign to 570 AM (the former WSPZ). Salem had purchased 570 AM from Red Zebra Broadcasting the prior May. The station spent two weeks airing a loop identifying itself as WSPZ and directing listeners to 570 AM.[24][1] WSPZ then relayed the programming of Salem's WAVA-FM as a placeholder. A sale to Immaculate Heart Media was announced on March 25, 2019, at a purchase price of $750,000.[25] The sale was consummated on May 14, 2019, with the call sign changed to WQOF on the same day.[1] The station then began airing Relevant Radio's Catholic programming.
References
- ^ a b c "Call Sign History (Facility ID #8681)". FCC CDBS.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WQOF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WQOF
- ^ a b "WRHF Radio Station Will Open Tonight", Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, December 22, 1924, page 17.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 2, 1925, page 3.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1925, page 7.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 30, 1926, page 3.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1927, page 4.
- ^ "Here Are The New Wave Lengths of Capital's Four Radio Stations" Washington (D.C.) Sunday Star, November 11, 1928, Part I, page 28.
- ^ "WOL Will Change To 1,230 Kilocycles And Boost Power", Washington Evening Star, September 22, 1938, page C-4.
- ^ WOL (advertisement), Broadcasting, September 13, 1948, page 79.
- ^ "WNEW, WWDC Sales Given Approval By FCC", Broadcasting, January 30, 1950, page 26.
- ^ "Listeners Face Three-Station Mix-Up in Radio Switch Feb. 20", Washington Evening Star, February 4, 1950, page A-19.
- ^ CBS (January 16, 2004). "Beatles' 'Helping Hand' Shuns Fame: Fab Four Fan Want To Find Teen Who Helped Launched Beatlemania". CBS News. Retrieved September 21, 2006.
- ^ "'Dynamite Talk' Debuts in DC: WTNT Launches at 570, WWRC Relocates to 1260" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 13, 2001. p. 5. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
- ^ a b "WWRC/Washington Goes Sports". Radio & Records. December 12, 2003. pp. 3, 12.
- ^ a b "Clear Channel Flips Three To Liberal Talk". Radio & Records. January 21, 2005. pp. 3, 12.
- ^ Fisher, Marc (December 10, 2006). "Air America, in the Throes of Victory?". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Deals". Broadcasting & Cable. June 16, 2008.
- ^ "Red Zebra does "Obama 1260" and "McCain 570"". Radio-Info.com. September 15, 2008.
- ^ Kurtz, Howard (February 2, 2009). "Liberal Flameout". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ "Red Zebra sells D.C.'s "Money 1260" WWRC to Salem". Radio-Info.com. April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 17, 2010.
- ^ "Salem adds AM in Washington DC". Radio Business Report. April 22, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 20, 2017). "The Answer Washington DC Makes Move To 570". radioinsight.com.
- ^ Venta, Lance (March 25, 2019). "Immaculate Heart Media Acquires 1260 WSPZ Washington". radioinsight.com.
External links
- WQOF in the FCC AM station database
- WQOF in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WQOF (covering 1929-1980 as WOL / WWDC)