WWRC
Encyclopedia
WWRC—branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk
radio station
licensed to Washington, D.C.
and serving the Washington metro area
. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper. The station is owned and operated by Salem Communications
.
Its callsign is a four-letter version of the famous WRC callsign in Washington, and is a name-only descendant of the former NBC Radio Network owned-and-operated station.
, and signed on in 1928
. A station/callsign swap with WWDC
(1450 AM) on February 20, 1950
landed the WWDC call letters on 1260 kHz for the rest of the century. During the 1960s, radio personalities such as Jimmy Dean
and Fred Fiske had programs on this station. The format was middle-of-the-road. It staked out a place in radio and music history by being the first station in the U.S. to air the Beatles
' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in December 1963
, effectively kickstarting "Beatlemania" in America.
During the 1970s, WWDC was a moderately popular Top 40 station. In 1981
, the station began simulcast of the morning and afternoon drive shows on sister FM Rock station WWDC-FM ("DC101"), with separate shows in the same music format during other dayparts. A few years later, it broke off the simulcast and became an Adult Standards
station.
WWDC changed call letters to WGAY in 1999
, following the dropping of the long-time beautiful music
format that was WGAY-FM (which became WJMO-FM and then WIHT
). WGAY kept its adult standards format nonetheless until Clear Channel Communications
bought the station with the AMFM merger in 2000
. In 2001
, the WGAY format was dropped and the business news format and WWRC callsign was moved from 570 AM to 1260 AM. Even still, there were difficulties finding a format for the station that was different from the other Clear Channel stations in the Washington metropolitan area.
Until 2005
, the station carried the business talk format, a full-time audio relay of CNN Headline News
, and sports talk
programming (as "Sports Talk 1260", a supplement to sister station WTEM
), then switched to progressive talk
and became an Air America Radio
affiliate. Hosts under the station's progressive talk format included Lionel, Stephanie Miller
, Ed Schultz
, Bill Press
, Rachel Maddow
and Ron Reagan
.
While the progressive format initially suffered from low ratings (The Washington Post
reported their ratings in December 2006 as being "an almost imperceptible audience"), WWRC would eventually book a .4 rating in Summer 2008 and a .1 rating in Winter 2008.
Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WWRC, WTEM and WWRC from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008.
On September 15, 2008, WWRC was branded as "Obama 1260" while maintaining its progressive talk
format, plus news coverage from CNN
and CNBC
. The temporary branding was a stunt coinciding with conservative-oriented sister station WTNT (branded "McCain 570"), and was expected to last throughout the 2008 Presidential Election
. While WTNT was re-branded "Freedom 570" right after the election, WWRC retained its Obama 1260 branding until and beyond Illinois
senator Barack Obama
's Presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009.
In January 2009, WWRC launched their new website http://www.obama1260.com/ (the domain expired September 11, 2009). However, The Washington Post
reported on February 2, 2009, that the station would be changing to a business talk format the following week (although the Ed Schultz Show was moved to sister station WTNT, he would eventually be dropped from that station's lineup as well).
Starting on February 9, 2009, WWRC broadcast a syndicated business talk format under the brand, "Money 1260." Chiefly an outlet for the Business Talk Radio Network, the station also carried Ray Lucia
and Clark Howard
.
WWRC was sold to Salem Communications
in April 2010. Upon taking control on May 15 (initially via a local marketing agreement
before completing its purchase on August 3), Salem relaunched the station with its conservative talk
format, once again reviving the "WRC" branding as "1260 WRC."
Prior to Salem's purchase of WWRC, the station aired Washington Redskins
& Notre Dame
football games as an affiliate station. WWRC also had carried sports broadcasts dislodged from WTEM
and WTNT by schedule conflicts.
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
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...
licensed to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and serving the Washington metro area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper. The station is owned and operated by Salem Communications
Salem Communications
Salem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
.
Its callsign is a four-letter version of the famous WRC callsign in Washington, and is a name-only descendant of the former NBC Radio Network owned-and-operated station.
History
The station was the original home of WOLWOL (AM)
WOL is an Urban Talk radio station in Washington, DC. Broadcasting on 1450 AM, this is the flagship radio station of Radio One.The station was Washington's top rated rhythm and blues music station through the 1960s and 1970s...
, and signed on in 1928
1928 in radio
The year 1928 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.-Events:*1 January: Algemeene Vereeniging Radio Omroep begins broadcasting in the Netherlands....
. A station/callsign swap with WWDC
WWDC (FM)
WWDC is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C., broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.-History:WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music station...
(1450 AM) on February 20, 1950
1950 in radio
The year 1950 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.-Events:* May 1 - Springbok Radio became the first commercial radio station in South Africa.Springbok Radio broadcasted for 35 years until the 31st of December 1985....
landed the WWDC call letters on 1260 kHz for the rest of the century. During the 1960s, radio personalities such as Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
and Fred Fiske had programs on this station. The format was middle-of-the-road. It staked out a place in radio and music history by being the first station in the U.S. to air the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in December 1963
1963 in radio
The year 1963 in radio involved some significant events, including the addition of FM-compatible radios in cars made by major American automobile companies, and the birth of future radio personality Doctor Dré-Events:...
