WTOP-FM

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WTOP-FM
City of license	WTOP: Washington, D.C. WTLP: Braddock Heights, Maryland
Broadcast area	Washington, D.C.
Frequency	WTOP: 103.5 MHz (Also on HD Radio) WTLP: 103.9 MHz WJLA-DT2
First air date	frequency: January 4, 2006 1951 as WGMS-FM September 18, 1948 as WQQW
Format	News
ERP	WTOP: 44,000 watts WTLP: 350 watts
HAAT	WTOP: 158 meters WTLP: 292 meters
Class	WTOP: B WTLP: A
Facility ID	WTOP: 11845 WTLP: 47105
Callsign meaning	"At the TOP of your dial" (note: was originally at 1500 kHz, then regarded as the "top end" of the AM band)
Former callsigns	WTOP: WGMS (1951-2006) WQQW (1948-1951) WTLP: WGYS (2006-2007) WWVZ (1996-2006) WXVR (1995-1996) WZYQ (1980-1995)
Affiliations	CBS Radio WJLA-TV
Owner	Bonneville International
Sister stations	WFED, WWWT/WWWT-FM/WWWB, WPRS (sale pending to Radio One)
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.wtopnews.com

WTOP is the only all-news radio station in the Washington, D.C. area. The station's primary signal is a monaural FM broadcast at 103.5 MHz under the call sign WTOP-FM. The primary WTOP antenna and transmitter are located on the campus of American University in northwest Washington, with a backup transmission facility located on University Blvd. in Wheaton, Maryland. A secondary FM outlet WTLP-FM (formerly WGYS) at 103.9 MHz from Braddock Heights, Maryland also now airs the WTOP feed.

WTOP is a 24-hour news station with traffic and weather every ten minutes "on the 8s" (8, 18, 28, 38, 48, and 58 minutes after the hour). It is affiliated with the CBS Radio Network, and many of its reporters (including Neal Augenstein, Hank Silverberg and Tom Foty) also appear on the network.

WTOP is owned by Bonneville International Corp, a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church). Besides WTOP, in Washington Bonneville also owns WWWT AM & FM (Talk Radio 3WT) and WFED (Federal News Radio, formerly an online-only service of WTOP), and is in the process of selling WPRS (Praise 104.1) to Radio One, which currently operates the station under a Local Management Agreement (LMA).

In 2005, the station began providing podcasts of selected broadcast programs. In 2006, the station began broadcasting in digital "HD Radio", utilizing iBiquity Digital Corp.'s IBOC (in-band on-channel) technology. WTOP also offers alternative programming on 2 digital subchannels; WTOP-HD2 features Bonneville International's "iChannel" music format, which features unsigned, independent rock bands. WTOP-HD3 features a continuous loop of the most recent traffic and weather reports broadcast on WTOP's main signal.

As of April 2008, WTOP is ranked #1 in the Arbitron ratings among radio stations in the Washington, DC area.

In May of 2007, WTOP sold the naming rights to its "Glass Enclosed Nerve Center" (its nickname for its studio) to area business Ledo Pizza.^[1] That sponsorship concluded at the end of 2007.

In December of 2007, WTOP began simulcasting on WJLA-TV's "Weather Now" digital sub-channel.

[edit] History

[edit] 1920s: Born in Brooklyn

WTOP's origins trace back to Brooklyn, New York, as station WTRC (operated by the Twentieth [District] Republican Club), going to air September 25, 1926, on 1250 kilocycles with a power of 50 watts. The Twentieth Republican Club, and the station, were run by the Ku Klux Klan; pressure by the federal government on the Klan forced WTRC to move out of the New York area. Ironically, the station moved to the feds' backyard; on August 2, 1927, WTRC migrated to Mount Vernon Hills, Virginia as WTFF (which stood for the Klan's newspaper "The Fellowship Forum") at 1470 kHz. In November 1927, the power of WTFF was increased to 10,000 watts and the frequency changed to 1480 kilocycles.

On January 10, 1929, the call sign was changed to WJSV, reflecting the initials of James S. Vance, who was publisher of "The Fellowship Forum" and a Grand Wizard in Virginia. Realizing the expense of running a 10,000-watt radio station, Vance quickly worked out a deal with the nascent Columbia Broadcasting System to become the new network's primary station in Washington, DC. CBS took over all of WJSV's programming and engineering costs, with an option to renew or purchase the station after five years. Soon realizing they were in bed with the Klan, negotiations began for CBS to purchase the station outright. [2]

[edit] 1930s: CBS O&O

In June 1932, CBS finally purchased WJSV and moved it from Mount Vernon Hills to Alexandria, Virginia. After three months off the air, WJSV resumed broadcasting on October 20, 1932. Arthur Godfrey, who later hosted a variety program on CBS Radio and CBS Television, hosted a program on WJSV called The Sundial on which he honed a laid-back, conversational style that was unusual on radio at the time but came to be common practice for disc jockeys.

