WRAW
WRAW (1340 kHz, "NewsRadio 1340") is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Reading, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a conservative talk radio format.
 | |
| City | Reading, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1340 kHz |
| Branding | NewsRadio 1340 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks Fox News Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | iHeartMedia (iHM Licenses, LLC) |
| WRFY-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | September 1922 |
Former call signs | WRAW (1922–2006) WKAP (2006–2007) |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 69566 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°19′27.00″N 75°55′10.00″W (NAD27) |
| Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
| Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | 1340wraw |
WRAW's transmitter is off South 9th Street in Reading, near the Schuylkill River.[1] It is powered at 1,000 watts. The service contour covers communities such as Ephrata, Pottstown, Kutztown, Boyertown and Hamburg.[2]
Programming
Weekdays begin with the R.J. Harris Breakfast Show simulcast from co-owned 580 WHP in nearby Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The rest of the weekday line up features mostly syndicated shows from the co-owned Premiere Networks, including Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Buck Sexton. Late nights, podcasts from iHeartRadio are heard. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio.
History
WRAW is one of the oldest radio stations in Central Pennsylvania, going on the air in September 1922.[3] At first, it was powered at only 100 watts. WRAW originally was an NBC Red Network affiliate, airing its dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big bands broadcasts during the Golden Age of Radio.[4] In the 1950s, it switched to the CBS Radio Network and aired a middle of the road music format.
In the 1980s, it played a syndicated adult standards format, known as The Music of Your Life.
WRAW once broadcast in AM stereo using the C-QUAM system.[5]
WRAW changed formats in 2006 to Christian radio as Praise Radio 1340 with the call sign WKAP. In 2007 it changed its call letters and format back to WRAW. In 2008, the station derived a portion of its programming from Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from ABC Radio.[6]
On February 27, 2014, WRAW changed to Spanish Contemporary, branded as "Rumba 1340".[7] Programming was also heard on FM translator W222BY on 92.3 FM.
On August 8, 2019, WRAW broke from simulcasting on the translator due to it being sold to Educational Media Foundation (EMF). But the Rumba format can still be heard on the translator, which is fed from co-owned WRFY-FM on 102.5 FM HD2 until the sale closes.
On Monday, August 12, 2019, WRAW ended Spanish programming and began airing a Conservative Talk format branded as NewsRadio 1340 WRAW.[8] Another radio station in Reading, AM 830 WEEU, discontinued airing Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated show in a cost-cutting measure stemming from its parent company's bankruptcy and sale. That prompted WRAW to pick up the broadcast, and carry other conservative talk programming, from co-owned Premiere Networks.
References
- Radio-Locator.com/WRAW
- "0.5 mV/m Service Contour for WRAW, 1340 kHz, Reading, PA". bing.com. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1985 page B-234
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1940 page 150
- "AM Stereo & TV Stereo: New Sound Dimensions" by Stan Prentiss, 1985, page 168.
- "Radio Stations". Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel. Archived from the original on July 28, 2008. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
- "Rumba Rolls Into Reading". radioinsight.com. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
- https://radioinsight.com/headlines/179567/wraw-reading-to-flip-to-conservative-talk/
External links
- WRAW in the FCC's AM station database
- WRAW on Radio-Locator
- WRAW in Nielsen Audio's AM station database