WNOP is a radio station located in

Newport, Kentucky Newport is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States. It is at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers across from Cincinnati. The population was 14,150 ...

, that can be heard in and around the

Cincinnati 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 ...

area. It now broadcasts for Cincinnati's

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 ...

community and archdiocesan base and is an affiliate of

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

radio for most (if not all) of its programming. WNOP was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

station for 38 years, except for a brief run as a

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...

affiliate from 1992 to 1994. WNOP's current religious talk format started on December 31, 2000.

History

Startup

The station was first on the air with combined country music and pre-recorded radio shows, receiving its

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 ...

(FCC) license on May 29, 1947. The first broadcasts began on August 21, 1948. Jimmie Skinner hosted a radio program, which featured singer Connie Hall.

Jazz era (1962–2000)

Despite its relatively weak signal (not to mention almost bumping right into AM powerhouse

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 ...

), WNOP had a core audience of loyal listeners during the years when its musical programming was mostly jazz. Its studios were on Monmouth St., in Newport, Kentucky where Ty Williams bravely played music during a studio fire. From there they moved to the "Jazz Ark' - floating studios on the Ohio river. It was not all jazz, however. Sometimes breaks between songs were filled with recordings of

stand-up comedians Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehea ...

. For the favorite comedy cuts the punch lines would be saved to a Gates ST-101 Spot Tape machine. They could be played as the DJ felt appropriate anytime between music tracks, or commercial voice-over. From Monmouth St. the station moved to studios that were a tiny floating facility on the Ohio River, called "the jazz ark." Also known as "Free and Floating WNOP", the studios consisted of three 20,000-gallon fuel drums welded together with crosswalks and outfitted with all the necessary gear. Unique for its time and place, the station maintained an on-air irreverence that could jolt you without warning. For instance, it sometimes identified itself as being "just a little to the right of WLW," while at other times, it claimed to be "Radio Free Newport," and Shelly Berman would often announce the call sign "WNOP - We're North Of Paraguay". On winter days when Cincinnati was hit with large amounts of snow and most stations announced school and workplace closings, morning on-air personality

Leo Underhill Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to: * Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky * Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac * Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually mas ...

instead would inform listeners which bars were closed due to bad weather.

Sacred Heart Radio (2000–present)

Sacred Heart Radio assumed ownership of the station on January 1, 2001. The program format was changed from jazz to Christian talk radio, much of it coming from

Global Catholic Radio. The last song played before the switch was "

The Vatican Rag "The Vatican Rag" is a ragtime parody song by American satirist Tom Lehrer. The song purports to be a response to the Second Vatican Council, a meeting that proposed reforms to the Catholic Church. First performed in 1965, it is controversial for ...

" by

Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous, often Music and politics, political songs that ...

. The Son Rise Morning Show which airs weekday mornings on EWTN Radio originates from WNOP's studios, which are now located at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center (the former St. Gregory's Seminary) at 5440 Moeller Avenue in Norwood. On August 24, 2010, WHSS, 89.5 MHz in Hamilton, was sold by the Hamilton City Schools to Sacred Heart Radio. It was an FM repeater of WNOP reaching the northern Cincinnati region of Hamilton, Middletown, Mason and the surrounding area. The channel was sold to ClassX radio in 2023. In April 2016, Sacred Heart Radio Inc. purchased

WPFB WPFB (910 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting Catholic programming after a switch from an adult album alternative format as a simulcast of WYHH, WNKU. It is licensed to Middletown, Ohio, United States, and serves the Dayton ar ...

, 910 AM in Middletown from

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...

to serve Middletown and the Dayton area. On June 3, 2016, WPFB commenced Sacred Heart Radio's programming.

On-air talent

Talent prior to 1962 (country music era)

* Bob Anderson, sportscasterSies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920–1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 9. * Roy Moss * Jimmie Skinner

On-air staff (1962–2000)

* Marc T. Bolin * "Downtown" Scott Brown * The Darksoldier (Phil Tucker) * Jim Edwards * Robyn Carey (Allgeyer) * Angelo Catanzaro * Jack Clements * Val Coleman * Dee Felice * Kristi Heitzman * Gary Keegan * Wilbert Longmire * Dennis "The Ironman" Michaels * Bob NaveDa * Geoff Nimmo * Dick Pike * Jim Planky * Mike Roberts * John Royer * Brian Schwab * Ray Scott * Jean Shepherd * Mark Stevens (Mark Schlachter) * Bunky Tadwell (Walt Harrell) *

Oscar Treadwell Oscar Treadwell (born Arthur Pedersen) (May 11, 1926 - April 1, 2006) was an American jazz radio journalist and presenter. Known as "OT", he became known mainly by a dedication to him by Charlie Parker, a composition called "An Oscar for Treadwe ...

* Leo (Old Undies) Underhill * Chris Wagner * Max Warner * Christopher Geisen * Stew Williams * Ty Williams * Dave Worford * Carmen "Catman" Catanzaro * Candy McGinnis • Scott McKay (Scott Marinoff) . Clint Powers (Clint Stortz)

On-air talent (after 2001)

* Brian Patrick * Bill Levitt * Anna Mitchell * Matt Swaim * Paul Lachmann * Rev. Rob Jack

References

External links

{{coord, 39, 05, 41, N, 84, 34, 59, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title NOP Catholic radio stations Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Ohio Newport, Kentucky