WHK (AM)
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Broadcast area | Greater Cleveland |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1420 kHz |
| Branding | AM 1420 The Answer |
| Programming | |
| Format | Conservative talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WHKW | |
| History | |
| Founded | August 26, 1921 |
First air date | March 5, 1922 |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | None, randomly assigned |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| 72299 | |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°21′30.19″N 81°40′2.46″W / 41.3583861°N 81.6673500°W |
| Translator | 102.9 W275DF (Cleveland) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | whkradio |
WHK (1420 AM, "The Answer") is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, carrying a conservative talk format. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station serves both Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio region as an affiliate for the Salem Radio Network. WHK's studios are currently located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence while the transmitter site resides in neighboring Seven Hills.[2] In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHK is relayed over low-power Cleveland translator W273DG (102.9 FM) and is available online.
Formally established in 1922 but borne out of experimental broadcasts by founder Warren R. Cox, WHK was the first licensed radio station to broadcast in Ohio and is the 15th oldest station still broadcasting in the United States.[3] Operated by Cox and then the Radio Air Service Corporation, WHK spent the 1940s and 1950s as the broadcast extension of daily newspaper The Plain Dealer. Owned by Metromedia from 1958 to 1973, WHK boasted a popular Top 40 format earlier in the decade led by Johnny Holliday, then switched to a middle of the road presentation in 1967 due to stiff competition from WIXY and WKYC. WHK also signed on an FM adjunct in 1946 which took on the identity of WMMS in 1968 as one of the city's first progressive rock outlets.
Purchased by Malrite Communications in 1973, WHK converted to a country music format headlined by shock jock Gary Dee, Joe Finan and, for a brief period, Don Imus. Flipping to oldies in 1984 and business news in 1988, WHK and WMMS would be sold twice between 1993 and 1994, segueing to sports radio in the latter year. Purchased by Salem in 1996, WHK adopted a Christian radio format and was paired with a full-time FM simulcast in the Akron–Canton region. A complex asset swap on July 3, 2001, saw WHK's Christian format and call sign move to 1220 AM after WCLV owner Radio Seaway purchased both the license to 1420 AM and the intellectual property of adult standards WRMR; WHK was known as WCLV from 2001 to 2003 and as WRMR from 2003 to 2004. After experiencing ratings and revenue losses with the standards format, Radio Seaway sold WRMR back to Salem in July 2004, and, with the restored WHK calls, has carried a conservative talk format since.
History
[edit]Experimental license
[edit]WHK received its first broadcasting station license in February 1922. However, the station's history dates back to a series of broadcasts begun in August 1921 over an amateur radio station operated by WHK's original owner, Warren R. Cox.[4]
Radio broadcasting in the United States started to become organized in the fall of 1919, largely due to improvements in vacuum tube design. Many of the earliest programs originated from a mixture of amateur and experimental stations. The amateurs in the Cleveland area were particularly well organized, and in early May 1921 the Cleveland Radio Association announced that its members had inaugurated a weekly Friday evening series of live concerts, transmitted on the standard amateur wavelength of 200 meters (1500 kHz) by a rotating roster of local amateur stations.[5]
Warren R. Cox made his first contribution to the series on August 26, 1921,[a] operating amateur station 8ACS at 3138 Payne Avenue S. E.[7][8][b] This was the location of the Cox Manufacturing Company, which primarily produced electrical components for automotive markets and radio receiver construction. Cox's station was described as "one of the newer and most powerful in the city".[7]
The 8ACS programs were soon recognized as providing "exceptional wireless entertainment", and B. Dreher's Sons Company donated a Steinway grand piano for use in the station's studio.[9] In October, the Cleveland Radio Association concerts moved to Thursday nights; around this time, Warren R. Cox added his own weekly concerts on Sunday evenings. In December, the Cleveland Radio Association ended the Thursday broadcasts, and switched to exclusively supporting the 8ACS Sunday concerts.[10]
Warren R. Cox's broadcasting activities gained special prominence during local elections held in the fall of 1921. The November 3 broadcast featured short speeches by six of the city's seven candidates for mayor.[11] In addition, the Cleveland Plain Dealer made arrangements to relay vote totals on election night by telephone to 8ACS for broadcasting by the station.[12]
Initially there were no specific standards in the United States for radio stations making transmissions intended for the general public, and numerous stations under various classifications made entertainment broadcasts. However, effective December 1, 1921, the Department of Commerce, regulators of radio at this time, adopted a regulation that formally created a broadcasting station category, and stations were now required to hold a Limited Commercial license authorizing operation on wavelengths of 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment" broadcasts or 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports".[13] By the end of 1922 over 500 stations would be authorized nationwide.
