WTEM (AM 980 kHz) is a radio station that serves the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. Now known as "ESPN 980", it is the flagship of a sports talk quadcast with WXTR in Alexandria, Virginia, WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland and WWXX in Warrenton, Virginia, all affiliated with ESPN Radio and owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting (in WTEM's case, via an LMA from former owner Clear Channel Communications).
Prior to July 21, 2008, it was commonly known as SportsTalk 980, used the slogan The Voice of the Fan, and was the D.C. outlet for Fox Sports Radio. Beforehand, WTEM was the Washington, D.C. affiliate for ESPN Radio before Red Zebra Broadcasting acquired the rights for their Triple X ESPN Radio trimulcast which has since merged with WTEM.
"ESPN 980" is the home of The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban, The Doc Walker Show and The John Thompson Show. It's studios also host Fox Sports Radio's weekday morning show, The First Team on FOX, also hosted by Steve Czaban, but is no longer carried on WTEM due to its' ESPN affiliation.
WTEM is the flagship radio station for Washington Redskins football (as Red Zebra is operated by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder), and Washington Wizards & Georgetown Hoyas basketball. "ESPN 980" airs Baltimore Orioles baseball and Virginia Tech football and men's basketball as an affiliate station.
WTEM's studios are currently located in Rockville, Maryland, and its transmitter is located in Hyattsville, Maryland. It operates with 50,000 watts power during the day and 5,000 watts power at night. The signal can be heard weakly but clearly as far west as Clarksburg, West Virginia, and as far south as Richmond, Virginia in daytime. The FM stations both broadcast below 3,000 watts and mainly serve to fill in the gaps in WTEM's coverage, while WXTR broadcasts at only 8,000 watts during the day, with a nighttime downgrade to only 28 watts.
History
WTEM
WRC Radio
The station was originally licensed as WRC, which was then an NBC Radio affiliate, through the 1990s. NBC owned and operated the station from 1923 to 1987, when the General Electric corporation, which owned NBC, sold off its radio properties. Eventually, WRC radio birthed WRC-FM (93.9 MHz, now WKYS) and WRC-TV (channel 4).
WRC carried Willard Scott and Ed Walker as the Joy Boys for many of these years, and also carried the Monitor radio program on weekends. From 1972 to 1975, WRC broadcast a Top 40 format (it was one of the Greaseman's early radio stops); it switched to NBC News and Information Service programming from 1975 to 1977.
When WRC was purchased by Greater Media in 1987, the callsign was reassigned as WWRC, since NBC retained the rights to the WRC call sign for WRC-TV which continues to this day. During the early 1990s, WWRC was the talk show home to current and formerly notable personalities like Joe Madison, Mark Davis and Joel A. Spivak. It was also one of the brief homes for the last radio show to be hosted by Morton Downey, Jr. (the other being WTAM).
Two weeks prior to swapping call signs and formats, WWRC dropped its' talk radio format for a financhial news and talk format, one that would last over to a second dial position move to 1260 kHz.
Sports Radio 570 - The Team
Before moving to 980 kHz, WTEM was known as Sports Radio 570 - The Team and on the frequency of 570 kHz, which previously had been used by classical music station WGMS. WTEM made its debut at 3:30 p.m. on May 24, 1992, right after the Indianapolis 500.[1][2] At the beginning, WTEM emulated the program lineup and even imported the jingles from WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in the United States.
At the beginning, Paul Harris hosted the morning show between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., WTEM hired Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser and CBS Sports announcer James Brown to host two mid-day radio shows. The Tony Kornheiser Show aired from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and The James Brown Show aired from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Kevin Kiley and Rich "The Coach" Gilgallon hosted Kiley and the Coach, which emulated the highly successful Mike and the Mad Dog radio program. Jean Fugett and Ira Mellman anchored the night-time hours. WTEM also acquired the radio rights to broadcast the Washington Redskins between 1992 and 1994.
However, the ratings of WTEM struggled mightily in the beginning. Harris was quickly replaced by Bruce Murray and Bob Berger in late 1992. WTEM introduced Imus in the Morning on July 19, 1993 to replace Murray and Berger in the 6-10 a.m. morning slot. For cost-cutting reasons, WTEM canceled Kiley and the Coach, and shows hosted by Phil Wood (8 p.m. to midnight) and Rob Weingarten (midnight to 6 a.m.) at the end of 1994.[3] After Kiley and the Coach was canceled, WTEM tried several afternoon-drive shows before it settled to broadcast The Tony Kornheiser Show live between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then replay between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to boost the afternoon drive-time ratings until the show moved to ESPN Radio in January 1998.
