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WWRC
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WWRC
WWRC (570 AM) – branded AM 570 The Answer – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Bethesda, Maryland. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station services the Washington metro area and is the market affiliate for the Salem Radio Network and The Sean Hannity Show. The WWRC studios are located in Arlington, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Germantown. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WWRC is available online.
Despite the similar looking call sign, WWRC is a name-only descendant of the former WRC (980 AM)—now WTEM—and is not related to the current WRC-TV.
On January 2, 1946, the station first signed on as WQQW. It was powered at 1,000 watts and was owned by WQQW, Incorporated. Only two years later, an FM station also signed on, simulcasting the AM station's programming, which was mostly classical music. In 1951, the call letters of both stations were changed to WGMS – Washington's Good Music Station.
In January 1958, RKO Teleradio Pictures purchased WGMS and WGMS-FM. RKO, which had been one of the Big Five Studios of the Hollywood studio system, had been branching out into the broadcasting industry, also buying WOR in New York City and KHJ in Los Angeles. KHJ, WOR's FM station and several other RKO stations around the country had switched to a Top 40 radio format, which proved quite successful.
To encourage unique programming on the FM band, in 1967 the FCC prohibited AM-FM pairs in large markets (population over 100,000) from simulcasting each other for more than 12 hours per day. WGMS and several other classical stations, including WQXR New York and KFAC Los Angeles, obtained exemptions from the rule in 1972. Not only could these stations not afford to produce an additional 12 hours of programming daily, but their music needed to stay on AM as their older audiences often did not have FM radios in their cars. WGMS in particular found itself under threat of an immediate format change if it did not receive the waiver.
A proposal in the 1970s to convert WGMS to a Top 40 sound upset many of its influential listeners, some of them in the Senate and House of Representatives.
By the 1990s, even though ratings were still good, the classical audience was aging, and there were reports that WGMS's owners were again considering switching to a more youthful format. WGMS was sold to Washington, D.C. venture capitalists Steven and Mitchell Rales.
On May 24, 1992, at 3:30 p.m., the station switched to all sports, with the call letters changing to WTEM, signifying the word "team". Chancellor Broadcasting purchased the station in August 1996. Chancellor Broadcasting purchased Capstar Broadcasting in 1999, resulting in a combined entity known as AMFM Inc. In 2000, AMFM Inc. merged with Clear Channel Communications, today known as iHeartMedia.
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WWRC
WWRC (570 AM) – branded AM 570 The Answer – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Bethesda, Maryland. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station services the Washington metro area and is the market affiliate for the Salem Radio Network and The Sean Hannity Show. The WWRC studios are located in Arlington, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Germantown. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WWRC is available online.
Despite the similar looking call sign, WWRC is a name-only descendant of the former WRC (980 AM)—now WTEM—and is not related to the current WRC-TV.
On January 2, 1946, the station first signed on as WQQW. It was powered at 1,000 watts and was owned by WQQW, Incorporated. Only two years later, an FM station also signed on, simulcasting the AM station's programming, which was mostly classical music. In 1951, the call letters of both stations were changed to WGMS – Washington's Good Music Station.
In January 1958, RKO Teleradio Pictures purchased WGMS and WGMS-FM. RKO, which had been one of the Big Five Studios of the Hollywood studio system, had been branching out into the broadcasting industry, also buying WOR in New York City and KHJ in Los Angeles. KHJ, WOR's FM station and several other RKO stations around the country had switched to a Top 40 radio format, which proved quite successful.
To encourage unique programming on the FM band, in 1967 the FCC prohibited AM-FM pairs in large markets (population over 100,000) from simulcasting each other for more than 12 hours per day. WGMS and several other classical stations, including WQXR New York and KFAC Los Angeles, obtained exemptions from the rule in 1972. Not only could these stations not afford to produce an additional 12 hours of programming daily, but their music needed to stay on AM as their older audiences often did not have FM radios in their cars. WGMS in particular found itself under threat of an immediate format change if it did not receive the waiver.
A proposal in the 1970s to convert WGMS to a Top 40 sound upset many of its influential listeners, some of them in the Senate and House of Representatives.
By the 1990s, even though ratings were still good, the classical audience was aging, and there were reports that WGMS's owners were again considering switching to a more youthful format. WGMS was sold to Washington, D.C. venture capitalists Steven and Mitchell Rales.
On May 24, 1992, at 3:30 p.m., the station switched to all sports, with the call letters changing to WTEM, signifying the word "team". Chancellor Broadcasting purchased the station in August 1996. Chancellor Broadcasting purchased Capstar Broadcasting in 1999, resulting in a combined entity known as AMFM Inc. In 2000, AMFM Inc. merged with Clear Channel Communications, today known as iHeartMedia.