WPAY (AM)
| |
City | Rossford, Ohio |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Toledo metropolitan area |
Branding | K-LOVE Classics |
Slogan | K-LOVE Classics from 80s 90s early 2000 |
Frequency | 1520 kHz |
Translator(s) | 92.1 W221BG (Toledo) |
First air date |
November 28, 1966 (as WTTO) |
Format | Classic Christian Music |
Power |
500 watts day 400 watts night |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 40858 |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°30′32.00″N 83°33′7.00″W / 41.5088889°N 83.5519444°W |
Former callsigns |
WTTO WTUU WANR WGOR(?-1981) WVOI (1981-1998) WDMN (1998-2008) WNWT (2008-2017) |
Affiliations | K-LOVE |
Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
Sister stations | WNKL |
Website |
www |
WPAY (1520 AM) is a radio station licensed to Rossford, Ohio, serving the Toledo metropolitan area and airing the K-LOVE Classics Christian Oldies format. The station is owned and operated by the Educational Media Foundation.[1]
History
WTTO
1520 AM in Toledo, Ohio was established in the late 1960s, With its first call letters being WTTO, it was known as Weetow 15 with a Top 40 format to compete with 1470 WOHO and 1560 WTOD (Now WWYC). It also competed with CKLW from Windsor, Ontario. The station had its studios on the top floor of the Commodore Perry building in Downtown Toledo.
WTUU
In early 1970s, the call letters were changed to WTUU. The station went Country as "Fun Country W15-2".
WANR, WGOR, WVOI
Sometime later, 1520AM adopted an all news radio format with the call letters WANR. The news format was unsuccessful and the station was sold. The callsign was changed to WGOR and the station took on a religious format. In 1981, the calls were changed to WVOI along with an urban music format being adopted. This format was successful and lasted until the later part of the 1990s.
Dominion 1520
In 1998, the calls were changed to WDMN (which stood for Dominion) when the Cornerstone Church of Maumee Ohio acquired the station. The station took on a Gospel music format.
Attempt at Commercial Talk radio
In April 2008, WDMN dropped Gospel music and changed its format to talk radio. The format was a combination of progressive and conservative talk radio programming. Some traditional and smooth jazz was played on the weekends. The station was also an affiliate of CNN. On July 1, 2008, the station changed its calls to WNWT.
EMF Purchase and recent developments
On January 22, 2009, it was announced that Educational Media Foundation had purchased WNWT. On April 23, 2009, WNWT's talk format was dropped and it became a simulcast of K-LOVE.
On April 26, 2014, WNWT became an affiliate of Urban Family Talk.
On March 15, 2017, the call letters were changed to WPAY.
On March 8, 2018 Urban Family Talk was dropped in favor of Radio Nueva Vida Network, a Spanish language religious format.
At one point, the station had two different transmitter and tower sites,located in two different states. Daytime broadcasts were from the transmitter and 6 towers located at 6695 Jackman Road in Bedford Township, Michigan, and nighttime broadcasts were from a straight row of 6 towers (parallel to I-75 near the Ohio Turnpike) in Perrysburg Township, Ohio. The daytime site also served as the main studio and office building for many years. Fire later destroyed the facility on Jackman in Bedford Township, Michigan. The current site is also in Perrysburg Township, but Southeast of the original decaying tower array.[2]
K-LOVE Classics from 80s 90s early 2000
On September 25, 2018 the station dropped the simulcast of the Radio Nueva Vida Network, a Spanish language religious format and flipped to the K-LOVE Classics format airing Christian music from the 80s 90s early 2000s.
Translators
Call sign | Frequency (MHz) | City of license | ERP W | Class | FCC info |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
W221BG | 92.1 FM | Toledo | 250 | D | FCC |
References
- ↑ "WPAY Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ Tower Site Hunting from the Air