WODS (AM)

WODS is an AM broadcasting radio station licensed to the city of West Hazleton, Pennsylvania with service area extending out to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton radio market. The station is a full-time relay of the programming of the WILK News Radio network featuring a news and talk radio format. The station broadcasts at a frequency of 1300 kHz with a power of 5,000 watts daytime with a directional antenna signal pattern focused towards the north, then switches to a power of 500 Watts at night with another directional signal pattern focused towards the northeast. WODS is considered a Class-B AM broadcasting station according to the Federal Communications Commission.

WODS
CityWest Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaScranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton
BrandingWILK Newsradio
Frequency1300 kHz
First air date1982 (1982)[1]
FormatTalk radio
Power5,000 watts (daytime)
500 watts (nighttime)
ClassB
Facility ID22667
Transmitter coordinates40.939928°N 76.001447°W / 40.939928; -76.001447
Call sign meaning"parked" call sign; see WBGB
Former call signsWYLV (1981–82)
WWKC (1982–83)
WXPX (1983–96)
WILP (1996–2001)
WOGY (2001–05)
WKZN (2005–20)
OwnerEntercom Communications
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsWAAF, WGGY, WILK, WILK-FM, WKRZ, WMQX
WebcastListen Live
Websitewilknews.radio.com

History

Prior use of 1300 kHz in Hazleton
Main article: WHZN (Pennsylvania)

The first station at 1300 kHz in the Hazleton area operated from October 26, 1961, to January 14, 1965, as WTHT, which became WHZN in 1964. Broadcasting from studios and a transmitter southeast of Hazleton, the station experienced a turbulent final year which included a license renewal designated for hearing, financial problems, and a union strike which prompted the station to go off air for good. An attempt to reactivate the frequency in the late 1960s and early 1970s failed due to its specification of West Hazleton as the city of license despite not covering it completely.

Current license

The current station on 1300 kHz signed on in 1982 with the call sign WWKC, branded as "KC Country", with a country music format. At the time, it only broadcast with 500 watts of power and was a daytime only station. It was only the second AM station to serve the Hazleton area. The country music format did not do very well in the market, so in 1983 the station changed to an adult standards format with the addition of some local news and talk at the same time changing call signs to WXPX and increasing its daytime power to its present 5,000 watts. The WXPX call sign lasted until 1996 when the station was sold and the format and call signs were changed to WILP. Another ownership and format change happened in 2001 when the station changed call signs to WOGY.[2] The station was sold to its present owners, Entercom Communications, and joined the WILK News Radio network. The station's call signs were changed to WKZN in 2005,[3] and to WODS in 2020.[4]

References
  1. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 (PDF). 2010. p. D-478. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  2. Scott Fybush. "Northeast Radio Watch - December 31, 2001 (The Year in Review)". Northeast Radio Watch (Rochester, New York). Retrieved December 31, 2001.
  3. Scott Fybush. "Northeast Radio Watch - March 7, 2005 - Pennsylvania". Northeast Radio Watch (Rochester, New York). Retrieved March 7, 2005.
  4. "Call Sign History (WODS)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
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