WPIT
 | |
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 730kHz |
| Branding | WPIT 96.5 FM / 730 AM |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Christian radio(days) ClassicChristian contemporary music(nights) |
| Affiliations | SRN News Townhall |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1947 |
Call signmeaning | Pittsburgh |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 58624 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 5,000wattsday 24 wattsnight |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°29′02″N79°59′34″W/ 40.48389°N 79.99278°W |
| Translator(s) | 96.5W243BW (Pittsburgh) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live Listen live(viaAudacy) |
| Website | www |
WPIT(730AM) is acommercialradio stationinPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.It carries aChristian talk and teachingradio format.At night,classicChristian contemporary musicis heard. WPIT is licensed to the Salem Communications Holding Corporation, which is owned by theSalem Media Group.[2]Thestudiosare at Parkway Center in Pittsburgh.
By day, WPIT is powered at 5,000watts;because730 AMis a Canadian andMexicanclear channel frequencyWPIT must reduce power to only 24 watts at night, to avoid interference. Thetransmitteris off Mount Troy Road in Pittsburgh.[3]The station's antenna system uses a single tower that results in anomnidirectionalsignal pattern. According to the Antenna Structure Registration database, the tower is 99 m (325 ft) tall.[4]Programming is also heard on 250 wattFM translatorW243CWat 96.5MHz.[5]
Programming
[edit]WPIT carries both local and national religious leaders, includingAdrian Rogers,David Jeremiah,Alistair BeggandChuck Swindoll.It usesbrokered programmingwhere hosts pay for time on the station and may use their shows to seek donations to their ministries. World and national news is supplied bySRN News.The station is the Pittsburgh affiliate forPenn State Nittany Lionsfootball.[6]
From 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., WPIT switches to aChristian contemporary musicformat. WPIT is one of twoChristian radiostations owned by Salem in Pittsburgh.Sister station101.5WORD-FMcarriesChristian talk and teachingprograms around the clock.
History
[edit]
WPITsigned onthe air in 1947. It has been aChristian radiostation for most of its history and at one time was asimulcastof its FMsister station,101.5WORD-FM.
WPIT's studios were once located on Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh. A neon sign reading "WPIT DIAL 730" hung outside their former location for years after they had moved out, well into the early 1980s. The station moved to Gateway Towers in downtown Pittsburgh around 1980, next door to theKDKAandKDKA-TVhome of One Gateway Center.
In September 1991,Richard Rossibegan broadcasting his nightly radio showRich Rossi Liveon Pittsburgh'sWPIT-FM.The program created controversy when Rossi challenged the sale of WPIT to Salem, calling Christian radio and other evangelical churches "whores" who sell out the gospel for money.[7]
WPIT has had only three managers in its long history. Michael Komichak, who also built the station back in 1947 and did much of its engineering work, Chuck Gratner, who assumed control of WPIT-AM and FM after both were sold to Salem in 1993, and then-sales manager Tom Lemmon, who became General Manager following Gratner's retirement in 2014.
After Salem's takeover, old policies against atheist guests were lifted andRichard Dawkinshas even appeared on air. Once the sale to Salem was complete, the operations of WPIT and WORD-FM moved up to Seven Parkway Center in Greentree, just outside the Pittsburgh city limits.
WPIT had some secular conservative talk programming in its lineup (Dr. Laura,Michael Medved,andHugh Hewitt), but religious programming continues to fill most of the station's hours. For many years, WPIT has also aired foreign-language and ethnic programming on weekends.
The station is known as "73 WPIT"
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for WPIT".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^FCC.gov/WPIT
- ^Radio-Locator.com/WPIT
- ^FCC Antenna Structure Registration database
- ^Radio-Locator.com/W243BW
- ^PSU schedule on WPIT
- ^Rodgers-Melnick, Ann (October 20, 1991)."Revivalist accuses rivals of selling out for money, fame".The Pittsburgh Press.RetrievedDecember 25,2015.
External links
[edit]- FCC History Cards for WPIT
- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 58624 (WPIT)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
- WPITinNielsen Audio's AM station database