WHOO (1080
AM) is a
non-commercial
A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...
listener-supported
Catholic talk 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 ...
licensed to
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winter Park was foun ...
, and serving
Greater Orlando. It is an
owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
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 ...
of
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 ...
.
By day, WHOO transmits 6,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s.
1080 kHz is a
clear channel frequency reserved for
Class A WTIC Hartford
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
and
KRLD Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, so at night to reduce interference, WHOO reduces power to 55 watts. It uses a
directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...
at all times.
History
The callsign WHOO was used on AM 990 in Orlando, which is now
WTLN, from 1947 to 1987 and then again from 1988 to 2001.
AM 1080 began operations in 1965 as 5,000-watt
daytimer
A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...
, WFIV, "the mighty five", with a
Country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
format, with a brief stint in the ’90s as
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 and ...
station. The Country format continued until 1995, when WFIV switched to a
Spanish contemporary hits format as "Radio Exitos." WFIV then went to a
Christian talk and teaching
Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...
format as "Genesis 1080" in 2000. The following year, the WHOO
call sign
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 as ...
moved to 1080 from 990, along with AM 990's
adult standards
Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.
Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...
music format, followed by a change to sports in 2002.
In 2008, after rival sports station
WQTM changed formats, WHOO began calling itself "The Only Game in Town". It picked up the first two hours (Noon-2p.m.) of ''
The Jim Rome Show'' on January 8, and took the third hour of the show beginning on April 25, the day of the Jim Rome
Smack-Off. Prior to picking up Jim Rome, the station carried all three hours of Colin Cowherd and ''
Tirico and Van Pelt''.
On January 21, Jerry O'Neill, formerly on
WQTM, joined WHOO. He abruptly quit Clear Channel Orlando a week after moving from WQTM to
540 WFLA. He co-hosted the afternoon show with Brady Ackerman until January 12, 2009, when Ackerman quit the station in order to purchase two radio stations:
WGGG in
Gainesville and
WMOP in
Ocala, both sister ESPN Radio stations. Also on January 12, WHOO ditched its original moniker of "Orlando's ESPN" in favor of "1080 the Team".
After Ackerman left, show producer Brian Fritz briefly filled in as O'Neill's co-host. On February 8, 2009, Mike Tuck, who co-hosted with Jerry O'Neill on
WQTM and
540 WFLA before O'Neill left, jumped to WHOO and replaced Brady Ackerman on their afternoon sports show. The show was now titled: Tuck & O'Neill. Ironically, WQTM re-branded again as "740 the Game" and changed callsigns to
WYGM, returning to the sports format.
Genesis Communications announced on June 22, 2012, that WHOO would drop
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...
on October 1, 2012, in favor of
NBC Sports Radio. The change was executed as scheduled. The station retained Tuck & O'Neill, extending it by one hour to end at 7p.m. instead of 6p.m. It also picked up ''
The Dan Patrick Show
''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and inde ...
'' for the 9a.m.-Noon hour, as well as local morning and noontime shows from Tampa Bay affiliate
WHBO featuring David Baumann and Whitney Johnson, respectively. WHBO also transitioned to NBC Sports Radio.
The station broadcast three local sports talk shows, The David Baumann Show (6-9a.m. weekdays), The Whitney Johnson Experience (noon-3p.m. weekdays) and Tuck and O'Neill (3-7p.m. weekdays), which was hosted by Jerry O'Neill and Mike Tuck. The Dan Patrick Show was also in the programming mix and aired from 9a.m.-noon weekdays.
1080 The Team was also the local affiliate for the
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
,
Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...
, and
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Foot ...
. It was also the local affiliate of
Westwood One
Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
's
NFL coverage, presenting normal Sunday games,
Thursday Night Football
''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to ...
,
Sunday Night Football and
Monday Night Football
''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
.
On March 27, 2017, WHOO was granted a
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
construction permit
Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions.
House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
to change the
community of license
In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broadcast ...
to
Winter Park, increase day power to 50,000 watts, increase
critical hours Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Se ...
power to 27,000 watts, increase night power to 1,000 watts and move to the
WRSO transmitter site. It did not act on its construction permit and according to the FCC's website, it has expired.
As of 2017, WHOO effectively simulcasted WHBO under the "Sports Talk Florida" umbrella. That past week, it was “sold” and switched to Haitian language programing, but returned to sports later on.
Genesis Communications announced that it would sell WHOO and
WAMT to Immaculate Heart Media (
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 ...
). The sale was completed effective August 14, 2018.
At some point in late 2018-early 2019, WHOO and its then-sister station
WAMT changed their formats from sports to Catholic talk, branded as "Relevant Radio".
A Relevant Deal is Done in Central Florida
/ref>
As of 2021, the station is broadcasting English-language Relevant Radio network.
Previous logo
References
External links
Relevant Radio Official Website
* ( Guide to reading History Cards)
{{coord, 28, 28, 1.0, N, 81, 22, 28.3, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
HOO
HOO
1965 establishments in Florida
Radio stations established in 1965
Relevant Radio stations