WAAF (AM)

WAAF (910 AM) – branded WILK Newsradio – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve Scranton, Pennsylvania. Owned by Entercom, WAAF operates as one of several full-time simulcasts of WILK-FM in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton region, alternatively known as the Wyoming Valley. Originally known as WGBI from its 1925 sign on date until 2005,[1][2] the current WAAF call sign is a "parking" move administered following Entercom's divestiture of WAAF (FM) in the Greater Boston region. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WAAF's programming, in concurrence with WILK-FM and other associated relays, is available online via Radio.com.

For the station that used the WAAF (AM) call sign from 1922 to 1967, see WNTD.
WAAF
CityScranton, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaScranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton
BrandingWILK Newsradio
Frequency910 kHz
First air date1925 (1925)
FormatTalk radio
Power900 watts (day)
440 watts (night)
ClassB
Facility ID36200
Transmitter coordinates41.409514°N 75.666854°W / 41.409514; -75.666854
Call sign meaning"parked" call sign; see WKVB
Former call signsWGBI (1925–2005)
WBZU (2005–20)
OwnerEntercom Communications
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsWGGY, WILK, WILK-FM, WKRZ, WMQX, WODS
WebcastListen Live
Websitewilknews.radio.com

History

WGBI signed on the frequency of 1250 kHz in 1925,[1] owned by Frank S. Megargee. In 1927, the station moved to 1300 kHz[3] which it time shared with Scranton's other radio station, WQAN (now WEJL). The two stations which were time sharing a single frequency, moved to 880 kHz in 1931,[4] and then again to 910 kHz by 1941[5] (the later move, forced by a nationwide frequency reassignment which took place in 1941). WGBI remained at 910 kHz when WQAN moved on to its own broadcast tower and new frequency of 630 kHz in 1948. This meant that WGBI had full-time use of the 910 kHz frequency where it remains to this day. WGBI was a CBS Radio network affiliated station by the 1940s.[6]

The Megargee family's company, Scranton Broadcasters, spawned an FM station (now WGGY) and northeast Pennsylvania's second television station (now WYOU). The Megargees held on to the radio stations well into the 1990s. By the turn of the century, WGBI had been sold to Entercom and become a repeater of WILK, existing mainly to improve its signal in Scranton. While WILK's daytime signal easily covers most of Scranton, the northern portion of the city only gets a grade B signal. At night, WILK must power down to 1,000 watts, leaving most of Scranton with only a grade B signal.

In 2005, Entercom flipped a station in the Madison, Wisconsin area to adult hits; the WBZU call letters were moved to Scranton, ending 80 years as WGBI.[7]

In 2007, the station moved its transmitter to the tower location atop the Times Building at 149 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton[8] also being used by WEJL's transmitter. The full-time switch over to the new transmitter facility and tower location happened on August 2, 2007.[8] This tower sharing arrangement repeats an arrangement the stations shared over 60 years ago in their early history. The efficiency of the new transmitter tower location also caused WBZU to slightly reduce its power to keep within Federal Communications Commission rules on signal strength and coverage.

On February 26, 2020, the WBZU and WAAF call signs were swapped between AM 910 and 107.3 FM in Westborough/Boston, Massachusetts when the latter station was announced to be sold.

References
  1. U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1925
  2. "A selection from a decade of visits to tower and studio sites in the Northeast and beyond". www.fybush.com. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  3. U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1927
  4. U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1930
  5. U. S. AM Stations as of 1942
  6. U. S. Network-Affiliated AM Radio Stations, 1949
  7. Ondrako, Mary (June 4, 2005). "Jack airs his eclectic tastes on growing range of stations". Times-Tribune. p. B3. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  8. Wow...910am
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