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 is a primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System for Southwest Ohio, Kentucky and Eastern Indiana. Besides its main analog transmission, WLW is simulcast over low-power translator W233BG () and on a digital subchannel of WKFS, and available online via iHeartRadio.
WLW operates with around the clock. The transmitter site in nearby Mason features a distinctive diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox tower. Its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage to almost all of Ohio and Indiana, and much of central Kentucky. WLW 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.
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 , which happened in the 1930s. Avco later launching television adjunct WLW-T (channel 5), which itself became the core of a regional television station network bearing the "WLW" name. The breakup of Avco resulted in WLW having a succession of owners before becoming the flagship of Jacor in the mid-1980s; under Jacor ownership, WLW adopted an aggressive, talk lineup programmed by Randy Michaels, becoming the home of Mike McConnell, Gary Burbank and Bill Cunningham. Since 1999, WLW has been owned by Clear Channel Communications, later renamed iHeartMedia.
History Origin 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 (equivalent to $ in ), 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".
Crosley was also an early experimenter with making radio transmissions. Most accounts say he began in July 1921, using a 20-watt set located in an upstairs billiard table room, repeatedly playing a phonograph record of "Song of India", while asking local amateur radio enthusiasts to call if they heard his signals. In 1921, the Crosley Manufacturing Company was issued two radio station licenses: one for a standard amateur station, 8CR, located at 5723 Davey Avenue, which was Crosley's College Hill home, and the other for an Experimental station, 8XAA, located at the company's Blue Rock Street factory building in Northside.
WLW Initially there were no formal standards for radio stations making broadcasts for the general public, and a variety of stations, most operating under Experimental or Amateur station licenses, conducted broadcasts on a regular schedule. On December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted the first 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."Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
The Precision Equipment Company was the first in Cincinnati to receive one of the new broadcasting station licenses, when its experimental station, 8XB, was relicensed as WMH on December 30, 1921. The Crosley Manufacturing Company also applied for one of the new licenses, which was granted on March 2, 1922, for operation on the 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength, and issued the randomly assigned call letters of WLW."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license, serial No. 312, issued on March 2, 1922, for 360 meters for a three-month period to the Crosley Manufacturing Company.
WLW made its debut broadcast on March 23, 1922, beginning at 7:15 pm. Station studios and transmitter were located at the Blue Rock Street building. Although the transmitter power was a fairly modest , station publicity boldly predicted that although previously only the smaller type of sending apparatus has been employed in Cincinnati, The equipment of the Crosley Manufacturing Company is of such great power that the concert emanating from Cincinnati will be heard as far as a distant point in Canada; as far east as the Atlantic Ocean; west as far as the Rocky Mountains, and south to the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys, and possibly to ships in the Gulf of Mexico? and that This inaugural concert will put Cincinnati 'on the map' of the radio world."Enquirer News By Radiophone Planned For Thursday Night", Cincinnati Enquirer, March 22, 1922, page 3.
The single shared entertainment wavelength of 360 meters meant that stations within a given region had to make timesharing agreements to assign operating timeslots. On August 7, 1922, WLW's programs were scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 pm, while WMH's ran from 8:15 p.m. to 10:00 pm."Radio Programs", Cincinnati Enquirer, August 7, 1923, page 8. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power increased to 500 watts in September 1922, and to 1,000 watts in May 1924.
In 1923, Crosley bought the Precision Equipment Company, and in January shut down WMH's operations. Precision, which held the rights to use the valuable Armstrong regeneration patent, was technically the surviving company in the merger, and was subsequently renamed the Crosley Radio Company."Radio Companies Merged", Cincinnati Enquirer, January 13, 1924, page 21.Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s: Volume 1 (Crosley section) by Alan Douglas, 1988, page 110.