, effectively kickstarting "Beatlemania" in America.
During the 1970s, WWDC was a moderately popular Top 40 station. In 1981
1981 in radio
The year 1981 in radio involved some significant events.-Debuts:* September 22 - WCAU-FM in Philadelphia debuts a new Hot Hits format called "98 Now!" which sweeps the local ratings and inspires parent company CBS to look at converting its other FM stations to similar formats.* October — "The...
, the station began simulcast of the morning and afternoon drive shows on sister FM Rock station WWDC-FM ("DC101"), with separate shows in the same music format during other dayparts. A few years later, it broke off the simulcast and became an Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
station.
WWDC changed call letters to WGAY in 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....
, following the dropping of the long-time 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 that was WGAY-FM (which became WJMO-FM and then WIHT
WIHT
WIHT is a Top 40 formatted radio station 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...
). WGAY kept its adult standards format nonetheless until 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...
bought the station with the AMFM merger in 2000
2000 in radio
The year 2000 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*The Real Radio & Century Radio networks become active on - air, through the United Kingdom....
. In 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...
, the WGAY format was dropped and the business news format and WWRC callsign was moved from 570 AM to 1260 AM. Even still, there were difficulties finding a format for the station that was different from the other Clear Channel stations in the Washington metropolitan area.
Until 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...
, the station carried the business talk format, a full-time audio relay of CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
, and sports talk
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
programming (as "Sports Talk 1260", a supplement to sister station WTEM
WTEM
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra...
), then switched to progressive talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
and became an Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...
affiliate. Hosts under the station's progressive talk format included Lionel, Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Catherine Miller is an American comedienne and host of The Stephanie Miller Show, a progressive talk radio program produced in Los Angeles and syndicated nationally by Dial Global. Talkers magazine ranked her as the 24th most important radio talk show host in America for 2010.-Early...
, Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...
, Bill Press
Bill Press
William "Bill" Press is a US talk radio host, political commentator and author.-Career:Press has a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Niagara University and Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg. He started his broadcasting career in Los Angeles for TV stations KABC-TV and...
, Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Anne Maddow is an American television host and political commentator. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio...
and Ron Reagan
Ron Reagan
Ronald Prescott "Ron" Reagan sometimes known as Ronald Reagan, Jr., is a former talk radio host and chief political analyst for KIRO radio in Seattle until his show was canceled on August 8, 2007...
.
While the progressive format initially suffered from low ratings (The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
reported their ratings in December 2006 as being "an almost imperceptible audience"), WWRC would eventually book a .4 rating in Summer 2008 and a .1 rating in Winter 2008.
Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WWRC, WTEM and WWRC from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008.
On September 15, 2008, WWRC was branded as "Obama 1260" while maintaining its progressive talk
Progressive talk radio
Progressive talk radio is a talk radio format devoted to expressing liberal or progressive viewpoints of issues, as opposed to conservative talk radio...
format, plus news coverage from CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
. The temporary branding was a stunt coinciding with conservative-oriented sister station WTNT (branded "McCain 570"), and was expected to last throughout the 2008 Presidential Election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. While WTNT was re-branded "Freedom 570" right after the election, WWRC retained its Obama 1260 branding until and beyond Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's Presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009.
In January 2009, WWRC launched their new website http://www.obama1260.com/ (the domain expired September 11, 2009). However, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
reported on February 2, 2009, that the station would be changing to a business talk format the following week (although the Ed Schultz Show was moved to sister station WTNT, he would eventually be dropped from that station's lineup as well).
Starting on February 9, 2009, WWRC broadcast a syndicated business talk format under the brand, "Money 1260." Chiefly an outlet for the Business Talk Radio Network, the station also carried Ray Lucia
Ray Lucia
Raymond Joseph Lucia, Sr. is an American Certified Financial Planner, Registered Investment Advisor, author, radio personality and television host...
and Clark Howard
Clark Howard
Clark Howard , is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs...
.
WWRC was sold to Salem Communications
Salem Communications
Salem Communications is a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher specializing in evangelical Christian and conservative political talk radio. It owns 99 commercial radio stations, 65 of which are in the top 25 markets. Salem is the fifth largest U.S....
in April 2010. Upon taking control on May 15 (initially via a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
before completing its purchase on August 3), Salem relaunched the station with its conservative talk
Conservative talk
Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and Canada devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio...
format, once again reviving the "WRC" branding as "1260 WRC."
Prior to Salem's purchase of WWRC, the station aired Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
& Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
football games as an affiliate station. WWRC also had carried sports broadcasts dislodged from WTEM
WTEM
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra...
and WTNT by schedule conflicts.