 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Indianapolis metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 1260kHz |
| Branding | Fox Sports 1260 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio NBC News Radio Indianapolis Indians Purdue Boilermakers |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WFBQ,WOLT,WZRL,W248AW | |
| History | |
First air date | October 23, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-10-23) (as WFBM) |
Former call signs | WFBM (1924–73) |
Former frequencies | 1130 kHz (1924–27) 1330 kHz (1927–28) 1090 kHz (1928–29) 1230 kHz (1929–41) |
Call sign meaning | Pronounced as "Indy" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 59591 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°51′54.00″N86°03′43.00″W / 39.8650000°N 86.0619444°W /39.8650000; -86.0619444 |
| Repeater(s) | 94.7 WFBQ-HD2 (Indianapolis) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | foxsportsindy |
WNDE (1260AM) is acommercialradio station inIndianapolis, Indiana. It is owned byiHeartMedia with thebroadcast license held by iHM Licenses, LLC.[2] WNDE broadcasts asports radioformat, with some afternoontalk programs, includingThe Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.
WNDE is powered at 5,000watts. By day, it uses anon-directional antenna. But at night, to protect other stations on1260 AM from interference, it switches to adirectional antenna with a three-tower array. Thetransmitter is off Fall Creek Road in Indianapolis.[3] Programming is also heard on theHD Radiodigital subchannel of co-ownedWFBQ94.7 FM.
The stationsigned on with the sequentially assigned call letters WFBM on October 23, 1924. It is the oldest radio station still operating in Indianapolis, and third oldest in the state of Indiana.[citation needed] It was started by the Merchants Heating & Light Co., laterIndianapolis Power & Light. In its early years, it broadcast on 1130kilocycles. In 1927, it moved to 1330 kHz, then to 1090 kHz in 1928, and to 1230 kHz in 1929. It arrived at its current frequency after the enactment of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) in 1941, when all stations in the United States at 1230 kHz were moved to 1260 kHz.
In 1949, WFBM-TV (nowWRTV) went on the air in time to broadcast the 1949Indianapolis 500 (May 30, 1949). The WFBM "family" grew on November 26, 1959, when WFBM-FM went on the air at 94.7 MHz (nowWFBQ). In 1957, WFBM-AM-FM-TV were soldTime Inc.,[4] who later subordinated their acquisition under its in 1961 established subsidiaryTime-Life, Inc. as Time–Life Broadcasting, Inc.McGraw-Hill bought the stations in 1972, and almost immediately put the radio stations on the market. The WFBM stations had beengrandfathered when the FCC banned common ownership of television and radio stations, but lost that protection with the McGraw-Hill purchase.
In 1973, WFBM became WNDE, followed by WFBM-FM becoming WFBQ in Spring 1974. The WNDE call letters were chosen as the letters "NDE" phonetically sound like "Indy".
Through much of the 1960s and 70s, WNDE had aTop 40 format, using the identifier "Windy Twelve Sixty." WNDE and 1310 WIFE (nowWTLC), had a spirited competition for youthful Top 40 listeners. But in the 1980s, contemporary music listening switched to the FM dial. For the first half of the 1980s, WNDE played “oldies,” meaning, rock and roll from the 1950s and early 1960s.
WNDE needed to find a new format and eventually it switched to Sports Radio.
WNDE has been aFox Sports Radionetwork affiliate since 2002. It had previously been anESPN Radio affiliate on two occasions. In September 2012, the network switched from Fox Sports Radio toNBC Sports Radio in the 10 p.m.-5 a.m. weekday hours, remaining with Fox in other dayparts. Former hosts of the afternoon drive local show include former WISH-TV sports anchor andHoosier Millionaire host Mark Patrick, the team of Tim Bragg & Bill Benner,Indiana Pacers announcer Mark Boyle, JMV (John Michael Vincent, currently with WFNI),IndyCar Radio announcer Jake Query, and Derek Schultz.
On July 7, 2015, WNDE added W248AW, an FMtranslator on 97.5 MHz. On July 22, 2019, the translator ended itssimulcast.[5] The next month, iHeart announced it was returning the translator originally owned byChristian radio companyEducational Media Foundation back to that organization as part of a translator trade.[6]
Most programming comes from the Fox Sports Radio network. In late mornings, it carriesPremiere Networks'The Dan Patrick Show. And unusual for a sports radio station, it carriesThe Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays.[7][8][9] Travis & Sexton are followed by a two-hour financial talk show. Sports programming resumes at 5 p.m. on weekdays.
WNDE's long-running local afternoondrive time show, "Query & Schultz", hosted by Jake Query and Derek Schultz, aired from 2011 to 2020. Query and Schultz were released in January 2020 as part of iHeart's cut backs. The 2020 iHeartMedia reduction in force (RIF) impacted over 1,000 employees across the USA. WNDE has not had a local sports talk show in any daypart since.
On July 6, 2015, WNDE became the Indianapolis outlet forThe Rush Limbaugh Show, which had been onWIBC for over two decades but whose carriage was ended for local programming. Coinciding with iHeart taking the show in-house to WNDE (the only choice it had locally due to incompatible music formats on iHeart's three other FM stations in the market), the company also acquiredFM translator station W248AW 97.5 FM from theEducational Media Foundation to simulcast WNDE. The surrounding sports format did not change. Limbaugh began airing on WNDE the same day as the station rebranded to "Fox Sports 97.5."[9][10] That FM simulcast ended in 2019 and WNDE became "Fox Sports 1260" (named for the AM frequency). WhenLimbaugh died in 2020, and Travis & Sexton succeeded him in the time slot, WNDE continued carrying the replacement program.
WNDE is the Indianapolis outlet forPurdue University football and men's basketball, sharingflagship status withLafayette'sWAZY. It also airsWestwood One'sNFL andNCAA football and basketball coverage. After years of broadcastingCincinnati Reds baseball, WNDE was briefly a part of theChicago Cubs network in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, WNDE droppedNASCAR programming after many years, and began broadcastingIndianapolis Indians baseball.