At first this new policy was loosely enforced, but in early February 1922, the government's official monitor of radio in the region, S. W. Edwards,[c] contacted the local stations to reiterate that amateurs were no longer permitted to make entertainment broadcasts. Thus, on February 3, 1922, Edwin H. Poad, president of the Cleveland Radio Association, announced that his organization was ending the weekly broadcasts started nine months earlier.[14] This ban also ended the broadcasts over 8ACS, however it was soon reported that Warren R. Cox was making plans to apply for one of the new broadcasting station licenses in order to return to the airwaves.[15]
WHK (1922–2001)
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WHK was issued its first broadcasting station license on February 21, 1922, for operation on the 360–meter entertainment wavelength, with Warren R. Cox listed as the licensee.[16] Prior to April 4, 1922, the Commerce Department issued three-letter call signs to most commercial radio stations;[17] the WHK call letters were randomly chosen and did not have any particular meaning.[d] According to one analysis, WHK was the second broadcasting station license issued for Ohio, and the 52nd in the United States,[19] and is Ohio's oldest surviving radio station, and 15th in the country.[3]
The station began broadcasting from the Radiovox Company,[20] which was located at the Stuyvesant Building on 5005 Euclid Avenue. WHK's debut broadcast, on Sunday night March 5, 1922, was advertised as a continuation of the suspended Cleveland Radio Association weekly concert series. Cox announced that, in addition to the Sunday schedule, he planned to broadcast Tuesday night concerts in conjunction with the Keith vaudeville organization, with additional programs on Thursday nights.[21] In July 1922 the station's transmitting power was reported to be 200 watts.[22] Later in the year the licensee name was changed to "Radiovox Company (Warren R. Cox)".[23]
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In May 1923, the U.S. government made additional broadcasting station transmitting frequencies available[25] and by late 1923, WHK was reassigned to 283 meters (1060 kHz).[26] On July 29, 1924, WHK opened new studios at the Hotel Winton at 1010 Prospect Avenue (later the Hotel Carter);[27] at the same time, WHK entered a partnership with the Cleveland Press, which provided live concerts on Thursday nights.[28] WHK was again moved from 1060 kHz to 1100 kHz in early 1925.[26]
Radiovox was taken over by their creditors in late August 1925, spurring speculation WHK could become a commercial radio station.[29] The Radio Air Service Corporation purchased WHK by October,[30] and on February 28, 1926, relaunched as a commercial station with new studios at Carnegie Hall at 1220 Huron Road;[31] the former Hotel Winton studios were taken over by WDBK.[32] By June 1, 1927, WHK was reassigned to 1130 kHz,[26][33] originally intended as a timeshare with WJAY,[34] but WJAY instead shared time with WFJC, the former WDBK now based in Akron.[35] WHK again moved their studios and transmitter to the top floor of the Engineers Bank Building at 1370 Ontario Street,[36] which opened on April 7, 1928.[37] At this location, a bronze plaque denoted WHK as "Cleveland's Pioneer Broadcasting Station".[38] WHK joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on September 2, 1928, as the network's 22nd affiliate; while WADC in Akron had been a charter CBS affiliate, its low power proved difficult for reception in Cleveland.[39][40][e]
