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WSWW (AM)

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WSWW
Broadcast areaMetro Charleston
Frequency1490 kHz
BrandingCharleston's ESPN Radio
Programming
FormatSports
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
  • WVRC Media
  • (West Virginia Radio Corporation of Charleston)
History
First air date
September 24, 1939
(85 years ago) (1939-09-24) (as WGKV at 1500)
Former call signs
  • WGKV (1939–1958)
  • WHMS (1958–1961)
  • WTGR (1961)
  • WHMS (1961–1962)
  • WGKV (1962–1969)
  • WXIT (1969–1990)
  • WCZR (1990–1997)
Former frequencies
1500 kHz (1939–1941)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID19534
ClassC
Power1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
38°21′28″N 81°37′00″W / 38.35778°N 81.61667°W / 38.35778; -81.61667
Translator(s)106.7 W294CL (Charleston)
Links
Public license information
Websitecharlestonespn.com

WSWW (1490 kHz, "Charleston's ESPN Radio") is an AM radio station airing a sports radio format in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio and is owned by WVRC Media. The station has a power of 1,000 watts. It is also heard on FM translator W294CL (106.7 FM) in and around Charleston.

WSWW is promoted as part of the "WCHS News Network", which also features co-owned news/talk WCHS (580 AM, 96.5 and 104.5 FM) and business talk WKAZ (680 AM and 95.3 FM).[2]

History

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WGKV

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The Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company established WGKV on September 24, 1939,[3] broadcasting with 100 watts on 1500 kHz from a transmitter at Coal Branch Heights.[4] The station moved to 1490 kHz on March 29, 1941, as a result of NARBA.[4] Not long after signing on, the station joined NBC, the network's first affiliate in southern West Virginia.[5] The station survived a 1941 fire in its studios and control room, all while announcer George Kent was able to keep the station on the air as firefighters fought the blaze.[6]

WGKV applied to upgrade to 250 watts in December 1941, but it would have to wait for World War II to end before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the increase on January 16, 1946.[4] During that time, however, more serious problems emerged that had the station in a fight for its legal life. In late 1943, Worth Kramer, who was about to be inducted into the Army, filed to relinquish control in Kanawha Valley, and the FCC ordered a hearing on alleged "hidden ownership".[7] The war would soon take a larger toll on WGKV when four station employees were called to serve at the same time on February 1, 1944, leaving the outlet without its manager, women's director, promotions manager, and replacement, who all joined the armed forces and the Red Cross.[8] Even when the war ended, the station's license renewal remained pending at the FCC; the hidden ownership allegations, concerning John A. Kennedy, had also put the license of WGKV's only competitor, WCHS, in doubt. A former secretary testified that Kennedy had secretly paid original station owner W. A. Carroll to build WGKV and asked that his involvement be concealed.[9]

In December 1947, the FCC proposed denying WGKV a renewal of its license. The station appealed, calling the action an unjust punishment, as WCHS had its license renewed at the same time. The station charged that new proposed owners, Eugene R. Custer and Richard M. Venable, had relied on the advice of Worth Kramer and his counsel, in a fashion similar to that charged against WCHS.[10] The commission ultimately approved the license renewal and related transfers of control, finding that Venable and Custer were "almost wholly ignorant of the field of radio broadcasting" and of FCC regulations, relying entirely on Kramer and counsel and later being cooperative with the hearing proceeding.[11]

WGKV launched an FM companion, WGKV-FM 98.5, on September 24, 1949, marking its 10th anniversary of broadcasting.[12] The FM station operated for more than five years and was deleted at the station's request on November 8, 1954.[13] Earlier that year, an entirely new ownership group, associated with WSAZ (930 AM) and WSAZ-TV channel 3 at Huntington, had acquired the station from Venable and associates for $75,000.[14]

WHMS and second stint as WGKV

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In 1956, WSAZ sold WGKV for $90,000 to Jake and Walter Evans; the sale was necessary because WSAZ was buying WKNA (1240 AM) and WKNA-FM 97.5.[15] The station was relocated to the Professional Building after 16 years in the Empire Building,[4] and after a second sale to Joseph Brechner, the station changed its call letters to WHMS on February 1, 1958;[4] letterhead boasted that the calls stood for "West Virginia's Hit Music Station".[16] The new designation came with a revamped popular music format.[17] Robert V. Barron, a Charleston native who went on to be a TV and film director in Hollywood, worked at several local radio stations, including WGKV/WHMS.[18]

