 | |
| Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 590kHz |
| Branding | Faith Talk 590 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian talk and teaching |
| Affiliations | SRN News |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 1, 1937; 87 years ago (1937-08-01) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | Walt Disney, co-founder ofThe Walt Disney Company, former owner |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 8623 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 33°50′44″N84°38′40″W / 33.845692°N 84.64439°W /33.845692; -84.64439 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
|
| Website | www |
WDWD (590AM; "Faith Talk 590") is aChristian radiostation inAtlanta, Georgia. It is owned by theSalem Media Group and it airs abrokeredChristian talk and teachingradio format. The studios are in Buckhead Center on Peachtree Road NW (U.S. Route 19).
WDWD'sradio transmitter site is off Sanders Road inAustell, Georgia, nearNoses Creek.[2] The station uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array, aimed towards Atlanta and avoiding interference withWWLX inLoretto, Tennessee. In 2009, the station upgraded its daytime power from 5,000 to 12,000watts, while the nighttime power remains at 4,500 watts. Also in 2009, the station started broadcasting in theAM HD Radio (hybrid digital) mode (which has been unavailable since 2013).
WDWD has a 24-hour schedule of Christian talk and teaching programs, some from local preachers but mostly from national religious leaders. They buy time on WDWD and may use their programs to seek donations to their ministries. Hosts includeJim Daly,James Dobson,David Jeremiah,Michael Youssef,Greg Laurie,Alistair Begg,Charles Stanley,Chuck Swindoll,Eric Metaxas andJohn MacArthur. News updates are provided bySRN News.
WDWD is one of threeChristian talk and teaching stations owned by Salem inMetro Atlanta.WNIV970 AM andWLTA1400 AM have a separate schedule. They run some of the same shows as WDVD but at different times.
The stationsigned on the air on August 1, 1937; 87 years ago (1937-08-01).[3] Itscall sign was WAGA.[4] It was once thesister station ofWAGA-TV, now Atlanta'sFox TV station.[5] WAGA was powered at 1,000 watts by day and 500 watts at night.[6]
TheAtlanta Journal newspaper, which owned Atlanta's top station,WSB, had difficulty choosing between the twoNBC radio networks, theRed Network and theBlue Network.[3] Thus, theJournal established WAGA to carry the Blue Network while WSB carried programming from the Red Network.[3][7] WAGA's on-air slogan during the station's early days was "Atlanta's Wave of Welcome".[3] The studios were located in theWestern Union Building (current location of Telecom Tower, on the SW corner of Marietta Street and Forsyth Street) in downtown Atlanta.[3] WAGA's transmitter was located at Sugar Creek, three miles from the center of Atlanta.[3] The station moved from 1450kilocycles to 1480 in 1941, following the enactment of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).[8] It then moved to the better dial position of 590 AM in 1942.[8][9] The 1480 kHz frequency later returned to the air under a new license asWYZE, with no affiliation to WAGA.[5]
Due to FCC rules limiting station ownership, theJournal sold WAGA to Fort Industry Broadcasting ofToledo, Ohio, in the 1940s. In 1948, WAGA acquired an FMsister station when WAGA-FM (nowWVEE) began broadcasting. A year later,WAGA-TV signed on as Atlanta's second television station. Fort Industry changed its name toStorer Broadcasting in 1952.
In 1959, WAGA began playingTop 40 hits.[10] The call sign changed to WPLO, which stood for Plough.[4] The station was sold to the broadcasting arm ofPlough, Inc., a pharmaceutical company. (FCC rules at the time made call sign change compulsory if a sister television or radio station was sold.)[11]
The Top 40 sound ended in 1966, when WPLO switched to acountry music format.[11] In 1987, the station changed its call letters to WKHX and adopted the "Kicks 590" slogan still used onWKHX-FM 101.5. The two stations begansimulcasting. WKHX 590 once broadcast using the Kahn/HazeltineAM stereo system. It aired aclassic country format beginning in October 1992.[12][13]
The country format ended in 1996. On November 18th at 5 a.m., the station flipped tochildren's radio. It adopted theRadio Disney format with the call sign changing to WDWD.[14]
In September 2009, the station was forced off the air for a week when nearbyNoses Creek flooded. The creek reached double itsflood stage during the historic record-breaking2009 Atlanta floods. The station had been shut down prior to the flood and the equipment was disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. When the flood waters receded, nearly all of the equipment wassalvaged since there had been noshort circuiting from the water.
On August 13, 2014,The Walt Disney Company put WDWD and 22 other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[15][16] Disney originally planned to temporarily shut down the station on September 26, 2014.[17] However, the station remained on the air with Radio Disney programming until it was sold.[18]
On February 25, 2015, Radio Disney Atlanta filed to sell WDWD to South Texas Broadcasting, Inc.,[19] a subsidiary of theSalem Media Group.[20] Salem bought the station for $2.75 million.[21] The application to assign the station license was granted by theU.S. Federal Communications Commission on April 13, 2015, and the purchase was consummated on May 7, 2015.
On March 10, 2015, Salem Media CEO Ed Atsinger revealed that Salem would move theWNIV/WLTA programming to WDWD after the completion of the sale.[22] On May 11, 2015, WDWD changed its format to Christian talk, branded as "Faith Talk 590", with programming fromSalem Radio Network.[23] At one time, Salem owned five stations in Metro Atlanta, including WDWD. However,WAFS1190 AM has been sold toRelevant Radio for itsCatholic radio network. AndWFSH104.7 FM was sold to theEducational Media Foundation for itsAir1worship music network.