 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Research Triangle |
| Frequency | 1490kHz |
| Branding | "AM 1490" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Indian -South Asian -Bollywood Hits |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | February 29, 1948; 77 years ago (1948-02-29) |
Former call signs | WSSB |
Call sign meaning | Durham |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 36943 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000Watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°58′04″N78°53′17″W / 35.96778°N 78.88806°W /35.96778; -78.88806 |
| Translator | 101.9 W270DT (Durham) |
| Repeater | 99.9 WCMC-HD4 (Holly Springs) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaTuneIn) |
| Website | radionyra |
WDUR (1490AM) is anIndian/South Asianradio station inDurham, North Carolina, owned by Ravi Cherukuri, through licensee Arohi Media LLC. The station plays primarilyBollywood Hits withtalk and news inHindi,Tamil andTelugu languages.
WDUR is powered at 1,000watts using anon-directional antenna. Programming is also heard onFM translator W270DT at 101.9MHz.
The station signed on the air on 1490 kHz on February 29, 1948.[2] The originalcall sign was WSSB. The 1490 AM frequency was abandoned when another Durham station,WDNC, moved down the dial to 620 kHz. In late 1951, WSSB merged operations with another Durham station,Mutual Broadcasting Systemnetwork affiliate WHHT 1590 AM, which subsequentlyleft the airwaves).
Ed Clinton was the owner in the 1950s when Lex Diamond introduced aTop 40 format.. Steve Robbins ("Rockin' Robin") and Gaylord "Jay" Wood wereDJ's. (Ed Clinton adopted "Jay" as his official nickname.) Charles Cook was a disc jockey when the station was the number one Top 40 station in Durham in the late 1960s. He played white and black artists, and he was one of the few white DJs to acknowledge black schools and their accomplishments.[3]
During the 1980s and 1990s, WDUR playedR&B music, serving theAfrican-American community. The stationsimulcastWFXC and WFXK until 1994, when it began playingR&B oldies.[4] Anurban gospel format began in October 1997 on WDUR and WZZU.[5] WZZU later becameWNNL The Light 103.9.
By the mid-1990s, the station was owned byClear Channel Communications. By the year 2000, it wassimulcasting theoldies format onWTRG. For part of the 2000s the station aired the same programming asWTSB, asports radio station. It was during that time when Clear Channel sold WDUR to Triangle Sports Broadcasters.
On August 27, 2007, an application[6] was filed with the FCC to transfer the license to Prieto Broadcasting, which agreed to pay $900,000 contingent on FCC approval, which was granted on October 15, 2007. Prieto Broadcasting is located inDoraville, Georgia, and specializes inSpanish language radio targeting the Hispanic community.[7] WDUR later became Radio Luz 1490 AM, and aired theRegional Mexican programming ofWETC.
The FCC process cited in the authorization requires that the parties notify the FCC within 90 days after approval that the transfer of the license and station to the new owner has been consummated. However, that notice was not received by the FCC and the license remained with Triangle Sports Broadcasters.[8]
Triangle Sports Broadcasters sold WDUR, and filed an application (314) on April 7, 2014 with FCC for license transfer to Arohi Media LLC., a Texas-based company owned by Ravi Cherukuri. FCC released a public notice on April 9, 2014 as part of this process.[9]
On July 8, 2014, WDUR returned to the airwaves after a two-year hiatus under Arohi Media's ownership withIndian radio programming forSouth Asian community – a first for the market. By January 2017, however, WDUR wassimulcastingWRSV 92.1 FM, a station inElm City, North Carolina, airing anurban contemporary andhip hop music format.
WDUR began broadcasting on FMtranslator W252DK 98.3MHz on August 18, 2016. However, the translator was alleged to cause interference toWLUS, acountry station licensed toClarksville, Virginia. Its transmitter is located nearBullock near the North Carolina/Virginia border, whose signal reaches the outer fringes of the Raleigh-Durham area. WLUS's parent company Lakes Media LLC encouraged its listeners in Durham, Wake, and Granville counties to submit a "listener declaration form" to the station in an attempt to convince the FCC to force WDUR's translator off the air. Arohi Media denied its translator was causing interference.[10][11]
After nearly a year of debate between Arohi Media, and Lakes Media LLC, theFederal Communications Commission sent Arohi a letter requiring that translator W252DK cease operation immediately.[12][13] The translator's license was suspended and is no longer found in the FCC database.[14]
The FCC accepted a Petition for Reconsideration filed by Arohi Media on June 1, 2017.[15] On August 22, 2017 WDUR's translator on 98.3 FMwent off the air, only to return in the summer of 2018 at low power. In November 2018, the station moved to 101.9 FM as W270DT.
As of late December 2017, WDUR has reverted to its South Asian format, breaking off the simulcast with WRSV. In addition to being heard at 1490 AM and the 101.9 FM translator, WDUR is also heard on anHD Radiosubchannel onWCMC-FM 99.9 FM: WCMC-FM-HD4.