WWAC (1020 AM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a City (New Jersey), city in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County, and is ...

, and serving the

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

area of the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

. It is owned by Enrico S. Brancadora, broadcasting 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 ...

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, ...

. WWAC is co-owned with

WIBG-FM WIBG-FM (94.3 FM, "Wibbage 94.3") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits music format. WIBG is licensed to Avalon, New Jersey, United States. The station is currently owned by WIBG Limited Liability Company and features local progra ...

, a classic hits station licensed to

Avalon, New Jersey Avalon is a borough in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on Seven Mile Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,243, a decrease of 91 (−6.8%) from the 2010 census count of 1,334, w ...

. By day, WWAC is powered at 1,900 watts, non-directional. WWAC's signal reaches from

Toms River The Toms River is a freshwater river and estuary in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The river rises in the Pine Barrens of northern Ocean County, then flows southeast and east, where it is fed by several tributaries, and flows in a ...

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

. Because

1020 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1020 kHz: 1020 AM is a clear-channel U.S. frequency. KDKA Pittsburgh and KVNT Eagle River, Alaska, share Class A status of 1020 AM. In Argentina * LRA58 in Rio Mayo, Chubut * LRJ ...

is a clear channel frequency reserved for 50,000 watt Class A station KDKA in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, WWAC must go off the air at night to avoid interference. During

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 ...

, WWAC is powered at 680 watts. Programming is also heard on several

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 tr ...

s around the clock: W250AK 97.9 Mhz in

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, W267BP 101.3

MHz 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 u ...

in Pleasantville, and W270DV 101.9 MHz in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

History

The station

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 ...

the air on June 12, 1964. The original

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 ...

was WSLT and the original frequency was 1520 kHz. The studios were on Asbury Avenue and the original owner was Salt-Tee Radio. The call sign was changed to WIBG in 1978 after the call sign went out of use in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. ( Guide to reading History Cards) The station broadcast with various formats over the years including middle of the road (MOR), Top 40,

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

and

. In the early 1980s, WIBG lost the lease on its transmitter site in Somers Point and went off the air for a time. A replacement site in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic ...

was eventually located. The station built a new tower site and returned to the air, changing its frequency to 1020 kHz in the process. The revived WIBG aired Spanish-language programming and tourist information before adopting a

Christian radio 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. On November 19, 2008, WIBG joined

Radiolicious Radiolicious was an internet radio service created by MySimBook, based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Users were able to search and listen to terrestrial radio stations. While listening, users are offered the ability to send in song requests to DJs, ...

and began streaming on the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

. In October 2011, the station changed to a

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. In May 2013, WIBG dropped its syndicated talk programs and began programming music on weekdays, with some local talk shows and religious broadcasts continuing to be broadcast on weekends, along with "Wibbage Gold" oldies. On June 3, 2013, the format changed to Spanish hits "En Vivo 1020". In January 2017, the station changed its moniker to "La Mega 101.3", referring to the dial position of its primary FM translator. The call sign was switched to WWAC on April 7, 2021. On August 12, 2023, WWAC dropped its simulcast of La Mega in favor of "Wibbage Gold" oldies, while retaining its long-form Saturday talk programs. However, this would turn out to be a placeholder, as the station would end up stunting on August 31 with a loop of " Last Night" by

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country pop singer from Sneedville, Tennessee. He competed in the The Voice (American season 6), sixth season of ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice''. After being eliminated in the ...

, with bumpers between playings consisting solely of sounds of a cat running away, a nod towards new rival

WPUR WPUR (107.3 FM) is a country music formatted radio station in Atlantic City, New Jersey. WPUR is more commonly known as "Cat Country 107.3". Its transmitter is located in Atlantic City, while studios are in Northfield, New Jersey. History The ...

, branded as "Cat Country". This lead into a flip to

as "Hot Country 101" the following day.

Translators

Programming is also heard on several

s around the clock: W250AK 97.9 Mhz in

, W267BP 101.3

in Pleasantville, and W270DV 101.9 MHz in

References

External links

* * ( Guide to reading History Cards) ;FM translators * * * * {{coord, 39, 13, 45, N, 74, 40, 53, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title WAC Country radio stations in the United States WAC Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in New Jersey