WKRC (AM)

WKRC
City Cincinnati metropolitan area
Broadcast area Cincinnati, Ohio
Branding 55KRC
Slogan "THE Talk Station"
Frequency 550 kHz
First air date 1924
Format Talk radio
Power 5,000 watts day
1,000 watts night
Class B
Callsign meaning W Kodel Radio Company"
Affiliations Fox News Radio
Premiere Radio Networks
Talk Radio Network
Westwood One Network
TheBlaze Network
WXIX-TV
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Website 55KRC

WKRC (550 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It is licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Broadcasting under the branding of 55KRC, the station airs a talk radio format. The studios are on Montgomery Road in Cincinnati, and the transmitter is in Cold Spring, Kentucky. WKRC operates at 5,000 watts by day and 1,000 watts at night.

WKRC is co-owned with another Cincinnati iHeartMedia talk station, 700 WLW. While WLW airs mostly local talk and sports programming, WKRC largely carries nationally syndicated talk shows. WKRC is the former sister station to Channel 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, both having been owned by Taft Broadcasting and later Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia), until the television station was sold to Newport Television, LLC.

Despite the similarities in their call letters, WKRC was not the inspiration behind the television show WKRP in Cincinnati. The show was inspired by show creator Hugh Wilson's experiences at WQXI in Atlanta. The similarity of the two sets of call letters was used as a joke on the program.

Programming

Weekdays feature a local talk show hosted by Brian Thomas. Nationally syndicated shows include Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, Mark Levin, Clyde Lewis, & Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.

Weekends include shows on gardening, cooking, cars, computers, money and real estate. A syndicated home improvement show, At Home with Gary Sullivan is based at WKRC and airs Saturdays and Sundays. Most hours begin with national news from Fox News Radio. Some local news and weather is provided by Channel 19 WXIX-TV, the Cincinnati Fox Network affiliate.

History

WKRC is one of the oldest radio stations in Ohio, going on the air in 1924.[1] The call letters represent the Kodel Radio Company, the original owner. The station was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, and was one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.

CBS would later purchase WKRC, turning it into an owned and operated station, then sold it to the Cincinnati Times-Star in September 1939. The Times-Star was owned by the Taft Family, and this purchase was the genesis of Taft Broadcasting, with WKRC as its flagship.[2][3]

On November 29, 1992, after Jacor acquired the station via a local marketing agreement, WKRC began stunting with a computerized countdown.[4] A week later, WKRC debuted a new talk radio format as WLWA, a complementary service to WLW.[5] In 1994, the failed attempt became 550 WCKY, assuming the callsign (and some programming) used on the original WCKY, itself renamed WSAI. The station's call letters have since returned to WKRC.

Before becoming a primarily talk station, WKRC featured a full-service adult contemporary music format for many years and was an affiliate of the ABC Entertainment Radio Network.

References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
  2. ↑ "Times-Star buys WKRC, Cincinnati." Broadcasting - Broadcast Advertising, September 1, 1939, pg. 34.
  3. ↑ "WKRC's transfer approved by FCC." Broadcasting - Broadcast Advertising, December 1, 1939, pg. 36.
  4. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1992/RR-1992-12-04.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1992/RR-1992-12-11.pdf

Coordinates: 39°00′29″N 84°26′39″W / 39.00806°N 84.44417°W / 39.00806; -84.44417


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