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|---|---|
| Frequency | 1150kHz |
| Branding | 1150 AM 101.7 FM WDEL |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | July 22, 1922 (103 years ago) (1922-07-22) |
Former call signs | WHAV (1922–1926) |
Call sign meaning | Delaware |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 16458 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°48′57.4″N75°31′46.7″W / 39.815944°N 75.529639°W /39.815944; -75.529639 (WDEL) |
| Repeater | See § Simulcast |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | https://listen.streamon.fm/wdelam |
| Website | wdel.com |
WDEL (1150kHz) is acommercialradio station inWilmington, Delaware. Itsimulcasts anews/talkradio format withsister stationWDEL-FM 101.7MHz. They are owned byDraper Holdings Business Trust with the license held by WBOC, Inc.[2]
WDEL 1150 broadcasts with 5,000watts around the clock. To protect other stations on1150 AM from interference, WDEL uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array. Thetransmitter, studios and offices located on Shipley Road in Wilmington.[3]
WDEL-AM-FM feature local talk and information shows on weekdays withnationally syndicated talk programs at night:The Ramsey Show withDave Ramsey, Rich Valdés America at Night,Red Eye Radio andAmerica in the Morning.[4] On weekends, WDEL-AM-FM have specialty shows devoted to money, sports, real estate, home repair, gardening and travel, including some paidbrokered programming. Syndicated shows on weekends includesThe Money Pit,Eye on Travel with Peter Greenberg, Jill on Money, TheCBS News Weekend Roundup andMotley Fool Money. World and national news is supplied byCBS News Radio.
WDEL-AM-FM carryPhiladelphia Philliesbaseball andPhiladelphia Eaglesfootball. Additionally, WDEL-AM-FM airNew Castle Countyhigh school football and basketball games.Sports betting shows fromVSiN are heard on weekend nights.
WDEL was first licensed in July 1922.[5] It was owned by the Wilmington Electrical Specialty Company, and was initially issued the sequentially assignedcall sign WHAV.[6] It made its debut broadcast on July 22 as one of the earliest broadcasting stations licensed in the United States, and the first in the state ofDelaware.[7] In 1926 the call sign were changed to WDEL.[8] Founded by Willard S. Wilson, the station was originally a 250-watt station, but by the late 1940s, it had been granted an increase to its current power of 5,000 watts.[9]
WDEL was later owned by theDelmarva Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary ofSteinman Enterprises, a family-owned newspaper, broadcasting and mining company, based inLancaster, Pennsylvania. Delmarva owned WDEL for more than 80 years.[10]
During the "Golden Age of Radio," WDEL was anNBC Red Networkaffiliate, carrying its dramas, comedies, sports, news, game shows, soap operas andbig band broadcasts. For a time in the 1940s, WDEL was co-owned with another early AM station licensed to Wilmington,WILM. While WDEL carried NBC Red Network programs, WILM aired shows from theNBC Blue Network (laterABC) and theMutual Broadcasting System.
In 1949, WDEL signed on a TV station, Channel 7WDEL-TV.[11] Because WDEL had been a long-time NBC radio affiliate, WDEL-TV became anNBC-TV network affiliate. It also carried programming from theDuMont Television Network. But it was limited in power due to its proximity to two other Channel 7 stations in New York City and Washington, DC. It later moved to Channel 12. The Steinman Family sold Channel 12 in 1955 and it eventually becameWHYY-TV, thePBS station forPhiladelphia, but stilllicensed to Wilmington.
In 1950, WDEL added an FM station, 93.7 WDEL-FM.[12] At first it simulcast the programming on the AM station. But by the late 1960s, it aired separate programming using thecall signWSTW.
With the demise ofold time network radio in the 1950s, WDEL adopted afull-service format, combining news, sports andmiddle of the road music.
In the mid-1980s, WDEL was the first Wilmington radio station to provide traffic reports. WDEL's "TrafficWatch on the 9s" remains on the air today.
In the mid-1990s, WDEL moved to anews/talk format, eliminating music. The station aired a local call-in and information show in the morning, plus various nationally syndicated programs during the day includingDr. Laura,Rush Limbaugh,Mitch Albom andSean Hannity.
In 2006, WDEL's main competitor,AM 1450WILM, was bought by Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia, Inc.). Because Limbaugh and Hannity were syndicated byPremiere Networks, an iHeart subsidiary, those shows moved over to WILM. As a result, WDEL adopted a weekday schedule of mostly "live and local" news and talk, only running syndicated programming in the evening and on weekends.
In 2015, Delmarva Broadcasting acquired 101.7 WJKS,licensed toCanton, New Jersey. Despite being based in New Jersey, the 101.7 signal covers parts of Northern Delaware, including sections of Wilmington. On April 1, WJKS flipped fromurban adult contemporary music to a simulcast of 1150 WDEL, giving the station's listeners the option to hear it on AM or FM. The callsign was switched to WDEL-FM, returning that call sign to the air on 101.7 MHz. (For much of the 1950s and 60s, the callsign WDEL-FM was used on co-owned 93.7 MHz, which now isWSTW.) WDEL can also be heard on theHD2subchannel of 93.7 WSTW.
In early 2019, Steinman Communications announced that it was divesting its broadcast properties. All Delmarva Broadcasting stations were to be sold to Forever Media. The deal closed on May 20, 2019.
WDEL has won several prestigiousEdward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, including national awards in 2007 for Best Website and 2009 for Best Newscast. WDEL has also been named News Operation of the Year by the ChesapeakeAssociated Press Broadcasters Association numerous times.
In 2004, WDEL was awarded by the National Association of Broadcasters with its prestigious Crystal Award for public service.
In 2005, WDEL became one of the first radio stations in the nation to produce web-based news video for its website, WDEL.com.
In 2011, WDEL won a prestigiousMarconi Award from theNational Association of Broadcasters for "Medium Market Station of the Year."
In 2014, WDEL's news department won the RTDNA national Edward R. Murrow Award for "Overall Excellence." WDEL also won RTDNA's national Murrow Award for "Best Newscast" that year. In 2016, WDEL again won the Murrow Award for "Overall Excellence."
WDEL-FMsimulcasts the programming of WDEL 1150 AM:
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | Facility ID | ERP W | Height m (ft) | Class | Transmitter coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDEL-FM | 101.7 FM | Canton, New Jersey | 51136 | 3,300 | 91 m (299 ft) | A | 39°25′53.6″N75°20′12.0″W / 39.431556°N 75.336667°W /39.431556; -75.336667 (WDEL) |
| International | |
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| National | |
