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| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 1350kHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
| Founded | February 22, 1925 (1925-02-22) |
First air date | April 8, 1925 (100 years ago) (1925-04-08) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | "Akron Radio Free" (former progressive talk branding) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 49951 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°10′5.00″N81°30′45.00″W / 41.1680556°N 81.5125000°W /41.1680556; -81.5125000 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | foxsports1350thegambler |
WARF (1350AM) is a commercialradio station licensed toAkron, Ohio, known as "Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler" and carrying asports format. Owned byiHeartMedia, WARF serves theGreater Cleveland andAkron metro areas as an affiliate ofFox Sports Radio andVSiN. The station also carries play-by-play ofCleveland State Vikings men's basketball,[3] Spanish broadcasts ofCleveland Guardians home games, andKent State Golden Flashes football, men's basketball, and women's basketball.
Originally WADC, the station is the oldest surviving radio station in Akron, founded and owned by Allen T. Simmons. A charter affiliate of theCBS Radio Network, WADC was a key station in the network up to the early 1960s. Becoming WSLR in 1965, the station became one of the earliestcountry music stations in the region, and remained as such until switching tourban contemporary as WTOU in 1994. WTOU retained theircall sign after becoming anESPN Radio affiliate in 1999 and aFox Sports Radio affiliate in 2001, but changed to the current WARF calls in 2005 during a two-year stretch asprogressive talk. Having returned to a sports format in 2007, and resuming its Fox Sports affiliation in 2009, WARF was reoriented to the Clevelandmedia market in 2020 with the addition ofVSiNsports betting-related programming.
WARF's studios are located in theSix Six Eight Building inDowntown Cleveland'sGateway District,[4] while the stationtransmitter resides inCuyahoga Falls. In addition to a standardanalog transmission, WARF broadcasts a digital signal through theHD Radioin-band on-channel standard,[5] and streams online viaiHeartRadio.
The Akron Automobile Association established atemporary station named WADC for a February 1925auto show at the Central Garage,[6] with atransmitter built by the Willard Storage Battery Co. of Cleveland.[7] W. F. Jones, head of the show's sponsor, the Automobile Dealers' Company, insisted for the station's establishment to help broadcast the show's events to a larger audience.[8] After the show ended, Jones tried to get a permanent station launched; failing to find enough investor support, Allen T. Simmons—owner of the Allen Theater—obtained a permanent license which was granted on March 23, 1925.[9] W. F. Jones would eventually purchase Cleveland station WDBK in July 1927[10] and moved it to Akron asWFJC,[8] only to have it moved back to Cleveland in 1930 asWGAR (AM) via a two-station consolidation.[11]
A slogan — "Watch Akron Develop Commerce"[12] — matching the call letters was adopted, which was soon slightly modified to "Watch Akron Develop Commercially".[13] (Allen's 1965 obituary stated that the station's slogan was "Watch Akron Deliver Cars",[14] although anAkron Beacon columnist later noted that "Several readers... reported that it actually meant 'Watch Akron Develop Commercially'".)[15] WADC was the second radio station in Akron (after WOE which went on the air on April 27, 1922, but was off the air in July 1923).[16] Regular broadcasts began on April 8, 1925, from studios in the Portage Hotel.[17][18] The station originally broadcast at 1160 kHz with 100 watts,[19] but its signal increased to 500 watts by 1926.[20]
WADC was a charter member of theCBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.[21] The station soon opened new studios inTallmadge and increased its power to 5,000 watts. Its frequency jumped around from 1160 to 1010 to 1260, and to 1320 after theFRC'sGeneral Order 40 went into effect on November 11, 1928. On March 29, 1941, it moved to 1350 kHz as part of theNARBA frequency shifts.