On September 21, 1939, WJSV recorded its entire broadcast day for posterity. The famous "One Day In Radio" tapes still exist and copies can be found at various Old Time Radio websites.

WJSV was also a key training ground for pioneering newsman Bob Trout in the 1930s before he became a network correspondent. (One of his broadcasting mentors was Wells (Ted) Church, who later became a CBS News executive.) Longtime Los Angeles-area TV newscaster George Putnam began his career at WJSV in 1938, and is still working in radio nearly seven decades later.

[edit] 1940s

In 1940, WJSV's operating power was increased to 50,000 watts, with a new transmitter site built in Wheaton, Maryland. (That site is still in use today.)[3] On March 29, 1941, with the implementation of NARBA, WJSV moved its broadcast frequency from 1460 to 1500 kHz.

On March 16, 1943, after paying the Tiffin, Ohio police department $60,000 for the privilege, the calls were changed to the current WTOP because its new frequency was now at the "top" of the mediumwave AM band. The Washington Post bought a 55% share in WTOP from CBS in February 1949 and took over the remainder of the station in December 1954.

[edit] 1960s and 70s: All-news

In the 1960s, WTOP phased out its music programming for a combination of newscasts and phone-in talk shows; eventually the call-in shows were dropped in favour of an all-news format. Among those working for WTOP during this time were Sam Donaldson, later on ABC-TV; Jim Bohannon, who took Larry King's place on his all-night radio network talk show after King went to CNN; and including Ralph Begleiter and Jamie MacIntyre, both of whom went to CNN.

The Post sold WTOP to The Outlet Company company in June, 1978 amid the FCC wanting to break up the Post/WTOP cross-ownership arrangement. One month later, WTOP-TV was swapped with the Detroit News's WWJ-TV, and became WDVM-TV. The station is today WUSA-TV, owned by Gannett. The original FM frequency for WTOP-FM was 96.3 MHz, but that frequency was donated to Howard University. That station became WHUR in 1971, a commercially run radio station.

[edit] 1990s and 2000s: Move to FM

By the early 1990s, WTOP eventually acquired a Warrenton, Virginia, frequency (94.3 FM) for better coverage in the sprawling Virginia suburbs. On April 1, 1998, that frequency was swapped for a stronger signal at 107.7, also licensed to Warrenton. Then in December 2000, WTOP gained another simulcast in Frederick, Maryland with WXTR at 820 kHz, establishing the "WTOP Radio Network."

On January 4, 2006, WTOP station owner Bonneville International announced that the station would move to a new primary frequency of 103.5 FM, then held by classical station WGMS (which would move to 103.9 and 104.1 FM). The frequencies long-used by WTOP, 1500 kHz and 107.7 MHz (and the low-powered 104.3 FM translator in Leesburg), would be reassigned to the new "Washington Post Radio" for a March 30, 2006 launch date. Fittingly, this new partnership also signaled the Post's re-emergence into the radio scene on the very same dial spot WTOP once held.

The stations' respective call signs were changed as of January 11, 2006: the former WTOP pair became WTWP (The Washington Post) and WTOP's new primary stations (formerly WGMS-FM and WXTR) assumed the WTOP calls. An HD Radio digital subchannel of the 103.5 carrier currently broadcasts Bonneville International's "iChannel" music format, which features unsigned, independent rock bands.

In 2006 WTOP dropped its long-standing association with The Weather Channel and began airing weather reports exclusively from WJLA-TV (ABC-7) all day long. Previously, WTOP had used weather reports from WJLA chief meteorologist Doug Hill during morning and evening rush hours and The Weather Channel all other times. The station now uses all WJLA meteorologists, not just Doug Hill. WJLA's "Live Super Doppler 7" has and continues to be featured in weather reports as necessary.

In 2007 the WTOP radio configuration was realigned once again. WTLP-FM (formerly WGYS) at 103.9 picked up the WTOP simulcast on April 6, 2007 after the adult hits "George 104" format was pulled, adopted the WTLP calls on July 5, 2007. WTOP-AM changed its calls to WTWT and has switched to the Washington Post Radio simulcast on June 28, 2007. On September 20, 2007, the 1500/107.7/820 multicast changed format over to a general talk format as "Talk Radio 3WT" under the WWWT/WWWT-FM/WWWB call letters.

In March of 2008 WTOP completed a year-long, $2.5-million state-of-the-art renovation of its newsroom and studios, the first since 1989 when the station moved into the building it presently occupies in northwest Washington.

[edit] Awards

• 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award (National) for Best Large Market Radio News Website
• 2003 Edward R. Murrow Award (National) for Best Large Market Radio News Website
• 2003 Edward R. Murrow Award (National) for Best Spot News - Coverage of the D.C. Area Sniper.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• WTOP website
• WTOP Wireless
• WTOP.FM Listen Live
• iChannel website
• WJLA ABC 7 Website
• History of WTOP
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTOP
• Radio Locator information on WTOP
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WTOP
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTLP
• Radio Locator information on WTLP
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WTLP
• Free mp3s of 19 hours of the broadcast day of WJSV for September 21, 1939