| City of license | Atlanta, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Atlanta metropolitan area |
| Branding | AM 590 Radio Disney |
| Slogan | "Your Music. Your Way." |
| Frequency | 590 kHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | August 1, 1937 (as WAGA) |
| Format | CHR/Children's |
| Power | 12,000 watts daytime, 4,500 watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 8623 |
| Callsign meaning | Walt Disney Walt Disney |
| Former callsigns | WAGA (1937-1959), WPLO (1959-1987), WKHX (1987-1997) |
| Former frequencies | 1480 (1937-1946) |
| Affiliations | Radio Disney |
| Owner | Disney/ABC (Radio Disney Atlanta, LLC) |
| Website | Radio Disney Atlanta |
WDWD ("AM 590 Radio Disney") is a Radio Disney affiliated station serving the metro Atlanta market. Its radio transmitter site, originally along North Druid Hills Road, is now located just north of Austell, Georgia, in west-northwest metro Atlanta. The station's signal is aimed by a four-tower directional antenna array from the Austell transmitter location towards Atlanta. In 2009, the station upgraded daytime transmit power from 5,000 to 12,000 watts, while the nighttime power remains at 4,500 watts. Also in 2009, the station started broadcasting in the AM HD Radio (hybrid digital) mode.
WDWD's programming consists of a 24-hour simulcast of the Radio Disney network, which is a youth-friendly contemporary hit radio music format except at 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM weekdays when the format changes to children's music. There are some minor locally originated exceptions that differ from the Radio Disney network simulcast. The top of the hour station announcement and some radio station special events announcements which run during commercial breaks are locally produced. There is one WDWD-originated, locally produced show per week which airs at 6:00 AM on Sundays called "AM590 Kids Concerns", a public affairs program which runs for 25 to 30 minutes.
The station signed-on with original broadcast callsign WAGA[1] (once the sister station of the current television station by that name) in 1937[2]. By 1946, WAGA had moved from 1480 to 590 kHz. In 1959, the station changed to a top 40[3] music format and changed its call sign to WPLO[1] which was in reference to the new ownership, Plough Broadcasting Company[4]. Another format changed happened in 1966 when WPLO switched to a country music format[4]. In 1987, the station changed callsigns to WKHX and adopted the "Kicks 590" slogan still used on WKHX-FM 101.5. WKHX used to broadcast in Kahn/Hazeltine AM stereo with a "real country" format[5]. Then in 1997, the station adopted the Radio Disney format and the current callsign WDWD.
In September 2009, the station was forced off-air for a week when it was submerged by nearby Noses Creek, which reached double its flood stage during the historic and record-breaking 2009 Atlanta floods. The station had been shut down prior to the flood, so that once the equipment was completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned and dried, nearly all of it was salvaged since there had been no short circuiting from the water.
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