WZUM (1590 AM) was a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

that was located in

Carnegie, Pennsylvania Carnegie () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,134 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. History Carnegie is named after Andrew Carnegie, who donated one of his libr ...

. It was owned by Sovereign City Radio Services LLC.

History

After originally being organized under the call letters WCNE, station owners changed calls to WZUM before being licensed in 1964. The station signed on as an R&B and

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

station, partly owned by popular Pittsburgh polka bandleader James Psihoulis "Jimmy Pol". During the 1970s, WZUM was a freeform AOR outlet, operating from 10:00 a.m. until sunset, (broadcasting polkas in the morning from sunrise). "Powerful" Paul Perry, son of Pittsburgh TV personality Nick Perry, was one of the freeform disc jockeys, along with Kit Baron, "Laid Back" Larry Allen and Mark Wallace. WZUM switched to religious programming under the WPLW

callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assi ...

in 1975 after its purchase by Robert Hickling. In 1998, following Hickling's death, it was sold to Pittsburgh-area broadcaster Mike Horvath. Returned to the WZUM call letters, the station changed its format to

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

, but went dark after just one year. The station subsequently returned after a major transmitter and studio overhaul, operating with time-brokered programming and then oldies, with

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

programming added in 2002. Upon purchase of the station, Starboard converted it entirely to Catholic programming under the ''

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. Relevant Radio broadcasts "talk radio for Catholic life" over a ...

'' branding. In recent years, WZUM applied for an upgrade to its signal, which would have given the station minimal night power. Relevant Radio ceased programming on WZUM by early 2009. In its place, WZUM aired an Easy Listening format, and was in talks with the Delmarva Educational Association, an owner of a small group of religious stations in Virginia and Florida, for a more stable format or possible sale. By May 23, 2009, the station dropped its easy listening format for Gospel and picked up the branding "1590 WZUM, The Promise". The station ceased operations in March 2010, with the FCC approving a

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) st ...

a month later for the station to remain silent. The station's license was cancelled by the FCC on May 29, 2013.

References

External links

Facility details for Facility ID 27137 (WZUM)
in the FCC Licensing and Management System
FCC History Cards for WZUM
(covering 1957-1981 as WCNE / WZUM / WPLW) {{coord, 40, 25, 28, N, 80, 05, 05, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title ZUM Radio stations established in 1964 Radio stations disestablished in 2010 Defunct radio stations in the United States Defunct religious radio stations in the United States 1964 establishments in Pennsylvania 2010 disestablishments in Pennsylvania ZUM