| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Frequency | 790kHz |
| Branding | Sports Talk 790AM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WAMZ,WHAS,WKJK,WSDF,WNRW,WQMF,WTFX-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1936; 89 years ago (1936) |
Former call signs | WGRC, WAKY, WVEZ, WWKY, WXXA |
Call sign meaning | Station was the formerflagship station forUniversity of LouisvilleCardinal sports |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53587 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | 790louisville |
WKRD (790kHz) is asports formattedAM radio station in theLouisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area. It is owned byiHeartMedia, and brandedSports Talk 790AM. The station's studios are located in the Louisville enclave ofWatterson Park, and its transmitter site is in east Louisville, southwest of theI-64/I-265 interchange.
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790 AM in Louisville was originally WGRC, and featured a variety of programming, typical of radio in the pre-rock era. In 1958, broadcasterGordon McLendon, aTop 40 radio pioneer best known forKLIF inDallas, Texas, purchased WGRC. After stunting with the novelty record "The Purple People Eater", WGRC became WAKY on July 7, 1958, and immediately shot to the top of the Louisville ratings as the market's first Top 40 music station. WAKY (known affectionately to its listeners as "Wacky") competed with 1080 AMWKLO during the 1960s and 1970s, with WAKY usually being the dominant station of the two. The station's popular personalities included Bill Bailey ("The Duke of Louisville"), Dude Walker,Gary Burbank (later ofCKLW,WHAS, andWLW), Mason Lee Dixon, and the late Bert Markert (known on the air as "Weird Beard"). The station solidified its mass appeal by playing a great deal ofcountry and R&B product mixed in with the mainstream pop and rock, owing to the large audiences for both genres of music in the Louisville market and the lack of a 24-hour R&B/soul station at the time (1350WLOU, the area's primaryblack-oriented station, was a daytimer).
Having lost listeners during the 1970s to FM rock stations such asWQMF andWLRS, WAKY softened its music format to a moreadult contemporary sound in 1978, declaring, "The station you grew up with has grown up with you." This was followed by format changes tooldies in 1982, to automatedbeautiful music in June 1986, to automatedcountry music, back to adult contemporary in March 1988 as WVEZ (dropping the heritage WAKY calls to reflect its simulcast with106.9 FM), toclassic country in August 1989 as WWKY, and then to atalk radio format in February 1991. On May 10, 2001, WWKY changed to the sports-talk format as 'WXXA ("Xtra Sports 790") before changing to the WKRD calls.
Sports programming that airs on WKRD includeNASCARSprint Cup,Xfinity Series andTruck Series, andCincinnati Bengals football.
From August 2007-February 2022,Louisville football andmen's basketball have aired on WKRD when their games conflicted withUniversity of Kentuckyfootball andmen's basketball onWHAS radio. On April 16, 2007, WKRD began simulcasting on WKRD-FM 101.7 (formerly WLPP).
Cincinnati Reds games were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 101.7 in favor ofLouisville Bats games.
University of Louisville sports were broadcast on AM 790, before they were moved to 93.9 FM and 970 AM.
On January 5, 2023, WKRD was rebranded as "SportsTalk 790AM".[2] This aligned with several programming moves consolidating Louisville's sports talk programming on the station, including the popularKentucky Sports Radio show, which had spent the past decade on sister station WKJK.
In March 2024, WKRD was announced as the primary carrier ofRacing Louisville FC'sNational Women's Soccer League broadcasts.[3]
38°11′34″N85°31′14″W / 38.19278°N 85.52056°W /38.19278; -85.52056