WFIA (AM)

WFIA is an AM radio station on 900 kHz in Louisville, Kentucky. WFIA is owned by Salem Media Group through its subsidiary Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC, though it is operated by Word Media Group. WFIA broadcasts with a daytime power of 930 watts and a nighttime power of 162 watts and carries Christian programming.

WFIA
CityLouisville, Kentucky
Frequency900 kHz
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerSalem Media Group
(Salem Media of Massachusetts, LLC)
OperatorWord Media Group (outright sale pending)
WFIA-FM, WGTK
History
First air date
March 24, 1947[1]
Former call signs
WKYW (1947–1965)
WFIA (1965–January 9, 2017)
WJIE (January 9–October 3, 2017)[2]
Call sign meaning
With Faith In America[3]
Technical information
Facility ID55504
ClassD
Power930 watts daytime
162 watts nighttime
Transmitter coordinates
38°15′57″N 85°42′50″W
Translator(s)107.3 W297BV (Louisville)
Links
Websitewww.wordmediagroup.com

History

WKYW

WKYW began broadcasting on March 24, 1947,[1] with a 25-minute preview of programs before initiating full service the next day. The station's original power was 1,000 watts, broadcast from the transmitter site off River Road; because of its location near the Ohio River, the transmitter building was raised on aluminum pontoons.[4] The daytime-only outlet claimed several firsts: its off-air hours were silenced by a mattress company, and one Christmas it recorded its entire programming on tape so all of its employees—save for an engineer—could take the holiday off.[5] In its programming, WKYW emphasized music, with a minimum of talk.[6] WKYW was also noteworthy by the mid-1960s for the use of a helicopter to report traffic conditions.[7]

WFIA

In 1965, the Polaris Corporation, owners of WKYW, opted to relaunch the station as a religious outlet: WFIA (With Faith In America), effective September 5.[3] Along with the change in call letters, the station ceased to accept beer, wine and tobacco commercials.[3] The traffic helicopter moved over to WGTK.[7]

In 1975, WFIA spawned its first FM sister station, WFIA-FM 103.9. That station remained co-owned in the 1980s as WXLN, a contemporary Christian outlet, while WFIA's programming shifted to religious talk and teaching.[8] WFIA-WXLN was sold in 1989 to Jim Kincer for $2.1 million.[9] This started a decade in which the station changed hands multiple times; when the FM station prepared for a secular flip, its longform religious programming migrated to WFIA.[10] Neon Communications split WFIA and the FM outlet, by that time known as WQLL, by selling them separately in 1994; the buyer for WFIA, paying $500,000, was Regent Broadcasting.[11] Regent was acquired by Jacor in 1996; under Jacor ownership, Ohio River flooding briefly forced WFIA and its riverside transmitter off the air in March 1997,[12] and the University of Louisville allowed the station to temporarily broadcast from an unused tower.[13]

When Jacor was merged into Clear Channel Communications three years later, the company was required to divest 18 radio stations, including WFIA, which was sold to Blue Chip Broadcasting.[14] The ownership carousel ended when Salem acquired WFIA for $1.75 million in 2001.[15]

On December 22, 2016, Salem announced that it would hand operation of its Louisville radio stations, including WFIA, to Word Broadcasting Network (also known as Word Media Group) under a time brokerage agreement.[16] Programming of WFIA was changed to a simulcast of Word's Contemporary Christian station WJIE-FM,[17] and the station carried the WJIE call letters for 10 months in 2017 before reverting to WFIA in October. On February 10, 2020, Word Broadcasting announced that it would take advantage of the option in its agreement to acquire the stations from Salem for $4 million.[18][19]

Translator

WFIA's signal is repeated over translator station W297BV on 107.3 MHz, also at Louisville.

Broadcast translators of WFIA
Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		Height
(m (ft))		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W297BV107.3Louisville, Kentucky1425192200 m (0 ft)D38°15′57″N 85°42′50″WFCC

References
  1. "New Station Goes On Air". Louisville Courier-Journal. March 25, 1947. p. 11. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  2. "Callsign History for WFIA". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  3. Ladd, Bill (August 19, 1965). "WKYW Will Stress Religion". The Courier-Journal. p. B2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  4. Ladd, Bill (February 13, 1947). "The Ark On River Road Is Just A Transmitter". The Courier Journal. p. 11. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  5. Ladd, Bill (July 1, 1951). "Dave Wilburn Takes Job In Richmond". The Courier-Journal. p. 17. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  6. Ladd, Bill (October 19, 1952). "Sale Of Cisler Interest In WKYW Won't Take The Accent Off Music". The Courier-Journal. p. 19.
  7. Ladd, Bill (November 22, 1965). "WAVE 'Traffic Copter' Due". The Courier-Journal. p. B2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  8. "Religious listeners are loyal". The Courier-Journal. April 3, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  9. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 5, 1989. p. 97. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  10. Dorsey, Tom (June 28, 1990). "Radio switch". The Courier-Journal. p. C2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  11. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 14, 1994. p. 8. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  12. Dorsey, Tom (March 5, 1997). "Basketball tournaments hit the tube". The Courier-Journal. p. C2. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  13. Lawson, Jim (March 14, 1997). "...'Outpouring of help'". The Courier-Journal. p. 10A. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  14. Department of Justice (April 22, 1999). "JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPROVES CLEAR CHANNEL'S ACQUISITION OF JACOR COMMUNICATIONS AFTER PARTIES AGREE TO DIVESTITURES". Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  15. "Transaction Digest" (PDF). Radio Business Report. January 15, 2001. p. 14. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  16. "Salem Announces Louisville Transaction with Word Broadcasting Network". BusinessWire. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  17. "Salem May Be Putting More Stations Up For Sale". InsideRadio. March 14, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  18. "Salem Media Group, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2019 Total Revenue of $64.1 Million". BusinessWire. November 12, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  19. "Salem Sells Louisville Cluster". RadioInsight. 10 February 2020.
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