Edgar Clinton bought WHMS in 1961. The license carried the call letters WTGR from July to November of that year,[4] but the station continued to promote itself as WHMS.[16] The call letters were retired again on February 20, 1962, this time reverting to the former WGKV call sign.[4] The next year, it was approved to increase daytime power to 1,000 watts.[4]

WXIT

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In 1968, David Steere of Kalamazoo, Michigan, acquired WGKV for $250,000.[19] Steere took over on January 15, 1969, and on February 10, WGKV became WXIT.[4] The station billed itself as "The POPular Sound in Charleston", airing a Top 40 format.[20] It aggressively competed with WKAZ (950 AM), a 5,000-watt outlet, for the youth audience.[21]

Kanawha Broadcasting Corporation acquired WXIT in 1978.[4] The station was sold to Empire Broadcasting System, Inc., in 1987; separately, Empire bought WVCM (107.3 FM), licensed to nearby Miami.[22]

WCZR and WSWW

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WXIT became WCZR in 1990, named for and utilizing the satellite Z Rock syndicated network. Two years later, it flipped to talk,[23] adding gospel and R&B music in 1994.[24] It was when they picked up the R&B format that they changed their tag to "Crazy 1490".

In 1995, the station dropped its talk programming and went full-time gospel/R&B, under a new LMA with Kingdom Broadcasting.[25] Kingdom was owned by local Black pastor Matthew J. Watts.[26]

In 1997, West Virginia Radio Corporation, which already owned four stations in Charleston, acquired WCZR and WKAZ-FM for $2.14 million.[27] The station flipped to sports and adopted the call letters WSWW, going by the name "3WS".[28]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WSWW". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Venta, Lance (March 12, 2017). "WKAZ Flips To Business As Part Of WCHS News Network". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "New Charleston Station, WGKV, On Air Sept. 24 With 100 Watts, Fulltime" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 1, 1939. p. 36. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j FCC History Cards for WSWW
  5. ^ "Radio Station WGKV in City Plans Air Debut Next Sunday". Charleston Daily Mail. September 17, 1939. p. 9. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "Fire visited..." (PDF). Broadcasting. April 7, 1941. p. 50. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  7. ^ "FCC Calls Hearing On WGKV Renewal" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 20, 1943. p. 12. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "War Hits WGKV As Four Enter Service" (PDF). February 14, 1944. p. 46. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  9. ^ "Hidden Ownership Is Denied As WCHS Hearings Are Ended" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 5, 1945. p. 82. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "WGKV Denial: Station Asserts Action Had No Precedent" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 29, 1948. p. 62. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  11. ^ "Final Action: Three Proposed Grants, One Denial Made" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 20, 1948. p. 60. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "'GKV Observing Tenth Birthday: City's NBC Affiliate Inaugurates FM". Charleston Daily Mail. September 25, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 22, 1954. p. 115. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "$75,000 Paid for WGKV; Buyers Identified with WSAZ" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 5, 1954. p. 87. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Seven Station Deals Come to $1.5 Million" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 10, 1956. p. 86. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "WHMS WEST VA.'S HIT MUSIC STATION: Charleston's Top 40 Tunedex". August 20, 1961. Retrieved August 1, 2020 – via Las Solanas Consulting.
  17. ^ "Washington Man To Manage WGKV". Charleston Gazette. January 10, 1958. p. 24. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  18. ^ Haught, Billy (July 2, 1967). "The man with 14 hats". Sunday Gazette-Mail. pp. 4M. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  19. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 25, 1968. p. 50. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  20. ^ "It's Here... The New WXIT". Sunday Gazette-Mail. February 9, 1969. p. 8B. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  21. ^ Haas, Richard (April 26, 1973). "Air War Over Charleston". Charleston Daily Mail. p. 7C. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  22. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 23, 1987. p. 78. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  23. ^ "Format Changes" (PDF). M Street Journal. July 22, 1992. p. 2 (22). Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  24. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. March 30, 1994. p. 2 (36). Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  25. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. May 17, 1995. p. 2 (18). Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  26. ^ "Advancing Civil Rights Through Advocacy" (PDF). Reverend Matthew J. Watts. February 22, 2013. p. 28. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). June 6, 1997. p. 8. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  28. ^ "Call Letter Changes" (PDF). M Street Journal. September 3, 1997. p. 7. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
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