WSAN

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WSAN
FCC
Facility ID18233
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
40°38′10″N 75°29′06″W / 40.63611°N 75.48500°W / 40.63611; -75.48500
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Websiterealoldies1470.iheart.com

WSAN (1470

studios and offices in the iHeart Broadcasting Center in Whitehall Township
. It is the oldest station in the Lehigh Valley.

WSAN operates with 5,000 watts, non-directional by day but using a directional antenna at night. The transmitter site is near the Whitehall Mall.[2]

Programming

WSAN is the

Philadelphia Phillies radio network. Most hours begin with world and national news from NBC News Radio and local news from the WAEB
news staff.

History

This station traces its history to the merging of two Allentown stations originally licensed in 1923, WCBA and WSAN, and has traditionally specified WCBA's first license, issued on May 24, 1923,[3] as the date of its start.[4]

Early years of WCBA and WSAN

Although licensed as two separate stations, until early 1941 operations were jointly conducted under dual WCBA-WSAN call letters.[5]

WCBA was first licensed to Charles W. Heimbach at his home at 1015 Allen Street, which was also the location of Heimbach's Camegraph Repair Shop. The station was assigned to 1070 kHz, with a power of 5 watts,[6] and the call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. In late 1924, WCBA was reassigned to 1180 kHz.[7]

WSAN received its first license on June 30, 1923, issued to the Allentown Radio Club for 10 watts on 1310 kHz.[8] Its call sign was also randomly assigned from the roster of available call letters. On November 27, 1923, the club began broadcasting using facilities constructed on the third floor of the former Morning Call building at Sixth and Linden streets.[9] WSAN was deleted on August 7, 1924,[10] but then relicensed on December 10, 1924 to the Allentown Call Publishing Company, again with 10 watts on 1310 kHz.[11]

Effective June 15, 1927, both WCBA and WSAN were assigned to 1350 kHz, on a time-sharing basis.[12] On February 15, 1928, WCBA was sold to Reverend B. Bryan Musselman, pastor of Bethel Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church.[3] On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, the two stations were initially reassigned to 1500 kHz,[13] which was soon changed to 1440 kHz.[14] On January 15, 1931, the jointly operated stations opened new studios at 39-41 North 10th Street.[15]

In early 1937, an application was filed to formally consolidate the two stations, under the WSAN call sign, to be owned by a new corporation, WSAN, Inc., with the Allentown Call Publishing Company holding 60 percent of the stock, and B. Bryan Musselman holding the remaining 40 percent.[16] This would result in common ownership of Allentown's only radio station and daily newspaper. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was increasingly concerned about "media concentration", and initially scheduled hearings to review the proposal, which were later canceled,[17] with the commission instead launching in March 1941 a general policy review of common newspaper and radio station ownership in a single community.[18]

Also in March 1941, with the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) going into effect, stations on 1440 kHz, including WCBA and WSAN, moved to 1470 kHz.[19]

Consolidation as WSAN

In 1941 the station began operating fulltime as just WSAN. However, the approved upgrade to 5,000 watts wasn't completed until 1947.[20]

On April 2, 1941 an application to increase power from 500 to 5,000 watts at a shared transmitter site was granted.[21] However, construction was delayed due to equipment shortages during World War II, so the power increase, which included a nighttime three-tower directional antenna, did not go into service until late 1947.[22]

At the same time the power increase application was approved, the FCC directed that instead of the dual call letters, the station should identify itself as just WSAN. However, WCBA remained a licensed station, with the Allentown Call Publishing Company owning 65%, and manager B. Bryan Musselman holding the other 35%, of the two stations.[23] This soon became an additional issue, after the August 1941 adoption by the FCC of a "duopoly" rule, which restricted licensees from owning more than one radio station in a given market.[24] Both the newspaper ownership and the duopoly issues were resolved on February 29, 1944, when the FCC approved the transfer of 495 shares (76.98 percent) of Lehigh Valley Broadcasting Company, licensee of both WSAN and WCBA, from the Allentown Call Publishing Company to a local group. At the same time, WSAN was assigned unlimited hours of operation, and the WCBA call letters deleted.[25]

In 1947, WSAN-FM was added, originally on 95.9

MHz.[26] It later moved to 99.9 MHz, and was deleted in 1956,[27] which allowed The Easton Express newspaper to move WEEX-FM
, powered at 1,000 watts on 98.3 MHz, to 99.9 MHz, where it could increase its power to 16,000 watts.

full service middle of the road
(MOR) format of music, talk and information, in the 1950s and '60s.

Progressive rock

The station made a bold move in the 1970s. Through most of the decade, WSAN was a rare progressive rock outlet on the AM dial, even though the format was found mostly on FM stations, which could play the music in stereophonic sound. (The only other AM progressive station was KSAN in San Francisco. It was a coincidence the two stations had similar call letters.)

At the time, four of the five FM stations in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton were running

album rock
, and WSAN's days as an AM rock station were numbered.

Disco and country music

By the end of the 70s, WSAN switched to a pop and disco format. Then, as disco faded, WSAN flipped to country music in 1980. By September 1982, it changed to a big band–adult standards format called "Unforgettable". WSAN played the hits of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a small number of soft rock selections from the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1983, still operating as WSAN, the station evolved into more of a popular MOR music format under the catchphrase "Unforgettable II". It expanded to playing the soft hits of the 1950s through the 1980s.

WXKW

In spring 1985, WXKW at 104.1 FM switched formats from country music to

soft adult contemporary, and changed its call sign to WAEB-FM
. With no other FM country stations in the Lehigh Valley, WSAN returned to country music and adopted the WXKW call sign.

