| City of license | Brownsville, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Branding | The Pickle |
| Frequency | 1130 kHz |
| First air date | 1968 |
| Format | Classic Hits (simulcast of WPKL) |
| Power | 1,000 watts (Daytime) 1,000 watts (Critical Hours) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 65708 |
| Owner | Keymarket Licenses, LLC |
| Website | picklefm.com |
WASP (1130 AM) is a radio station licensed to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, USA. It serves the Pittsburgh area. The station is currently owned by Keymarket Licenses, LLC.
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WASP was one of the first stations in a last round of FCC daytime-only licenses granted towards the end of the 1960s, at the time that FM was beginning to gain momentum. WASP was granted a license to broadcast at 1130 AM, while WKEG was granted a license to broadcast at 1110 AM from nearby Washington, Pennsylvania at around this same time. Because of the close proximity of both stations from each other, both had to adopt directional antenna patterns to protect their adjacent competitor. WASP was the more powerful of the two stations, broadcasting at a power of 5,000 watts.
WASP was founded by James J. Humes, who formed The Humes Broadcasting Corporation. WASP operated for many years with a classic country format, and in the late 1980s, Humes Broadcasting successfully applied for an FM license. After being granted the construction permit, WASP began to add more talk to its programming lineup.
Though the construction permit for WASP-FM in Oliver, Pennsylvania was first issued in 1988, it wouldn't go on the air until 1993. Nevertheless, WASP-FM did go on the air, and operated with a country music format similar to the one given up by its AM sister in favor of local and syndicated national talk.
WASP-FM, operating at 94.9, transmitted its signal from North Union Township. However, both stations shared studio space in the single-story brick building which also housed the transmitter of WASP (AM) along Route 88 (aka Blaine Road), just south of California, Pennsylvania.
In 1999, James Humes wanted to retire from the radio business after 30 years of ownership. He agreed to sell WASP-AM/FM to Keymarket Communications that year. Keymarket had acquired WASP-AM/FM in an effort to use WASP-FM as a vehicle for its "Froggy" brand of networked country music stations. With the transaction went WASP-FM morning announcer Jimmy Roach, who had enjoyed a highly successful run at both WDSY and WDVE in Pittsburgh. Roach was then the flagship morning DJ of Keymarket's entire Pittsburgh Froggy operation.
For its part, WASP went to a format of MOR music from ABC Radio's Timeless Classics satellite-delivered format, and discarded much of its local programming. By 2002, WASP abandoned the satellite delivered format and simulcast co-owned Keymarket oldies station WPKL, licensed to Uniontown.
The operations for WASP and its newly acquired Keymarket affiliate stations in the area moved from its longtime location on Route 88 to a new state-of-the-art facility at Foster Plaza in Greentree, just outside of Pittsburgh's city limits.
In April 2007, Keymarket Communications successfully applied for a facility change to reduce its power from 5,000 watts directional to 1,000 watts non-directional. The change allowed WASP to only have to broadcast from one single tower, rather than two as had been the case in years past. The studio building and towers that had rested along Route 88 for many years were later destroyed as part of a Route 88 widening project.
On August 28, 2010 WASP went silent (off the air). As of Saturday, September 18, 2010, WASP resumed its ongoing simulcast of WPKL.
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