Description: In July 1921, radio manufacturer Powel Crosley Jr. began 20-watt tests from his College Hill home, broadcasting "Song of India" continuously under the call sign 8CR. Powell already owned a number of enterprises, including the Crosmobile and a refrigerator-freezer company, and for many years, he held ownership of the Cincinnati Reds baseball club. Powell was innovative, personally inventing or funding the development of many then–cutting-edge technological advances in all his ventures. On March 22, 1922, Crosley and his Crosley Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting with the new call sign WLW and 50 watts of power. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power went up to 500 watts in September 1922, 1000 watts in May 1924, and in January 1925 WLW was the first broadcasting station at the 5000 watt level. On October 4, 1928, the station increased its power to 50 kilowatts. Again it was the first station at this power level, and 50 kilowatts is the maximum power allowed for any station at present. At 50 kilowatts, WLW was heard easily over a wide area, from New York to Florida. But Crosley still wasn't satisfied. In 1933 he obtained a construction permit from the Federal Radio Commission for a 500 kilowatt superstation, and he spent some $500,000 building the transmitter and antenna. In January 1934 WLW began broadcasting at the 500 kilowatt level late at night under the experimental call sign W8XO. In April 1934 the station was authorized to operate at 500 kilowatts during regular hours under the WLW call letters. On May 2, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a ceremonial button that officially launched WLW's 500-kilowatt signal.[8] As the first station in the world to broadcast at this strength, WLW received repeated complaints from around the United States and Canada that it was overpowering other stations as far away as Toronto. In December 1934 WLW cut back to 50 kilowatts at night to mitigate the interference, and began construction of three 50ft. tower antennas to be used to reduce signal strength towards Canada. With these three antennas in place, full-time broadcasting at 500 kilowatts resumed in early 1935. However, WLW was continuing to operate under special temporary authority that had to be renewed every six months, and each renewal brought complaints about interference and undue domination of the market by such a high-power station. The FCC was having second thoughts about permitting extremely wide-area broadcasting versus more locally oriented stations, and in 1938, the US Senate adopted the "Wheeler" resolution, expressing it to be the sense of that body that more stations with power in excess of 50 kilowatts are against the public interest. As a result, in 1939 the 500-kilowatt broadcast authorization was not renewed, bringing an end to the era of the AM radio superstation. Because of the impending war and the possible need for national broadcasting in an emergency, the W8XO experimental license for 500 kilowatts remained in effect until December 29, 1942. WLW is known by its’ historical tagline “The Nation’s Station” Currently, WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM. WLW's studios are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to Interstate 71 in the Kenwood neighborhood of Sycamore Township, while its transmitter is located in Mason, adjacent to the former Voice of America Bethany Relay Station. WLW airs a nearly entirely locally-produced talk format, and is the flagship station for many nationally syndicated shows. It is also the flagship radio station for the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network and a co-flagship station for the Cincinnati Bengals football team. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F10_022_1
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio). Radio Station WLW; Cincinnati. Radio Station WLW; WLW (Radio Station : Cincinnati, Ohio)
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)