WLOA

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It has been suggested that this article be split into articles entitled WLOA and WGRP. (Discuss)

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WLOA (1470 AM) is a radio station in Farrell, Pennsylvania. WLOA's programming is currently simulcasted on with WGRP, which is also an AM radio station in Greenville at 940 kHz. WGRP technically broadcasts on a full-time basis with only 2 watts in the nighttime hours, in order to protect Canadian clear-channel CINW.

WLOA currently has a sports talk radio format while WGRP recently broke from the simulcast with a classic country format as "Classic Country 940." While split from the simulcast, both stations are Mercer County outlets for Pittsburgh Pirates baseball. Previously, the two stations carried an oldies format that originated from sister station WANR.

Both stations are owned, along with WANR in Warren, Ohio and WEXC-FM in Greenville, Pennsylvania, by Beacon Broadcasting. Beacon is headed by Warren steel supply magnate Harold Glunt.

[edit] History

The station first signed on the air as WFAR on October 3, 1954. The station was founded by Sanford A. Schafitz, a native of the Youngstown area. Schafitz also started up WWIZ in Lorain, Ohio and was involved in the lauching of WXTV-TV in Youngstown a few years earlier.

After becoming WMGZ by 1986, the station has undergone a number of callsign changes—to WOJY in 1989; to WRQQ on March 18, 1991; to WICT on March 29, 1996; to WPAO on March 3, 1997; and to WLOA on February 18, 2003. Formats ranged from top 40 to oldies to easy listening music, with a number of religious formats along the way.

WPAO was sold by D&E Broadcasting to Holy Family Communications, which changed the call sign to WLOA on February 18, 2003 (to complement Holy Family Communications' other Catholic radio stations) and which took over operations on March 4, 2003, making it the 60th Catholic radio station on the air in the United States.

WLOA was purchased by Glunt's Beacon Broadcasting on July 7, 2005, and the station became part of a three-station oldies format trimulcast (along with WGRP) that originated from Warren's WANR under the "Family Frendly Oldies" banner - but would break away to air assorted sports play-by-play. This lasted until December of 2006, of which the sports format was installed for WLOA and WGRP. In April of 2008 WGRP broke from simulcasting and began to air classic country music.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WLOA
• Radio Locator Information on WLOA
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WLOA
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WGRP
• Radio Locator Information on WGRP
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WGRP

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