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| Broadcast area | New Orleans metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1280kHz |
| Branding | New Orleans' BIN 1280 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Black-oriented news |
| Affiliations | Black Information Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WFFX,WNOE-FM,WQUE-FM,WRNO-FM,WYLD,WYLD-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | July 23, 1923; 102 years ago (1923-07-23) (as WCBE) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Who Dat? (New Orleans Saints chant) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11947 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°53′43″N90°00′16″W / 29.89528°N 90.00444°W /29.89528; -90.00444 |
| Translator | 96.7 K244FX (New Orleans) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | neworleans |
WODT (1280AM) is acommercialradio station inNew Orleans, Louisiana. It broadcasts anall-news radioformat as anaffiliate of theBlack Information Network. It is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc., withstudios on Howard Avenue.
WODT is powered at 5,000watts full-time. To protect other stations on1280 AM from interference, it uses adirectional antenna with a three-tower array. Thetransmitter is in theAlgiers district of New Orleans.[2] Programming is also heard on 45-wattFM translatorK244FX at 96.7MHz in New Orleans.[3]
The station made itsdebut broadcast, as WCBE, on July 23, 1923.[4] The originalcall sign was randomly assigned from a roster of available call letters. It was owned by Joseph Uhalt and based in his New Orleans backyard. In 1928, he moved the station to the DeSoto Hotel (now theLe Pavillon Hotel) in downtown New Orleans and changed the call letters to WDSU. In the 1930s, WDSU broadcast on 1250kilocycles and was anaffiliate of theNBC Blue Network. It carried its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports,soap operas,game shows andbig band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio." (The Blue Network became theABC Radio Network in 1945.)
With the 1941 enactment of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), WDSU moved to 1280 kHz. In 1948, it put Louisiana's first television station on the air,WDSU-TV. A year later, it added an FM station, WDSU-FM (now 93.3WQUE). The radio stations were sold in 1972, and the AM became WGSO with anadult contemporary format. Around 1984 it switched to aTop 40/CHR format as"Stereo 13Q" under the WQUE call letters. On December 21, 1985 the station switched toR&B oldies as WMKJ, "Majic 1280". Soon thereafter, it became asimulcast of WQUE-FM after the station evolved to aCHUrban format.
In the early 1990s, WQUE tried anall-sports format that included broadcasts of theNew Orleans Saints, but it didn't last long. On February 1, 1996, the station flipped to an all-blues format as WODT. The call sign represented the chant used by fans of theNew Orleans Saints,Who dat? Despite good ratings, the format did not attract advertisers.
In October 2003, WODT returned to sports programing fromFox Sports Radio,ESPN Radio and "TheJim Rome Show." WODT was theflagship station of theNew Orleans Hornets radio network from 2003–2006. Hornets radio color analyst Gerry Vaillancourt hosted a popular afternoon sports talk call-in show from May 2004—December 2006. The sports format ran for almost five years. The station's final sports-era legal ID was an homage both to the station's small, but loyal following, and to the Jim Rome Show; it contained a frequent Rome Show sign-off clip ("I think what I'm supposed to say is, 'Thank you. I'm out.'")
On June 25, 2008, WODT switched to anurban gospel format, complementing a similar format onsister stationWYLD.[5] On September 4, 2012, the station became an affiliate ofESPN Deportes Radio, as aSpanish-language sports outlet.[6]
On September 15, 2014 WODT switched from ESPN Deportes' Spanish-language sports programming back to English-language sports, with programming from Fox Sports Radio.[7] WODT began rebroadcasting on theHD-2subchannel of co-owned 101.1WNOE-FM.[8] In 2020, WODT began simulcasting on an FM translator at 96.7 MHz.
On June 29, 2020, fifteen iHeart stations in markets with large black populations, including WODT New Orleans, beganstunting. The speeches of prominent African Americans were aired, interspersed with messages such as "Our Voices Will Be Heard" and "Our Side of the Story is About to be Told,." A new format was slated to debut on June 30.[9][10]
That day, WODT, along with the other fourteen stations, launched theBlack Information Network. It broadcasts an African American-orientedall-news format.[11] Local news, traffic and weather updates are integrated into network programming.