As the CBS affiliate during the 1930s and 1940s, WADC was the leading Akron radio station, rivaled later only byWAKR after it took to the air in 1940. Akron had noNBC Red affiliate, sinceWTAM's signal from Cleveland covered the area. WADC's success was symbolized by the two-story art-deco WADC Building, which was completed on May 6, 1949, and became a local landmark on the southeast corner of Main and Mill Streets in downtown Akron. The entire second floor of the building was occupied by the station's studios and offices.
WADC was sold in late 1964 to Welcome Radio, Inc. headed by Cleveland lawyer Harrison Fuerst. In January 1965, the station became WSLR, known as "Whistler 1350". It brought acountry music format to the area, with morning host Jaybird Drennan. Jaybird died on December 10, 2006. On August 22, 1984, Welcome Radio sold WSLR to OBC Broadcasting, Inc., headed by Richard A. Nicoletti.[22] Faced with competition fromWQMX in Akron, along withWGAR-FM in Cleveland andWQXK inYoungstown, WSLR dropped its country format.
On September 1, 1994, the station adopted anurban contemporary format delivered byABC Radio called "The Touch",[23] and it switched to call letters WTOU on September 29.
In October 1999, the station switched to a sports talk format. It first carried programming fromESPN Radio and kept the WTOU calls but dropped "The Touch" nickname and instead went by "1350AM ESPN - Akron's Sports Network". WTOU and sister stationWKDD (96.5 FM) were sold by OBC Broadcasting to Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia) on August 15, 2000.[24][25] On September 18, 2001, months after the sale to Clear Channel, WTOU then flipped toFox Sports Radio, branded as "Fox Sports 1350". The networks' offerings at the time also includedTony Bruno and "Kiley & Booms", co-hosted by Cleveland Heights native Chuck Booms (who broadcast on his end from Clear Channel's Cleveland facilities inIndependence, Ohio). WTOU also became the Akron-Canton affiliate forThe Jim Rome Show, and became the home station for the Akron Aeros for the 2002 season.[26]
The sports talk format was dropped on June 2, 2005, and the station switched to a liberal talk radio format (albeit with noAir America programming at first), changing its call letters to WARF.[27] Branded as "Radio Free Ohio", WARF carriedAl Franken andRandi Rhodes from Air America Radio, andEd Schultz andStephanie Miller from Jones Radio. WARF also held the distinction of being the only station in the country to carryBill Press's radio show when it debuted on June 27, 2005, untilKRXA picked up the show on August 22. On February 13, 2006, veteran radio personalityJoe Finan (long heard on rival talk stationWNIR) began a locally produced talk show 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. weekdays. Finan was released from WARF that October 27, and died that December 20.
WARF changed back to a sports format on March 30, 2007; branded "Sports Radio 1350", becoming an affiliate for Sporting News Radio. Itslogo used a blue-and-gold color scheme, a nod to theUniversity of Akron. In June 2009, WARF reverted back toFox Sports Radio programming.
On January 27, 2020, WARF rebranded as "Fox Sports 1350 The Gambler", as it added programming from theVegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) related tosports betting. The accompanying press release also formally repositioned WARF as a Cleveland market station, billing itself asCleveland's Fox Sports 1350,[28][29] though the station'scity of license assignment toAkron andtransmitter site inCuyahoga Falls remained unchanged.[30][31]
On March 21, 2021, WARF announced plans to move to a new combined studio/office facility at theSix Six Eight Building inDowntown Cleveland, utilizingcloud storage technology. The relocation process completed in July 2022.
Fox Sports Radio programming airs the bulk of the day (both during the week and on weekends - including the morning drive show featuring formerCleveland Browns quarterbackBrady Quinn) with programming fromVSiN also featured (early evenings and weekends).[32][31]
WARF serves as the flagship station forCleveland State Vikings men's basketball.[33]
Though primarily an English language station, WARF serves as the Spanish flagship station for theCleveland Guardians, airing broadcasts of home games, complimenting the coverage on sister stations/Guardians flagships WTAM andWMMS 100.7 FM.[34]
In 2025, WARF became the flagship forKent State Golden Flashes football, men's basketball, and women's basketball.
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