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WFIA (AM)
WFIA (900 AM) is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, airing a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It is owned by the Word Media Group through its subsidiary Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. WFIA uses a brokered programming system where religious leaders pay for time on the station and may use their programs to seek donations to their ministries. Programs are hosted by Greg Laurie, David Jeremiah, Jim Daly, James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, J. Vernon McGee and Alistair Begg.
By day, WFIA is powered at 930 watts. But 900 AM is a Mexican clear channel frequency. So at night, to avoid interference, WFIA reduces power to 162 watts. Programming is also heard on FM translator W29BV at 107.3 MHz.
The station signed on the air on March 24, 1947. The original call sign was WKYW. Its initial broadcast was a 25-minute preview of programs before initiating full service the next day. The station's original power was 1,000 watts, broadcasting from a transmitter site off River Road. Because of its location near the Ohio River, the transmitter building was raised on aluminum pontoons.
WKYW was a daytime-only outlet, required to be silent at night. One Christmas Day, the station recorded its entire programming on tape so all of its employees—save for an engineer—could take the holiday off. In its programming, WKYW emphasized music, with a minimum of talk. WKYW was also noteworthy by the mid-1960s for the use of a helicopter to report traffic conditions.
In 1965, the Polaris Corporation, owners of WKYW, opted to relaunch the station as a Christian radio outlet. It used the call letters WFIA to stand for "With Faith In America." The new call sign went into effect on September 5. Along with the change in call letters, the station ceased to accept beer, wine and tobacco commercials. The traffic helicopter reports moved over to 970 WAVE.
In 1975, WFIA put its first FM sister station on the air, WFIA-FM 103.9. At first, both WFIA and WFIA-FM aired Christian preaching and talk shows with some music. But in the 1980s, the FM station was switched to WXLN, a Contemporary Christian outlet, while 900 WFIA's programming was exclusively Christian talk and teaching. WFIA and WXLN were sold in 1989 to Jim Kincer for $2.1 million.
In the 1990s, the stations changed hands multiple times. When the FM station prepared to flip to a secular music format, its longform religious programming migrated to 900 WFIA. Neon Communications split WFIA and the FM outlet, by that time known as WQLL, by selling them separately in 1994.
The buyer for WFIA, paying $500,000, was Regent Broadcasting. Regent was acquired by Jacor in 1996. Under Jacor ownership, Ohio River flooding briefly forced WFIA and its riverside transmitter off the air in March 1997. The University of Louisville allowed the station to temporarily broadcast from an unused tower on its campus.
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WFIA (AM)
WFIA (900 AM) is a commercial radio station in Louisville, Kentucky, airing a Christian talk and teaching radio format. It is owned by the Word Media Group through its subsidiary Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. WFIA uses a brokered programming system where religious leaders pay for time on the station and may use their programs to seek donations to their ministries. Programs are hosted by Greg Laurie, David Jeremiah, Jim Daly, James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, J. Vernon McGee and Alistair Begg.
By day, WFIA is powered at 930 watts. But 900 AM is a Mexican clear channel frequency. So at night, to avoid interference, WFIA reduces power to 162 watts. Programming is also heard on FM translator W29BV at 107.3 MHz.
The station signed on the air on March 24, 1947. The original call sign was WKYW. Its initial broadcast was a 25-minute preview of programs before initiating full service the next day. The station's original power was 1,000 watts, broadcasting from a transmitter site off River Road. Because of its location near the Ohio River, the transmitter building was raised on aluminum pontoons.
WKYW was a daytime-only outlet, required to be silent at night. One Christmas Day, the station recorded its entire programming on tape so all of its employees—save for an engineer—could take the holiday off. In its programming, WKYW emphasized music, with a minimum of talk. WKYW was also noteworthy by the mid-1960s for the use of a helicopter to report traffic conditions.
In 1965, the Polaris Corporation, owners of WKYW, opted to relaunch the station as a Christian radio outlet. It used the call letters WFIA to stand for "With Faith In America." The new call sign went into effect on September 5. Along with the change in call letters, the station ceased to accept beer, wine and tobacco commercials. The traffic helicopter reports moved over to 970 WAVE.
In 1975, WFIA put its first FM sister station on the air, WFIA-FM 103.9. At first, both WFIA and WFIA-FM aired Christian preaching and talk shows with some music. But in the 1980s, the FM station was switched to WXLN, a Contemporary Christian outlet, while 900 WFIA's programming was exclusively Christian talk and teaching. WFIA and WXLN were sold in 1989 to Jim Kincer for $2.1 million.
In the 1990s, the stations changed hands multiple times. When the FM station prepared to flip to a secular music format, its longform religious programming migrated to 900 WFIA. Neon Communications split WFIA and the FM outlet, by that time known as WQLL, by selling them separately in 1994.
The buyer for WFIA, paying $500,000, was Regent Broadcasting. Regent was acquired by Jacor in 1996. Under Jacor ownership, Ohio River flooding briefly forced WFIA and its riverside transmitter off the air in March 1997. The University of Louisville allowed the station to temporarily broadcast from an unused tower on its campus.