In May 1923, the Department of Commerce set aside a band of "Class B" frequencies reserved for stations that had quality equipment and programming, and the Cincinnati region was assigned exclusive use of 970 kHz."Radio Conference Recommendations: New Wave Lengths", Radio Age, May 1923, page 11. Beginning with these assignments radio stations ended the practice of broadcasting their market reports and weather forecasts on the separate 485-meter wavelength. In the summer WLW began operating on this new frequency, sharing time with another Cincinnati station, WSAI."Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, July 2, 1923, page 10. In May 1924, a third Class B station was established in Cincinnati, WFBW (now WKRC), which the next month revived the WMH call letters. WLW was unhappy with having to split time with two other stations, so in June 1924, government regulators moved WLW to 710 kHz, sharing time with WBAV (now WTVN) in Columbus.
At the Third National Radio Conference, held in October 1924, the Radio Corporation of America's (RCA) vice president and general manager, David Sarnoff, announced that his company planned to embark on the construction of a 50,000-watt station for New York City. At this time 1,000 watts was the maximum permitted, so this brought up fears by smaller stations that a group of powerful stations would monopolize the airwaves."New Superpower Broadcasting Now Planned by R.C.A.", Washington Star, October 7, 1924, page 1. However, Powel Crosley fully endorsed the idea, stating: "Our idea of the solution to the static problem is increase in power. We talk today of 5,000 watts being superpower, when we all know that five years from now certain broadcasting stations will be using from 50 to 200 kilowatts. When that day comes, there will be no more static.""Cruising Through the Air" by E. M. Boyd, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 3, 1925, Section 6, page 3.
In late 1924, Western Electric began selling radio transmitters capable of operating at 5,000 watts,"KFI—The Radio Central Superstation", Radio Digest, May 23, 1925, pages 4–6. but the Commerce Department, wary of the high-powered sets overwhelming local receivers, did not immediately allow stations to use the full power. Instead stations could start operating with up to 1,500 watts, then, only if approved by the region's Radio Supervisor, increase powers in successive 500-watt steps, while ensuring that it was not causing excessive interference."U.S. Radio Power Scale Announced", Washington Star, October 29, 1924, page 18. WLW ordered one of the 5,000-watt-capable Western Electric transmitters, originally hoping to have it in operation by the end of December. In addition, a new remote transmitter site was constructed at Harrison, Ohio, located away from the city to limit the possibility of the station's signals overwhelming local receivers."Big Station Plans to Circle Globe", Washington Star, September 7, 1924, Part 1, page 31. On January 27, 1925, WLW began using its 5,000-watt-capable transmitter, although not yet at full power."The Listening Post", Cincinnati Post, January 28, 1925, page 6.
The Commerce Department's cautious approach toward power increases was based on the assumption that station transmitters were located in heavily populated areas. However, in May 1925, it recognized that WLW's Harrison and WSAI's Mason, Ohio, transmitter sites were both far enough from population centers that they could immediately begin operating as the first two stations in the nation transmitting with the full 5,000 watts."Two Stations To Use Higher Power", Cincinnati Enquirer, May 12, 1925, page 7."5KW Power for Cincinnati Stations", Radio Age, July 1925, page 57. A Cincinnati Post writer investigated the effect of WSAI and WLW's May 11 introduction of the use of 5,000 watts, and found that despite claims that their "superpower broadcasting" would eliminate static within 500 miles, it was only "a start in the right direction". Listeners reported that the stations now sounded about twice as strong, and also noted that KDKA in Pittsburgh's 10,000 watts was even better."Stations Using 5000 Watts Do Not Overcome Static" by E. D. Leonard, Cincinnati Post, May 19, 1925, page 9.
Shortly after WLW began operating with 5,000 watts, the major radio manufacturers began work on producing more powerful transmitters. Development was led by General Electric, and in July 1925 that company's WGY in Schenectady, New York began conducting tests of a 50,000-watt transmitter,"Superpower Test Arouses Interest", Radio Digest, August 29, 1925, pages 1–2."High Power Downs Static, Test Shows", Radio Digest, September 12, 1925, page 7. which began regular usage later that year."Land Lines to Link WGY and the West", Radio Digest, October 24, 1925, page 7.
"The Nation's Station"
By the summer of 1928, stations WGY, WEAF and KDKA were broadcasting with 50,000 watts,"Broadcasting Stations, Alphabetically by Call Signal", Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the United States (June 30, 1928, edition), pages 82–96. and WLW was making plans to join them.