WNIS

WNIS
City Norfolk, Virginia
Broadcast area Hampton Roads
Branding "AM 790 WNIS"
Frequency 790 kHz
First air date September 1952 (as 1050 WRAP)
Format Talk
Power 5,000 watts day and night
Class B
Facility ID 4671
Transmitter coordinates 37°4′25.0″N 76°17′31.0″W / 37.073611°N 76.291944°W / 37.073611; -76.291944
Callsign meaning W News & Information Station
Former callsigns WRAP, WTAR
Former frequencies 1050 kHz (1952-1956)
850 kHz (1956-1997)
Affiliations Premiere Networks
Westwood One Network
Fox News Radio
Owner Sinclair Telecable, Inc.
(Commonwealth Radio, LLC)
Sister stations WTAR, WROX-FM, WUSH, WNOB, WUSH-HD2
Webcast WNIS Webstream
Website WNIS Online

WNIS (790 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads radio market. WNIS is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc.[1] It airs a talk radio format.

WNIS has studios and offices on Waterside Drive in Norfolk.[2] Its three-tower transmitter is off Hall Road in Hampton.[3] It is powered at 5,000 watts around the clock, using a directional antenna.

Weekdays, WNIS has a local morning drive time talk and information show called "Marcrini's Morning News." Other weekday hours feature nationally syndicated shows from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Brian Kilmeade, Buck Sexton, "Coast to Coast AM with George Noory" and "This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal." Weekends feature shows on money, health and fishing, with syndicated hosts including Bob Brinker, Clark Howard, Bill Cunningham, Larry Kudlow and Art Bell. World and national news is supplied from Fox News Radio.

History

The station signed on in September 1952 as WRAP, a daytimer at 1050 kHz, powered at only 500 watts.[4] It was required to sign-off at sunset to avoid interfering with other radio stations on AM 1050, primarily XEG in Monterrey, Mexico.

In 1956, another Norfolk daytimer, 860 WCAV, left the air, allowing WRAP to relocate to AM 850. On the new frequency, WRAP could broadcast around the clock. The daytime power was increased to 5,000 watts and the nighttime power to 1,000 watts.[5]

WRAP was programmed to Norfolk's African-American community. Its call sign used the word "RAP," an African-American English word for "talk" or "discussion." (It would be several decades before "rap" began referring to a musical style.) An advertisement in the 1957 edition of Broadcasting Yearbook, using the descriptions of the era, said "Survey figures show the most Negroes in the Norfolk area listen most to WRAP." It added that WRAP, at 850 kilocycles, was "the only all-Negro station in Norfolk." For more on the history of the station, see WRAP (Norfolk).

In 1987, WRAP was acquired by local cable TV company Clinton Cablevision (later Sinclair Telecable).[6] The new owner flipped the format to talk. The call sign was changed to WNIS, standing for News and Information Station. The R&B format and WRAP call letters moved to AM 1350 in nearby Portsmouth (now gospel-formatted WGPL). WNIS picked up programming from ABC Talkradio, NBC Talknet and the Mutual Broadcasting System's Larry King Show.

The host who launched the new format was Gordon Hammett, a New York City radio veteran who had more than 40 years in the industry with stints that included WNBC, WMCA, and WNEW. He started a club called the Tidewater Talkers for his loyal listeners. His guests ranged from Sen. John Warner to Al Goldstein.

In July 1997, WNIS and its sister station, WTAR, switched dial positions. WNIS moved to AM 790, while WTAR took over the 850 kHz spot on the dial.[7] 850 has the stronger signal, broadcasting at 50,000 watts by day, the highest power authorized for commercial AM stations by the Federal Communications Commission. At night it runs 25,000 watts, while 790 kHz is powered at 5,000 watts day and night. Both stations had talk formats, although 850 WTAR is now a sports radio station and network affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.

References

  1. ↑ "WNIS Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ WNIS.com/contact
  3. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WNIS-AM
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1953 page 303
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1957 page 268
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1991 page D-247
  7. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1998 page D-461


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