WLW

WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios are located in Sycamore Township (with a Cincinnati address).

WLW operates with 50,000 watts around the clock. The transmitter site features a distinctive diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox tower in nearby Mason. Its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage to almost all of Ohio and Indiana, and much of central Kentucky]. It is heard at city-grade strength as far as Indianapolis, Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky; and Columbus, Ohio, with secondary coverage as far as Louisville and the outer suburbs of Cleveland and Detroit. At night, with a good radio, it can be heard in much of North America.

WLW is a primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System for Southwest Ohio, Kentucky and Eastern Indiana. Besides its main analog transmission, its programming is simulcast on 99-watt FM translator W233BG on 94.5 MHz and on an HD digital subchannel of co-owned 107.1 MHz WKFS.

Launched by industrialist Powel Crosley Jr., WLW became the flagship station of the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, later a part of Avco. One of four charter affiliates of the Mutual Broadcasting System, WLW holds the distinction of being the only AM radio station authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with a power of 500,000 watts, which happened in the 1930s.

WLW serves as the Cincinnati network affiliate for ABC News Radio; the AM flagship station for the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network; a co-flagship station for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network; and the home of radio personalities Mike McConnell, Rocky Boiman and Bill Cunningham.

WLW has a 24-hour local news department and is affiliated with ABC News Radio. The station airs a nearly entirely locally produced talk format. Bill Cunningham hosts a weekday program, and WLW is the flagship station for his Live on Sunday Night, which is syndicated by Premiere Networks. Other notable personalities on the station include morning host Mike McConnell, afternoon hosts Eddie Fingers and Rocky Boiman, and evening host Gary Jeff Walker. A one-hour version of America's Trucking Network, hosted by Eric Boulanger (under the alias of "Bubba Bo"), aired at midnight until Boulanger's death in February 2023, followed by Red Eye Radio, the station's only weekday long-form syndicated offering.

WLW is the flagship radio station for the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network, and also airs Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers college games. WLW also serves as a co-flagship station for the Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network alongside sister stations WCKY and WEBN, airing any games that do not conflict with Reds games. This is primarily to improve coverage of Bengals games at night when WCKY must readjust its signal to protect KFBK in Sacramento. The combined footprints of the two stations allow Bengals night games to be heard across almost all of North America. WLW also will air an FC Cincinnati game, specifically their 2023 MLS Eastern Conference Final game against in-state rivals the Columbus Crew, on December 2, 2023.

WLW was the outgrowth of an interest in radio by Powel Crosley Jr., although information about his earliest activities is limited. Crosley recounted that his introduction to radio occurred on February 22, 1921, when he took his son to the local Precision Equipment Company store to investigate purchasing a receiver. He was shocked to find that a high-end receiver would cost US$135 (equivalent to $2379.88 in 2024), and after assembling his own receiver from parts, he realized that commercial mass production could be done at much lower prices. Starting with individual parts, then moving on to complete receivers, in the 1920s the Crosley Radio Corporation was a leading manufacturer of inexpensive sets, and Powel Crosley became known as "the Henry Ford of radio".