WOAP
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| WOAP | |
| City of license | Owosso, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | [1] (Daytime) |
| Branding | Michigan Catholic Radio |
| Frequency | 1080 kHz |
| First air date | January 1, 1948 |
| Format | Religious; Catholic based talk/sermons (currently dark) |
| Power | 1,000 watts (Daytime) |
| Class | D |
| Callsign meaning | Owosso Argus Press (original owner) |
| Owner | 1090 Investments |
| Website | http://www.catholicradio.org/ |
WOAP (1080 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious format. Licensed to Owosso, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1948. This station is currently off the air as of July 20, 2007.
[edit] History
WOAP for many years, had been an AM/FM combo station, with WOAP-FM, later known as WMZX and known today as WRSR, first going on the air December 2, 1965. This arrangement changed in the late 1990's, when Michigan Radio Group sold both stations. Connoiseur Communications then assumed ownership of both, turning WMZX into a more regional station serving the Flint area. The weaker WOAP, with its daytime-only signal, was then sold the following year to Hartman Broadcasting, which continued to operate WOAP as a local service, with an Adult Standards/Oldies music format branded as Great American Classics.
Less than two years later, Hartman Broadcasting sold WOAP to its current owner, 1090 Investments, which immediately applied to the FCC for a construction permit to move the station's operations to Waverly, located in Lansing's suburbs. The move would allow WOAP to increase its daytime power to 50,000 watts and add nighttime power authorization at 4500 watts. Three years after the application was received, the FCC chose to dismiss the application, presumably under the likelihood that granting the station nighttime power would cause interference to WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut; also broadcasting on this same frequency.
In January of 2006, WOAP dropped its full-service news/talk format and adopted Catholic-based Religious programming. Three months later, 1090 Investments requested an STA for silent station from the FCC, citing financial difficulties. The station remained off the air for almost a year. Four months after going dark, the station applied for reinstatement to move its facilities to Waverly and increase its daytime power, but withdrew its application for nighttime power. However, 1090 Investments pleaded for the FCC in its engineering presentation to be considered for nighttime power again, citing that denying Waverly local radio service in favor of a Connecticut station that had no local presence in Michigan would hurt its attempts to serve its community in an adequate fashion. As of this writing, the FCC has not made any further response to the request.
In March of 2007, WOAP was granted permission to move from Owosso to Waverly and increase its power with a six-tower directional antenna system to be built in Ingham County, about 20 miles south of Lansing. The station also returned to the air with a simulcast of affiliate station WCAR in Livonia. Despite the good news, WOAP again applied for a silent STA, going dark again on July 20, 2007.
WOAP applied for an extension to their silent STA on January 8, 2008, citing ongoing financial difficulties. The request was granted on February 25, 2008. The STA extension will expire on July 21, 2008.
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
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