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WKRC (550
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...
) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...
station licensed to
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. The station airs a
talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...
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 broadcasting, ...
, under the branding "55KRC". The station's offices and studios are on Montgomery Road off
Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...
in Cincinnati. WKRC is powered at 5,000 watts by day and 1,000 watts at night, using 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 ...
with a four-
tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...
. Its
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
site is off Murnan Road near the
AA Highway The AA Highway is a State highway (US), state highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The mainline route parallels the Ohio River from Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), Interstate ...
(
Kentucky Route 9 Kentucky Route 9 is a State highway (US), state highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The highway extends from Grayson, Kentucky, Grayson to Newport, Kentucky, Newport (a city in Kent ...
) in
Cold Spring, Kentucky Cold Spring is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,216 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. The organization Disabled American Veter ...
.Radio-Locator.com/WKRC
/REF> Despite the similarities in their
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 ...
, WKRC was not the inspiration behind the television show ''
WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences obs ...
''. The show's creator, Hugh Wilson, wrote the premise based on personal experiences at WQXI in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
.


Programming

WKRC is co-owned with another Cincinnati iHeartMedia talk station, 700
WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
. While WLW airs mostly local talk and sports programming, WKRC largely carries
nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
talk shows. WKRC has one locally-based program in morning
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
hosted by Brian Thomas. Syndicated weekday shows include ''
The Glenn Beck Radio Program ''The Glenn Beck Radio Program'' is an American conservative talk radio show, hosted by commentator Glenn Beck on over 400 radio stations across America, his company's own TheBlaze Radio Network, with a live television simulcast weekdays on The ...
,
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'' is an American radio program hosted by former Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis and former '' America Now/The Buck Sexton Show'' host Buck Sexton. It is broadcast on over 400 talk radio stations ...
,
The Sean Hannity Show ''The Sean Hannity Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Sean Hannity. The program is broadcast live every weekday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The show is produced in the New York City studios of radio station WOR and is transmitt ...
,
Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...
with
George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...
,
The Ramsey Show ''The Ramsey Show'' (formerly known as ''The Dave Ramsey Show'' and ''The Money Game'') is an American self-syndicated radio program hosted by finance author Dave Ramsey and a rotating group of co-hosts, that airs Monday through Friday from 2:0 ...
with
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American radio personality who offers financial advice. He is the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions and a co-host of '' The Ramsey Show'', a nationally syndicated radio program. He ...
'' and ''
The Mark Levin Show ''The Mark Levin Show'' is a conservative talk radio show hosted by Mark Levin. History Levin began his career as a radio host in 2002 in a Sunday afternoon timeslot on WABC. WABC assigned Levin to fill in starting on June 16, 2003, after the ...
''. Weekend programming includes specialty shows on money, health, retirement, technology, gardening and home repair, some of which are paid
brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot com ...
. WKRC is the originating station for two weekly
Premiere Networks Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It is th ...
shows: ''
At Home with Gary Sullivan ''At Home with Gary Sullivan'' is a weekly home improvement talk radio program hosted by Gary Sullivan. The program is distributed by Premiere Networks Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an Amer ...
'' and ''
In the Garden with Ron Wilson Ron Wilson is the host of the American nationally syndicated gardening tips and call-in program "''In the Garden with Ron Wilson''" which airs Saturdays from 6 to 9 a.m., Eastern Time, on many talk radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The ...
''. It also carries ''
The Kim Komando Show Kimberly Ann Komando (born July 1, 1967) is an American radio personality and the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websi ...
'' on Sunday evenings and repeats of some weekday shows.


History


WFBW and WMH

WKRC is one of the oldest radio stations in Ohio. It was first licensed, as WFBW, on May 22, 1924. The owner was the Ainsworth-Gates Radio Company of Cincinnati. The original
call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...
were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. The call letters changed to WMH on June 14, 1924. (An earlier WMH, which was Cincinnati's first broadcasting station, had been operated by the Precision Equipment Company until January 1923.) In 1925, the station was purchased by the Kodel Radio Corporation. That firm changed the call letters to WKRC to match its initials.


CBS Radio

WKRC was a
charter member A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the reci ...
of the
CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
. It was one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
purchased WKRC in November 1931, turning it into an
owned and operated station 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 ...
. CBS sold WKRC to ''
The Cincinnati Times-Star ''The Cincinnati Times-Star'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1880 to 1958. The Northern Kentucky edition was known as ''The Kentucky Times-Star'', and a Sunday edition was known as ''The Sunday Times-S ...
'' in September 1939. The ''Times-Star'' was owned by the
Taft family The Taft family is an American political family of English descent, with origins in Massachusetts. Its members have served in the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont, and the United States federal government, in variou ...
. This purchase was the genesis of
Taft Broadcasting Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the Taft family, family of William Howard Taft, the 27th President ...
, with WKRC as its
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
.


FM and TV stations

In 1947, Taft
signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
an FM station at 101.9 MHz. The FM station used its own call sign at first, WCTS, which stood for ''Cincinnati Times-Star''. It later switched to WKRC-FM and today is
WKRQ WKRQ (101.9 FM, "Q102") is a radio station located in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. The station is licensed to Cincinnati and broadcasts from the WKRQ Tower. It airs an adult-leaning Top 40 (CHR) format and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. T ...
. In 1949, Taft Broadcasting added Cincinnati's second television station, Channel 11
WKRC-TV WKRC-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV (channel 64) under a loc ...
(now on Channel 12). As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WKRC switched to a full service middle of the road (MOR) music format and was an affiliate of the ABC Entertainment Radio Network. In the 1980s, the music moved from MOR to
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
.


WLWA and WCKY

On November 29, 1992, after
Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...
acquired the station via a
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...
(LMA), WKRC began stunting with a computerized countdown. A week later, WKRC debuted a new
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...
format with the call letters WLWA, as a complementary service to
WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
. In 1994, the call letters were changed from WLWA to WCKY. The station inherited the call sign and some programming used on WCKY 1530 AM, which was renamed WSAI (now on 1360 AM).


Clear Channel ownership

In 1997, the long-time call letters WKRC returned to 550 AM. The station began offering a schedule of local and national talk programs, some of them from
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 ...
. In 1999,
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
, the forerunner of current owner iHeartMedia, acquired Jacor Broadcasting, including WKRC."Ohio: Cincinnati"
''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook'' (2000 edition), page D-342. WKRC is the former
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
to WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, both having been owned by Taft Broadcasting, Jacor Communications, and Clear Channel Communications. In 2008, Clear Channel sold WKRC-TV and its other television stations to Newport Television, LLC. In 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc.


References


External links

* * (covering 1927-1980) {{Authority control 1924 establishments in Ohio IHeartMedia radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1924 KRC Taft Broadcasting