 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater San Antonio |
| Frequency | 1200kHz |
| Branding | Newsradio 1200 WOAI |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KTKR,KXXM,KAJA,KQXT-FM,KRPT,KZEP-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | September 25, 1922; 103 years ago (1922-09-25) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11952 |
| Class | A |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°30′7.6″N98°7′43.7″W / 29.502111°N 98.128806°W /29.502111; -98.128806 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | woai |
WOAI (1200kHz) is acommercial radio station inSan Antonio, Texas, which airs anews/talk radio format. It is owned and operated byiHeartMedia, Inc. With iHeart's headquarters in San Antonio, WOAI is the company'sflagship station. The station's studios are in theStone Oak neighborhood in Far North San Antonio, and itstransmitter site is off Santa Clara Road inZuehl.
WOAI uses the moniker "The 50,000 Watt Blowtorch of South Texas." It is aclass A, non-directionalclear-channel station, broadcasting full-time at the U.S. maximum power of 50,000 watts. During the day, WOAI covers most of Central andSouth Texas. WOAI's nighttime signal reaches much of the United States and Mexico, and parts of central Canada. However, it is strongest in the central United States.
.gif)
WOAI received its commercial broadcasting license on September 14, 1922. It was owned by the Southern Equipment Company in San Antonio.[3] Thecall letters were randomly assigned from a sequential list. Although currently theMississippi River is used as the dividing line between "K" call signs in the West and "W" call letters in the East, prior to January 1923 the dividing line was along the Texas-New Mexico border, and stations licensed earlier were allowed to keep their original call signs, including WOAI.[4] Co-owned WOAI-TV, and brieflyWOAI-FM, were later also allowed to use this call sign. WOAI and WOAI-TV are currently the westernmost stations on the North American continent with "W" call letters.
WOAI made its debut broadcast on September 25, 1922; 103 years ago (September 25, 1922). Its studios were in the Southern Equipment Company Building at Romana and St. Mary's Streets. Its original transmitter was rated at 500 watts, considered a high power at the time. The station publicity boasted it was "a plant bigger and better than any in the South".[5] The station was initially authorized to broadcast on both the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) and the "market and weather reports" wavelength of 485 meters (619 kHz).[6] However, in May 1923 the Department of Commerce, which regulated U.S. radio at this time, set aside a band of "Class B" frequencies that were reserved for stations that had quality equipment and programming. The San Antonio area was assigned exclusive use of 780 kHz.[7] WOAI was authorized to move to this new assignment.[8]
Over the next few years, regulators struggled to keep pace with a rapidly growing number of stations, and WOAI was moved to a variety of frequencies, beginning with 760 kHz in early 1925.[9] followed by 940[10] It was also heard on 600 kHz in the fall of 1927,[11] and 1070 kHz in early 1928.[12] On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40, WOAI was designated as the primary station assigned to the "clear channel" frequency of 1190 kHz.[13] Also during this time period the station was authorized to move its transmitter site and increase its power from 500 to 1,000 watts; then to 2,000 watts, and then 5,000; and finally to 50,000 watts in 1930. In 1941, a major reallocation of the radio dial was prompted by the adoption of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). On March 21, 1941, WOAI moved to 1200 kHz, and until the 1980s was the only station of significant power licensed to this frequency in North America.
In 1933, the corporate name was changed to Southland Industries, Inc., which would hold the license for more than four decades. During the 1930s, WOAI was anNBC Red Networkaffiliate.[14] It carried NBC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio."
In the 1940s, the station developed a sizable agricultural department and aired frequent farm market reports. In 1949,WOAI-TV came on the air as San Antonio's first television station. Because WOAI radio was an NBC Radio affiliate, Channel 4 primarily aired NBC-TV shows, although it also carried some programs fromCBS,ABC andDumont. As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WOAI 1200 switched to afull servicemiddle of the road (MOR) music format, with frequent newscasts, farm reports and sports.
In 1956, aBoeing B-29 hit WOAI's transmitter tower, destroying it. The plane made a crash landing, killing one passenger. No one on the ground was injured.[15]
In 1965, WOAI AM-FM-TV were acquired by theCrosley Broadcasting Corporation, originally founded in Ohio byPowel Crosley Jr.[16] Crosley Broadcasting changed its name toAvco in 1968. Avco kept the radio stations but sold WOAI-TV toUnited Television, which changed the call sign to KMOL-TV.
On June 13, 1975, San Antonio businessmenL. Lowry Mays andBJ "Red" McCombs acquired WOAI from Avco Broadcasting.[17] They already ownedeasy listening FM station KEEZ, acquired in 1972, and switched it to aTop 40 format. WOAI's "clear channel" signal would become the namesake of their new company,Clear Channel Communications.[18]
WOAI began to move towards talk programming, and stopped playing music by the late 1970s. In 1979, KEEZ switched its call letters to WOAI-FM playing an easy listening format. In 1981 WOAI-FM switched tocountry music asKAJA "KJ*97". Through the 1980s, WOAI relied more on its newsroom and focused on local and national news, local talk shows and agricultural reports. The station also began including sports play-by-play, especially after acquiring the radio contract for allSan Antonio SpursNBA basketball games. WOAI was the radio home of theSan Antonio Gunslingers in theUnited States Football League (USFL).
In 1998, Clear Channel acquired the parent company ofPremiere Radio Networks, which syndicated national talk shows such asThe Rush Limbaugh Show,Dr. Laura, Dr.Dean Edell, TheJim Rome Show andCoast to Coast AM. Rush and Dr. Laura had already been airing in San Antonio on talk radio competitor 550KTSA and were switched over to WOAI's line up. WOAI news anchor Bob Guthrie celebrated 50 years on the radio station in 2006.
In 2001, WOAI regained a TV sister station when Clear Channel acquired KMOL-TV, which had been WOAI-TV from its founding in 1949 until its sale in 1974. In December 2002, KMOL-TV was granted permission from theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) to change its call sign back to WOAI-TV. The TV station has since been sold twice, toNewport Television and then to current ownerSinclair Broadcast Group. In May 2012, WOAI briefly added an FMsimulcast overtranslator station K289BN at 105.7 MHz, but this only lasted for four months. On September 19, 2012, the translator switched to simulcasting co-ownedclassic country stationKRPT.[19]
On September 16, 2014, Clear Channel renamed itselfiHeartMedia, Inc. This brought its corporate name in line with itsiHeartRadio internet platform.[20][21]
CC Media Holdings, for example, the overall corporation, will be renamed iHeartMedia Inc., and Clear Channel Communications, its major subsidiary, will become iHeartCommunications.
Effective today, CC Media Holdings, Inc. (OTCCB: CCMO) will become iHeartMedia, Inc. In connection with the company's new brand, the company's ticker symbol will also change, effective September 17. Of the company's major businesses, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment will become iHeartMedia; other company brands, including iHeartRadio, Premiere Networks, Total Traffic and Weather Network, Katz Media Group and RCS, will retain their current names.