WIHT - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

WIHT is a Top 40 (CHR)

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

formatted radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

that serves the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day. WIHT is licensed to and owned by Clear Channel Communications

Clear Channel Communications

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

. It is located in Rockville, Maryland

Rockville, Maryland

Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...

History

Long known as WGAY and located in Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

, the station ran a beautiful music

Beautiful music

Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

format in the 1960s and 1970s which evolved to an easy listening

Easy listening

Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...

format by the 1980s. WGAY would often finish at number one in the Persons 12+ Arbitron

Arbitron

Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...

radio ratings for the Washington D.C. area during the 70s and 80s.

Television ads for the station in the 70s and 80s featured station programmer Bob Chandler relaxing in a recliner while listening to his station's light mix of music playing in the background. During the 80s WGAY was reported to be then President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

's favorite radio station.

For a while in the early 1990s, WGAY switched its calls and became "Bright 99.5" WEBR, but listeners didn't accept the more up-tempo music. WGAY switched from the still ratings successful format permanently by the late-90s although not because its listeners were too few but because demographically

Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

they were getting too old and therefore less desirable for radio advertisers.

Current era

After a switch back to the "easy" WGAY format, in April 1999

1999 in radio

The year 1999 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 1 - 102.1 The Zone stopped played at 6AM and 102.1 FM played a stunt of waves and announcement voice over of our newest radio station....

the station changed to an urban oldies

Rhythmic oldies

Rhythmic Oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, disco or dance genres of music. Playlists may span from the 1970s through the early 1990s...

format, known as WJMO-FM "Jammin' Oldies 99.5." At the time, they were co-owned with AM station WJMO

WJMO

WJMO — branded Praise 1300 WJMO — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a mix of gospel music and urban talk. The station is owned by Radio One, and has studios at 2510 St. Clair Avenue and a transmitter located along Ridge Road in Parma...

in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. The format lasted for almost two years. The last song played on WJMO was Last Dance
Last Dance (song)
"Last Dance" is a hit 1978 song by singer Donna Summer. The song appeared on the Thank God It's Friday movie soundtrack. It was written by Paul Jabara and was co-produced by Summer's regular collaborator Giorgio Moroder, along with Bob Esty...

by Donna Summer

Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

.

That was followed by a final "Survivor Radio" stunt before contemporary hit radio debuted as "Hot 99.5" in April 2001

2001 in radio

The year 2001 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*12 January: Jammin 103.5 becomes Kiss 103.5 in Chicago.*29 January: The 80s Channel WXXY and WWYX becomes Viva! 103.1...

. With the change of format came a change in call sign to the current WIHT ("Hot 99.5") on April 18, 2001. The switch to contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

forced listeners in nearby Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

to get a contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

due to the signal of former contemporary hit radio station WWZZ (now WPRS

WPRS-FM

WPRS-FM is an Urban Gospel formatted radio station in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The station broadcasts from Waldorf, Maryland, at 104.1 MHz....

) blocked in Baltimore. The station's main competitors are CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

urban-leaning Rhythmic Contemporary WPGC-FM

WPGC-FM

WPGC-FM is one of the most popular among Washington, D.C.'s urban format radio station's, and has been ranked as one of its top rated radio stations for over 20 years, according to the Arbitron ratings. It has a city of license of Morningside at the 95.5 MHz frequency on the FM dial...

95.5, CBS Radio's adult top 40 WIAD (94-7 Fresh FM) and Citadel Broadcasting

Citadel Broadcasting

Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...

adult top 40 WRQX

WRQX

WRQX is an American commercial radio station licensed to serve the community of Washington, D.C.. The station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary music format to the Washington Metropolitan Area...

(Mix 107.3).

On Air Line-Up

Mornings 5 - 10am: 'The Kane Show'

Middays 10 -11am: 'The Sarah Show' w/ Sarah Fraser

Middays 11am - 3pm: 'On Air With Ryan Seacrest'

Afternoons 3pm - 7pm: Toby Knapp

Nights 7pm - Midnight: 'The Freek Show' w/ Kruz

Kane Show

Kane resigned his programming position at WFLZ, Tampa on (10/31/06) to head to Top 40 WIHT (Hot 99.5)/Washington D.C. to host morning drive. He replaced The Hot Morning Mess with Mark Kaye, Kris Gamble and producer Ron Ross, who exited the station (11/1/06). The Kane Show hit the DC airwaves on November 13, 2006. The show includes cast members Sarah Fraser and Samy K. The show was named "Best Local Morning show" in 2009 by industry magazine FMQB. The Kane Show is broadcasted on seven additional radio stations, including CHR's WNRW,"Radio Now 98.9", Louisville, KWNW,Memphis and in afternoons on WFLZ, Tampa.

The Kane Show debuted on iheartradio

Iheartradio

iHeartRadio is a Clear Channel Radio network to aggregate local radio brands, personalities and on-demand content. It is best known as a mobile application...

as a 24 hour On-Demand channel in January 2010. Listeners are able to stream the Kane Show through both the iheartradio website and its respective smartphone applications.

External links

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