After his contract not renewed by WMAL, Ken Beatrice and his show, Sports Call, moved to WTEM in late 1995.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show launched in 1992, because Tony needed to focus on writing his Style column in the Washington Post weekly, he usually did not host the show on Thursdays. Usually Andy Pollin, the Sports Director at WTEM, would guest-host Tony's show on Thursdays. Between November 1995 and December 1996, Warner Wolf was named the guest host of The Tony Kornheiser Show on Thursdays until he moved to New York as a sports anchor on WCBS-TV.[4] Tony started to host on Thursdays when he was on ESPN Radio.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show was on hiatus between November 14, 1997 and January 5, 1998, WTEM filled the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot with Kevin Kiley and the 4-7 p.m. slot with comedian Chuck Booms and Scott Linn. Because of on-air wildness and inexperience, Booms was later paired with the experienced Kiley.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio debuted on January 5, 1998, the show aired between 1-4 p.m. WTEM filled the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. time slot with Doc Walker and Al Koken hosting The Doc and Al Show and the 4-7 p.m. time slot with Kiley and Booms.
SportsTalk 980
On March 9, 1998, WTEM moved from 570 kHz to 980 kHz.[5] After the move, WTEM was branded as SportsTalk 980. The lineups on March 9, 1998 are Imus in the Morning (6-10 a.m.), The Doc and Al Show (10 a.m.-1 p.m.), The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio (1-4 p.m.), Kevin Kiley and Chuck Booms (4-7 p.m.) and Ken Beatrice's Sports Call (7-10 p.m.).
Because of poor ratings, Kiley and Booms was axed on November 13, 1998, which happened to be Friday.[6] WTEM moved the highly rated The Tony Kornheiser Show to the 4-7 p.m. slot as a tape delay show to replace Kiley and Booms. Kornheiser did not like the idea because he would lose the callers from the WTEM broadcasting area. WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 1-4 p.m. slot and created a new show hosted by Rich Cook and Kris O'Donnell in the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot.
When John Thompson resigned as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University, WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 10 a.m.-12 p.m. slot and invited Thompson to host a one-hour show within The Doc and Al Show (10:30-11:30 a.m.) called Timeout with Thompson starting March 3, 1999 before the 1999 NCAA Tournament began. At the same time, WTEM introduced The Jim Rome Show, assigned it into the 12-3 p.m. slot. Between The Jim Rome Show and The Tony Kornheiser Show, there was a one-hour program called The Playground hosted by WTEM news anchors.
After the 1999 NCAA Tournament, because of the positive reviews, Thompson was named the host of The John Thompson Show airing 10 a.m.-12 p.m. with Walker and Koken as co-hosts, replacing The Doc and Al Show.
On September 13, 1999, ESPN Radio moved The Tony Kornheiser Show to his favorite 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot to make room for The Dan Patrick Show. WTEM accommodated the move by moving The John Thompson Show to 3-5 p.m., reducing The Jim Rome Show to 2 hours and creating a new program called The Sports Reporters hosted by Andy Pollin between 5-7 p.m.
After the new lineup announced, Jim Rome voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM to get his third hour back. In The Sports Reporters, Steve Czaban began as a news anchor. Later on, Czaban became the co-host with Andy Pollin.
On April 20, 2000, veteran sports talk personality Ken Beatrice retired.[7] His show, Sports Call, was replaced by Steve Czaban in the 7 p.m.-10 p.m. slot.
On April 9, 2001, Mike and Mike in the Morning (6-9 a.m.) and The Tony Bruno Extravaganza (9-10 a.m.) replaced Imus in the Morning, which moved to WTNT to boost the station's ratings.[8]
On May 23, 2002, WTEM celebrated its tenth anniversary as a sports talk station with a special Sports Reporters show starting at 5 p.m.
In December 2005, the station's studios were moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to 1801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to consolidate Clear Channel's Washington operation.
Because of Tony Kornheiser's preparation for ESPN's Monday Night Football, The Tony Kornheiser Show on WTEM ended on April 28, 2006 and Kornheiser eventually left for WTWP. Starting on May 1, 2006, The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban filled in the 9 a.m.-12 p.m. slot, a new show hosted by Brian Mitchell and Bram Weinstein aired between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., and The John Thompson Show was extended through 7 p.m.[9]
In early June 2006, The Brian Mitchell Show changed again. Bram Weinstein left WTEM and was replaced by Kevin Sheehan.
