WTEL (AM)

WTEL (610 kHz), branded "Philadelphia's BIN 610", is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Philadelphia and serving the Delaware Valley, including parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. While owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, the station is currently operated by iHeartMedia under a long-term local marketing agreement (LMA). It airs a black-oriented all-news radio format as part of iHeart's Black Information Network (BIN). The studios are on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd.

WTEL is powered at 5,000 watts using a directional antenna. Its two towers and transmitter are off Creek Road in Bellmawr, New Jersey, near Interstate 295. WTEL is also heard over the second HD Radio subchannel of 105.3 WDAS-FM, and is available online via iHeartRadio. WTEL is a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System in eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports. Philadelphia's first broadcasting station, WGL, was licensed on February 8, 1922, to Thomas F. J. Howlett.

This was followed by a scramble among four of the city's department stores to become the first to establish its own station. On March 20, 1922 Gimbel Brothers, with Benedict Gimbel Jr. as its president, was issued a license with the randomly assigned call letters WIP, for a new station operating on the 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength. Although the WIP call sign was randomly assigned, later slogans based on the call letters have included "Wireless In Philadelphia", "We're In Philadelphia" and "Watch Its Progress". The station later received an additional authorization to broadcast weather reports on 485 meters.

The other three Philadelphia department store stations authorized in the first half of 1922 were WOO (licensed March 18, 1922, to John Wanamaker), WFI (later WFIL, licensed March 18, 1922, to Strawbridge & Clothier), and WDAR (later WLIT, licensed May 20, 1922, to the Lit Brothers).

Because 360 meters was the only designated broadcasting wavelength, WIP had to operate within the restrictions of a timesharing arrangement with the other local stations. In the race to be the first department store on the air, Strawbridge & Clothier's WFI debuted on March 18, starting with a 10:16 a.m. speech by John F. Braun, president of the Art Alliance and the Music League. WIP's formal debut came a short time later, beginning with an 11:00 a.m. speech by J. Hampton Moore, Mayor of Philadelphia. However, an advertisement placed by Gimbels on the previous day claimed that "Philadelphia's first radio broadcasting by any store, opened this morning at 9 o'clock", and, somewhat vaguely, "Details of programs will speedily unfold". The department store's March 18 advertisement for WIP further asserted that "Yesterday's broadcasting was most successful", although it provided no details about the nature of any earlier transmissions. Under the local timesharing agreement, WIP's August 17, 1922, schedule on 360 meters consisted of a variety of short programs, beginning with New York and Philadelphia stock price quotes at 1:00 p.m., and ending with its "Uncle Wip" children's programs starting at 7:15 p.m.

In late September 1922, the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming, and WIP was assigned use of this more exclusive wavelength, joining WOO, WFI, and WDAR. WIP's March 27, 1923, time slots were entertainment programs from 2:00 to 3:00 and 6:00 to 6:30 p.m., followed by "Uncle Wip's Bedtime Stories and roll call" beginning at 7:00 p.m. In May 1923 additional "Class B" frequencies were made available, which included two Philadelphia allocations, with WIP and WOO assigned to 590 kHz on a timesharing basis, while WFI and WDAR were assigned to the second Philadelphia Class B frequency, 760 kHz. In late 1927 WIP and WOO were reassigned to 860 kHz. On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of a major nationwide reallocation under the provisions of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WIP was assigned to a "regional" frequency, 610 kHz, along with a new timesharing partner, the Keystone Broadcasting Company's WFAN.

On January 20, 1933, WIP's owners took over WFAN, eliminating that station in order to allow WIP to begin broadcasting on an unlimited schedule. Beginning in the mid-1930s, WIP's Morning Cheer program presented by George A. Palmer was a popular daily feature. In the 1940s and 1950s, the station was an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. From the 1950s until the early 1960s, the station was owned by Metropolitan Broadcasting (successor to Dumont) and had a rock and roll format. In the early 60s the parent company name was changed from Metropolitan to Metromedia, and WIP adopted an MOR format (after an unsuccessful attempt at a Top 40 format branded as Color Radio). With this format, the station played pop hits of the 1960s, along with some 50s pop mixed in. Announcers during this time period included Joe McCauley (the "Morning Mayor"), Ned Powers, Tom Brown, and Chuck Daugherty.