WHOL (1600 AM) is a rhythmic contemporary

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Major Keystone LLC and airs a rhythmic contemporary

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. It is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

with co-owned

AM 1400 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1400 kHz. 1400 kHz is defined as a Class C (local) frequency in the coterminous United States and such stations on this frequency are limited to 1,000 watts. U.S. stations outside t ...

WEST West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware R ...

. The studios and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

are on Colorado Street in Allentown. WHOL is powered at 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s by day. But to protect other stations on 1600 AM, it reduces power to 56 watts at night. It uses a directional antenna at all times. Programming is also heard on 99 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W295CR at 106.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

History

WHOL signed on the air at 1230 AM, on September 5, 1948. It was a CBS Radio

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

, bringing CBS programming to the Allentown area, including dramas, comedies, news, sports,

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

broadcasts during the " Golden Age of Radio." Founded by the Allentown Broadcasting Corporation, the station was granted its construction permit in 1946. A suit was immediately brought by a competing applicant, Easton Publishing Co., owner of the daily '' Easton Express'' newspaper, charging that the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) erred in granting a fourth license to Allentown while Easton had only one radio frequency. The FCC reversed its decision in favor of the newspaper. The case eventually reached the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, which in 1955 ruled the FCC had acted properly. The Express was subsequently awarded the 1230 AM frequency for a new full-time station,

WEEX WEEX (1230 AM) is a radio station in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States, owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holding CBC, LLC. The station airs a sports radio format branded as "Fox Sports Lehigh Valley", carrying the Fox Spor ...

, while WHOL moved to 1600 AM as a daytime only operation. Currently, WHOL operates full-time with reduced wattage at night. For much of the 2000s and 2010s, it aired a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

Tropical Music Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republ ...

format

with 1400

Easton. During 2014, WHOL changed is image from "Hola Radio" to "La Ola Radio" and added a translator, W258BM, that allows the station to also be heard on FM radio at 99.5. On January 1, 2017, at the stroke of Midnight, WHOL, WEST, and W258BM rebranded as "Mega 99.5". On October 19, 2020, WHOL split from its simulcast with WEST and changed its format to syndicated

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

, branded as "106.9 The Talk". 77 days later, on January 5, 2021, WHOL dropped its conservative talk format and began stunting with a heartbeat, interspersed with a voice saying "It's coming! It's almost here! Very soon!". The next day, WHOL flipped to a Rhythmic Contemporary format as "Loud 106.9/99.5", once again simulcasting WEST. The station was sold to Major Keystone LLC on January 17, 2022.

References

External links

* * {{Rhythmic Contemporary Radio Stations in Pennsylvania 1948 establishments in Pennsylvania Radio stations established in 1948 HOL Rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States

History

See also

References

External links