Station operations were at least partially owned for decades by the Musselman Family, beginning with B. Bryan Musselman's 1928 purchase of WCBA, until 1992, when Holt Broadcasting purchased WXKW. Holt also owned local stations WZZO at 95.1 FM and WKAP at AM 1320. The country music format was maintained until 1993. WXKW then switched to a satellite oldies format, after WKAP AM 1320 dropped the format to return to easy listening.

In 1996, Holt Broadcasting sold WZZO and WXKW to Capstar, which already owned WAEB and WAEB-FM.

WKAP

The WKAP call letters and format then moved from AM 1320 to replace WXKW's call sign. WKAP used a

Clear Channel Communications merged with AM/FM. Federal regulations limited the number of Lehigh Valley stations Clear Channel could own. They opted to sell WEEX and WODE to Nassau Broadcasting Partners
, and kept WAEB, WAEB-FM, WZZO, and WKAP.

In November 2001, a few days after Oldies 99.9 FM WODE switched to classic rock hits, WKAP switched back to playing oldies songs from 1955 to 1973. Many of the air staff on WKAP came from WODE when the formats of the two stations changed. The station was popular, as it was the only oldies music station in the Lehigh Valley, with music from the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. This format aired successfully for almost five years.

WYHM

On September 11, 2006, WKAP ended its oldies format and adopted a

Christian talk and teaching
format. With this change, the station took the call sign WYHM, a disambiguation of "Hymn".

The station was still a commercial radio station rather than non-commercial like many Christian outlets. Though owned by

Focus On The Family, Insight for Living, Janet Parshall's America, Adventures In Odyssey, Turning Point
and Back To The Bible. Mornings were hosted by "Doug & Kim".

Return to WSAN

In March 2007, the short-lived experiment with the Christian talk and teaching format ended. The call sign returned to WSAN and the station adopted a sports-talk format, affiliated with

Mancow, Jim Rome and Phil Hendrie
were carried on the station.

Reflecting its previous status an oldies station, in the winter of 2007 WSAN dropped one of Fox Sports Radio's weekday morning programs in favor of a three-hour oldies music show.

On May 26, 2016, WSAN flipped from English-language sports to Spanish-language sports as ESPN Deportes Lehigh Valley. The station continued to air English-language broadcasts of Philadelphia Phillies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms games.[28]

On March 13, 2019, the station dropped ESPN Deportes Radio and rebranded as iHeartPodcast AM 1470. Its programming was sourced primarily from podcast programs distributed by iHeartRadio (including HowStuffWorks podcasts such as Stuff You Should Know). WSAN continued to retain the local sports play-by-play rights it held before, including Philadelphia Phillies baseball.[29]

On December 3, 2021, WSAN flipped back to oldies, branded as "Real Oldies 1470".[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSAN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Nighttime Coverage Area for WSAN 1470 AM, Allentown, PA". (radio-locator.com)
  3. ^ a b "Queen City Radiophone Station Known as WCBA Has Served Radio Fans Well For Eight Years", Allentown Morning Call, May 19, 1928, page 4.
  4. ^ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada: Pennsylvania: Allentown", Broadcasting Yearbook (2000 edition), page D-374.
  5. ^ a b "WCBA-WSAN" (advertisement), Broadcasting, March 17, 1941, page 40.
  6. ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1923, page 3.
  7. ^ "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1924, page 6.
  8. ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, July 2, 1923, page 3.
  9. ^ "Allentown Radio Club Will Start Broadcasting Nov. 27", Allentown Morning Call, November 23, 1923, page 5.
  10. ^ "Strike out all particulars", Radio Service Bulletin, September 2, 1924, page 6.
  11. ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 2, 1925, page 3.
  12. ^ "Broadcasting Stations Alphabetically by States and Cities" (effective June 15, 1927) Radio Service Bulletin, May 31, 1927, page 14.
  13. ^ "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928 to September 30, 1928, page 213.
  14. ^ "Broadcasting stations, alphabetically by States and cities", Radio Service Bulletin, February 28, 1929, page 21.
  15. ^ "New Studios of WCBA-WSAN to Be Dedicated Tonight", Allentown Morning Call, January 15, 1931, page 19.
  16. ^ "WCBA-WSAN in Merger", Broadcasting, January 15, 1937, page 24.
  17. ^ "FCC Allentown Hearing On Press Issue Deferred", Broadcasting, July 1, 1939, page 87.
  18. ^ "FCC Starts Newspaper Ownership Drive", Broadcasting, March 24, 1941, page 7.
  19. ^ "Assignments of United States Standard Broadcast Stations Listed by Frequency", page 1441.
  20. ^ "WSAN" (advertisement), Broadcasting, April 14, 1941, page 22.
  21. ^ "Actions of the Commission", April 2, 1941, page 1.
  22. ^ "Tenfold Power Increase For Radio Station WSAN Effective This Morning", Allentown Morning Call, November 25, 1947, pages 5, 8.
  23. ^ "WSAN-WCBA Merger", Broadcasting, April 7, 1941, page 26.
  24. ^ "Ban On Multiple Ownership in Same Area", Broadcasting, August 11, 1941, pages 6-7.
  25. ^ "Broadcast Actions by the Commission", February 29, 1944, page 2.
  26. ^ "WSAN-FM, Lehigh Valley's 1st Frequency Modulation Radio Station, Goes on Air", Allentown Morning Call, March 24, 1947, page 5.
  27. ^ "For the Record: Actions of Jan. 23", Broadcasting, February 6, 1956, page 101.
  28. ^ "ESPN Deportes Enters Lehigh Valley". RadioInsight. May 26, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  29. ^ "iHeart Launches All Podcast Format In Lehigh Valley". RadioInsight. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  30. ^ WSAN Trades Podcasts For Oldies Radioinsight - December 3, 2021

External links

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