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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 1180kHz |
| Branding | NewsRadio WHAM 1180 |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WAIO,WDVI,WHTK,WKGS,WNBL,WVOR | |
| History | |
First air date | July 11, 1922; 103 years ago (1922-07-11) |
Former frequencies |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 37545 |
| Class | A |
| Power | 50,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | |
| Translator | 96.1 W241DG (Rochester) |
| Repeater | 95.1 WAIO-HD2 (Honeoye Falls) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | wham1180 |
WHAM (1180kHz) is a commercialclear channelAM radio station inRochester, New York, United States. It is owned byiHeartMedia and airs anews/talkradio format. The studios and offices are atFive Star Bank Plaza in downtown Rochester.
Its 50,000-wattnon-directionaltransmitter, located inChili, New York, operates the maximum power for commercial AM stations in the United States and Canada. During the day, it provides at least secondary coverage to all ofWestern New York, includingBuffalo. It can also be heard in much ofSouthern Ontario, includingToronto,Peterborough, andKingston. At night, WHAM can be received across much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada with a good radio. It is theEmergency Alert System's primary entry point station for Western New York.
WHAM carries two local news blocks on weekdays:The WHAM Morning News andThe WHAM 5 O'Clock NewsHour. The local talk show isBob Lonsberry. The rest of the weekday schedule isnationally syndicated talk shows, mostly from co-ownedPremiere Networks:The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,Sean Hannity andCoast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory. In addition, WHAM carriesMark Levin fromWestwood One andJoe Pags, who is based at co-ownedWOAI inSan Antonio. The station also carriesSyracuse Orange men's basketball from theSyracuse Sports Network.
Weekend programming includes shows on money, health, home repair, cars, technology and law. Weekend hosts includeBill Cunningham and somebrokered programming.
The station firstsigned on the air on July 11, 1922.[2] While not the first station to be licensed to the Rochester market (that distinction belongs to the defunct WHQ), it is the oldest surviving station in the area.
IndustrialistGeorge Eastman, the founder of the Rochester-basedEastman Kodak Company, helped theUniversity of Rochester launch the station and thought the "WHAM" name would prove to be a clever marketing tool. Jim Barney helped the university get the station on the air.
In 1927, WHAM was acquired byStromberg-Carlson,[3] a maker of radio and telecommunications equipment then based in Rochester. The company expanded the station's operations and boosted its signal to 5,000 watts shortly after the acquisition.
It was relocated from 1080 to 1150 kHz in the overall national reorganization of the AM radio band by theFederal Radio Commission in 1928. In 1933, WHAM was allowed to increase power to 25,000 watts. A ceremony marking the event included a three-hour broadcast from theEastman Theatre with "a galaxy of stars" participating.[4] It later got a boost to its current 50,000 watt level.
In theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the AM band was shuffled in March 1941. WHAM changed frequency once more to its current 1180 kHz.
In February 1948, WHAM and its FMsister station, WHFM (nowWBZA), moved into a new facility, Rochester Radio City. The building included 24 offices and six studios, the largest of which could accommodate 400 people in the audience.[3]
WHAM has ties to two of the city's television stations. It put the city's first station on the air, WHAM-TV, in 1949. That station is nowWROC-TV, the area'sCBSaffiliate. In 2005, the area'sABC affiliate, WOKR, changed itscall sign toWHAM-TV. Clear Channel Communications (now known asiHeartMedia), already the owner of WHAM radio, owned WOKR/WHAM-TV from 2002 until the sale of its entire television group toNewport Television (controlled by Providence Equity Partners) in 2007; the two stations still have a news partnership.
WHAM radio hostBob Lonsberry has often been the source of controversy, due to his on-air remarks.[5] He was fired from his show in 2003, but was later brought back due to boycotts by aggrieved fans.
News articles were circulated about him comparing a derogatory racial reference to the term "Boomers" - a colloquial reference for people born during theBaby Boom.[6]
Lonsberry also hosts a show earlier in the day on co-ownedWGY (810 AM and103.1 FM) inAlbany, New York and later in the day on co-ownedWSYR (570 AM and106.9 FM) inSyracuse.
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