As part of the Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, WHK was reassigned to 1390 kHz on November 11, 1928.[41] The FRC again intended WHK to timeshare with WJAY but this was reversed after WHK objected,[42][43] and WJAY was moved to 1450 kHz, immediately resulting in heterodyne interference from both stations.[44][45] By March 1929, the FRC moved WJAY to 620 kHz,[46] which resolved interference with WHK but created pre- and post-sunset interference with WTMJ in Milwaukee, which also broadcast at 620 kHz.[47] WHK manager M. A. Howlett remained angry over persistent interference, and proposed the FRC either make 1390 kHz a clear-channel frequency, have WHK's power increased, or move WHK to a clear-channel. Howlett also applied to move WHK's transmitter out of the city with 5,000 watts.[48] Due to the FRC being scrutinized by U.S. Congress, WHK's application was indefinitely delayed by January 1929,[49] then was granted a temporary permit to operate at 2,000 watts during the daytime; this was due to the FRC being short-staffed.[50] WHK initially planned to site the transmitter in Bedford,[51] but due to potential interference with beacons at Cleveland Airport, an alternate site was selected in Seven Hills on a vineyard.[52][53]
WHK's new transmitter was activated on February 5, 1930, capable of broadcasting 5,000 watts but was still authorized at 1,000 watts.[26][54] The Engineers Building transmitter remained as a backup and was utilized by WGAR for its debut broadcast on December 15, 1930, as the transmitter they planned to use was inadequate.[55] WHK filed to operate at 2,500 watts daytime to assist with instructional programming produced by the Cleveland Public Schools; the FRC offered temporary authorization in January 1930[56] but rejected a permanent arrangement by March, prompting Howlett to threaten legal action against the FRC.[57] The debut broadcast of The Lutheran Hour originated from WHK's studios for CBS on October 2, 1930.[58][59] On September 8, 1931, the station moved to new studios at the top floor of the Higbee Building on Public Square;[60][f] over 1,000 people, including CBS sportscaster Ted Husing as keynote speaker, attended the dedication.[61] CBS president William S. Paley praised the new studios as "handsome" and a standard other radio stations would strive for.[62]
As of January 1, 1934, WHK was broadcasting with a daytime power of 2,500 watts and a nighttime power of 1,000 watts.[63] The station broadcast a full season of Cleveland Indians baseball games in 1936, with announcers Jack Graney and Pinky Hunter.[64]
United Broadcasting ownership
[edit]In 1939 the Radio Air Service Corporation sold WHK to the United Broadcasting Company, which also purchased WCLE, a station that had been broadcasting in Cleveland since January 5, 1927, and was currently transmitting on 610 kHz.[65] WCLE's studios were relocated to the Terminal Tower to join WHK, and the two stations were placed under common management.[66] WHK switched its network affiliation in 1937 from CBS to the NBC Blue Network plus the Mutual Broadcasting System, which had started three years earlier. In the 1940s WHK, like most Mutual affiliates, became a participant in network programming. Rhythm and Rhyme Time was a Saturday night band concert on Mutual that originated from the Terrace Room of the Statler Hotel through the WHK's facilities. In 1943, when the NBC Blue Network was sold to Edward Noble to eventually become ABC, the Blue Network switched its Cleveland affiliate from WHK to WJW, leaving WHK with just Mutual. The Mutual network brought its popular Queen for a Day program to Cleveland Music Hall on April 5, 1946, for a two days of broadcast with local contestants chosen by WHK.[64]
On March 29, 1941, WHK, along with all the other stations on 1390 kHz, moved to 1420 kHz[26] as part of the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement.[67] In 1945 as the FCC began enforcing a rule limiting owners to a single AM station in a market, United Broadcasting moved WCLE out of Cleveland to Akron