WANR

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WANR
City of license	Warren, Ohio
Broadcast area	Youngstown, Ohio
Branding	Family Friendly Oldies
Frequency	1570 (kHz)
Format	Oldies
Power	500 watts daytime 116 watts nighttime
Class	D
Callsign meaning	W A R r eN
Owner	Beacon Broadcasting, Inc.
Website	www.wanr1570.com

WANR AM 1570 is a radio station based in Warren, Ohio. It operates with unlimited hours with 500 watts during the daytime, and 116 watts in the evening hours. The station format is oldies, featuring "Inspirational Gold Hits" every hour, and also broadcasts a variety of local sports programming. Owned by Beacon Broadcasting, headed by Warren-based steel supply company owner Harold Glunt, WANR is a faith-based company that adheres to "Family Friendly" radio.

Beacon Broadcasting owns four other radio stations, including WGRP 940 and WEXC FM 107.1, both in Greenville, Pennsylvania, WLOA 1470 in Farrell, Pennsylvania and WRTK 1540 in Niles, Ohio. The WANR-based oldies format is currently being simulcast on two of those stations, WLOA and WGRP.

[edit] Earlier broadcast history

The 1570 frequency was the original home of WHOT, then a daytime-only station in the 1950s, that was one of the first rock and roll stations. After WHOT moved to 1330 as a full time operation, the 1570 frequency was reestablished in Warren as WTCL, which became WOKG on November 2, 1981.

In WOKG's later years, it aired a controversial locally-based talk radio format. On March 23, 1990, the WOKG studios in Warren Township, Ohio were destroyed by a fire. The station returned to the air on March 30, 1990 from studios in a pizza concession trailer, located in the parking lot next to the destroyed converted farm house which had previously housed the station.

After a later sale to new owners, WANR turned to simulcasting an urban-contemporary format with AM 1540, which is now once again co-owned with 1570 AM. The operation was known on-air as "Network 15 - The City".

The station took the current WANR calls on December 15, 1990. It then aired a variety of locally-based religious and secular programming in the ensuing years, usually combined with local sports coverage.

[edit] Recent history

After airing a number of syndicated and local talk programs, in 2005 WANR became the Youngstown/Warren area affiliate of the Air America Radio liberal talk radio network. It also broadcast a local talk radio program called The New Talk of the Town, hosted by local political figure Don Hanni III. The liberal talk format was operated by Hanni and associates under a local marketing agreement. The station was known more for its high school sports coverage then the low-rated talk format.

After a dispute between the station's ownership and the group operating the station, a court settlement returned programming control to owner Beacon Broadcasting. The station then aired a variety of Christian and secular oldies music until adopting the "Family Friendly" oldies trimulcast with WLOA-AM and WGRP-AM. This arrangement was ended in December of 2006, though Beacon continues to own all three stations.