| City of license | New York City |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New York City area |
| Branding | WOR Radio 710 AM |
| Slogan | Real Life. Real People. Real Talk Radio. |
| Frequency | 710 (kHz) (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | February 22, 1922 |
| Format | News/Traffic/Talk |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 7710 |
| Callsign meaning | World Of Radio |
| Owner | Buckley Broadcasting (WOR, LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wor710.com |
WOR is a class A (nighttime Clear-channel station), AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts. WOR is one of the flagship stations of the Coast to Coast AM program. WOR broadcasts the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football and basketball games.
Its call letters have no meaning, being sequentially assigned. They had previously been authorized for use by the ship SS California, owned by the Orient Lines.
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WOR began broadcasting on February 22, 1922, using a 500-watt transmitter on 833 kHz from Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, New Jersey. Louis Bamberger's sale of radio sets to consumers explained their affiliation with the station. The WOR call sign was reissued from the U.S. maritime radio service. The station initially operated limited hours, sharing time with two other stations, WDT-AM and WJY-AM, which also operated on 833 kHz. WOR changed frequency to 740 kHz in June of 1923 and shared time with WJY until July 1926, when WJY closed and WOR received full use of the frequency. In December 1924, WOR acquired a studio in Manhattan. On June 17, 1927, WOR moved to 710 AM, the channel it currently occupies. Later in 1926, WOR moved from its New York studio (on the 9th floor of Chickering Hall at 27 W. 57th St.) to 1440 Broadway, two blocks from Times Square.
WOR was first a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.[1] A few years later, in partnership with Chicago radio station WGN, and Cincinnati radio station WLW, WOR formed the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1934 and became its New York flagship station. Mutual was one of the "Big Four" national radio networks in the United States during the 1930s – 1980s. In 1941, the station changed its city of license from Newark to New York City. In 1957, WOR ended its relationship with Mutual and became an independent station and Mutual's New York outlet became WAAT in Newark for a brief period, but WOR continued to carry Mutual's "Top of the News" with Fulton Lewis for 15 minutes each evening Monday -Friday at 7:00 PM for several more years after it had briefly shifted to WMGM (WHN) where the program, from WOL Mutual in Washington, had debuted in NYC in the 1930's.
In 1949, WOR started a sister TV station, WOR-TV, on channel 9. This station became WWOR-TV after it and WOR were sold to separate companies in 1987.
From the 1930s to the early 1980s, WOR was a free-flowing full-service station. There was an emphasis on news reports and talk programs, but music was played also, usually a blend of pop standards and adult contemporary cuts. WOR played several songs per hour weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again afternoons from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. They also played about a dozen songs per hour on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. On ratings books, WOR was classified as a MOR/Talk station rather than a News/Talk station until 1984. From 1983 to around 1985, WOR gradually stopped playing music altogether, as they evolved to an almost complete talk format. Past notable hosts were Ed & Pegeen Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis, Patricia McCann, Long John Nebel, Bernard Meltzer, Barry Farber, Jean Shepherd, Bob & Ray, Jack O'Brian, Bob Grant and Gene Klavan. WOR introduced live, on-air, helicopter traffic reports with pilot reporters "Fearless" Fred Feldman and later George Meade. From 1945 to 1963, Dorothy Kilgallen and her husband Dick Kollmar (1910–1971) cohosted the WOR morning show Breakfast With Dorothy and Dick.
The station was known for its detailed, 15-minute news reports on the hour. Noted newsmen such as Henry Gladstone, Harry Hennessey, John Wingate, Lyle Vann, Peter Roberts and Roger Skibenes, to name a few, were the backbone of the news department.
WOR's most renowned program was its morning show, Rambling with Gambling, which aired continuously from March 1925 to September 2000 across three generations of hosts: John B. Gambling, John A. Gambling, and John R. Gambling. After John R. Gambling's edition of the show was dropped, he moved to WABC where he hosted a late morning show until January 2008; he returned to WOR mornings in May 2008. Although never a favorite of young listeners, WOR was this group's radio station of record in the New York Metropolitan area whenever winter unleashed its snowy fury. Students of all ages dialed up 710AM on their radios as John A. Gambling dutifully announced a comprehensive list of school closings for New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut, in strict alphabetical order.
Today, WOR is a news and talk radio station. It broadcasts 24 hours per day with 50,000 watts using a three-tower directional antenna with slightly different radiation patterns day and night. Its transmitter is located in Rutherford, New Jersey. It is the only New York City AM station to have retained its original three-letter call sign, which are the oldest continually used ones in the New York City area.
On April 30, 2005, WOR moved its offices and studios from 1440 Broadway at 40th Street in Midtown Manhattan where it had been based for 79 years to a new facility at 111 Broadway near Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan.
On June 28, 2010 they announced they would launch an online only country station www.worcountry.com. It is branded as "The Elephant".
In mid January WOR announced that it would be dropping Glenn Beck in favor of Mike Gallagher.
12-1 a.m. Health Talk with Dr. Hoffman
1-6 a.m. Coast to Coast AM
6-10 a.m. John R. Gambling
10-Noon Mike Gallagher
Noon-2 p.m. Joan Hamburg
2-4 p.m. Lou Dobbs
4-6 p.m. David Paterson
6-8 p.m. Michael Savage
8-10 p.m. Michael Smerconish
10-Midnight Dr. Joy Browne
WOR is the flagship station for the WOR Radio Network. The network distributes nationally syndicated programming, all from the WOR studios at 111 Broadway in New York.
Among the current hosts heard on WOR are:
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Past notable WOR program hosts have included:
| Preceded by 77 WABC 1939–1940 |
Radio Home of the New York Yankees 1942 |
Succeeded by 1010 WINS 1944–1957 |
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