WHHO

DWHHO

City of license	Hornell, New York
Broadcast area	Elmira-Corning area
Branding	Fox Sports Radio 1320
Frequency	1320 kHz
First air date	1949 (license revoked January 28, 2010)
Format	Defunct, was sports talk
Power	5,000 watts day 22 watts night
Class	D
Facility ID	5308
Transmitter coordinates	42°17′32.00″N 77°40′27.00″W / 42.2922222°N 77.6741667°W / 42.2922222; -77.6741667
Former callsigns	WWHG (1949-1960s)
Affiliations	Fox Sports Radio, Citadel Media
Owner	William Berry Bat Lyons (deceased) (Bilbat Radio, Inc.)

WHHO (1320 AM) was a radio station broadcasting a sports talk format. Licensed to Hornell, New York, USA, the station served the Elmira-Corning area. The station was owned by Bilbat Radio, Inc. (at the time of closure, wholly owned by William Berry after the death of partner Bat Lyons). The station had been the home of Eric Massa's weekly radio broadcasts. Gene Burns, a Hornell native, began his long broadcasting career at the station.

History

In 1946 the W.H. Greenhow Co, owner of the Hornell Tribune, launched WWHG-FM 105.3 as Hornell's 1st radio station. WLEA, a competitor, came on the air on 1320 kHz at 1 KW Daytime as part of the post-WWII radio boom in 1946. Shortly after that WWHG was granted a CP then license to operate on 1590 kHz at 1 KW Day. Faced with direct competition, WLEA went into bankruptcy, with most of the office fixtures and equipment having been sold to Cary Simpson for WFRM in Coudersport, PA. WWHG migrated to 1320 kHz, and WLEA returned to the air under different ownership months later on 1480 kHz. The Greeenhow Co. Exited the radio business in the mid 1959. The Al and Sy Goldman family bought the stations and operated them until the early 1970s, at which time new ownership changed the call letters to WHHO and WHHO-FM.

The station was caught in an ownership dispute in the late 2000s in which Pembrook Pines Media Group attempted to buy sister station WKPQ in exchange for Pembrook Pines-owned WABH and cash; that deal eventually fell through.

Decline and failure

WHHO ceased operations on January 28, 2010 after the FCC revoked its license for failure to pay a 2007 fine, stemming from alleged failure to air government-mandated statements and not maintaining a "public information file."

Owner William Berry, who made WHHO his own personal project in an attempt to turn it back towards profitability, cited WHHO's poor revenue for not paying the fine.^[1]

Incidentally, WHHO is the second Bilbat station to have lost its license; WKZA/Kane, Pennsylvania lost its license in 1992, and while another person owned the FCC license, Bilbat still owned the physical assets of the station, which were ultimately destroyed due to weather damage.

Shortly after the station's closure, Fox Sports programming moved to WCBA in Corning; Phoenix Radio arranged to swap WCBA for WKPQ in 2010.

References