Starting February 12, 2007, The Brian Mitchell Show moved to the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot, The John Thompson Show moved to the 1 p.m.-4 p.m. slot and The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban filled in the 4 p.m.-7 p.m. slot.[10]
On April 30, 2007, Doc Walker went solo and hosted The Doc Walker Show from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. WTTG's Dave Feldman and Comcast SportsNet's Carol Maloney hosted a new show called Feldman and Maloney between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Brian Mitchell moved to The John Thompson Show as co-host.[11][12] Regarding going solo, Walker said, "Management came to me and I thought that is was time to do my own show. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to do your own show you would be foolish not to take it. I will miss Al and Coach, but it was a perfect time for me to go out on my own."[13]
On May 26, 2007, Phil Wood returned to WTEM, and hosted a weekly baseball show from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.[14] Then, on October 22, 2007, The Dan Patrick Show, syndicated by the Content Factory, was back on WTEM in the 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. slot as a tape delay show, replacing Feldman and Maloney.[15] Both hosts were dropped following the merger of WTEM with Triple X ESPN Radio.
WXTR, WWXT, WWXX
WWXT and WWXX
From 2001 until November 17, 2005, WBZS-FM 92.7/WBPS-FM 94.3 aired the Spanish Tropical format under the positioning of "La Nueva Mega" (originally, WBPS aired a separate format, Spanish love songs "Amor"). However, due to strong competition from Infinity Broadcasting-owned and SBS-programmed WLZL "99.1 El Zol", Mega Communications changed the station to "Mega Clasica", a format consisting of a mixture of Latin Contemporary and Oldies.
Previously, as WMJS and WQRA respectively, these were traditional, full-service FM stations designed to serve their respective small cities of license and surrounding counties. During the 1990s, however, 94.3 underwent a series of unsuccessful attempts to garner listeners across suburban Northern Virginia as a "rimshot" signal:
WBZS-FM along with sister stations WBPS-FM and WKDL were sold in 2006 to Red Zebra Broadcasting. On July 17, 2006, the Mega Clasica format ended to make way for the English-language format sports radio format.
WXTR
WXTR itself signed on as WPIK back in the 1940s. For many years this station operated as the AM side to country station WXRA 105.9-FM, and for another period as WPKX "Kix Country." For a time 730 simulcasted 105.9's next incarnation, classic rock, as WCXR. For a short while in the mid-80's, 730 was WCPT and featured a soul oldies format. It was also WRMR with a nostalgia format for a very short while (calls which were later used in the Cleveland, Ohio market). In the late 1980s the station flipped to a CNN news format, which was soon followed by a business news (a la the WBZS calls), brokered financial advice format which lasted until April 1999.
Then, Mega Communications bought the station and installed a Mexican/tropical music format as "Radio Capital." The call letters changed again in October 2000 to WKDL, calls that were previously held on what is currently WFED-AM. This format, along with its' FM sisters, lasted until the launch of "Triple X" in July 2006. The WXTR calls were installed at this point; the call letters were used in the past on different stations in the Washington area on two different stations (at 104.1-FM and 820-AM).
At present, WXTR is all but unlistenable at night, since it must reduce its power to 28 watts in order to protect clear-channel CKAC in Montreal.
Current staff
Hosts
Anchors
- Al Galdi
- Meredith Josef
- Scott Linn
Past local hosts and news reporters
Station Profiles
References and notes
- ^ Roxanne Roberts (1992-05-23), Whaddaya mean Rypien's a bum!?, The Washington Post.
- ^ Leonard Shapiro (1992-05-27), WTEM is born babbling, The Washington Post.
- ^ Leonard Shapiro (1994-12-09), All-sports station's survival requires a team effort, The Washington Post.
- ^ Warner Wolf and Larry Weisman (2000), Let's go to the videotape: all the plays and replays from my life in sports, Warner Books (ISBN 0-44652-559-6).
- ^ Leonard Shapiro (1998-03-06), Watts up next week at WTEM, The Washington Post.
- ^ Frank Ahrens (1998-12-17), Kiley, Booms fired up, The Washington Post.
- ^ Leonard Shapiro (2000-04-21), He could talk the talk, The Washington Post.
- ^ Dave Hughes (2001-04-09). "Hot talk WTNT debuts with Imus in the Morning". dcrtv.com News Archive.
- ^ Dave Hughes (2006-04-27). "Changes at WTEM". dcrtv.com News Archive.
- ^ Dave Hughes (2007-02-08). "Sked shifts at 980". dcrtv.com News Archive.
- ^ Dave Hughes (2007-04-30). "Dave Feldman Gets WTEM Show". dcrtv.com News Archive.
- ^ Leonard Shapiro (2007-05-08). "Stuck in between stations". washingtonpost.com.
- ^ Jim Williams (2007-05-15). "Is FOX5’s Feldman next in line for Michaels’ crown?". D.C. Examiner.
- ^ Dave Hughes (2007-05-21). "Phil Wood Back To TEM". dcrtv.com News Archive.
- ^ Jim Williams (2007-10-22). "Dan Patrick returns to DC’s airwaves". D.C. Examiner.
External links
Preceded by
WWRC |
AM 980 kHz in Washington, D.C.
March 9, 1998-Present |
Succeeded by
Incumbent |
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