View source for WPHT

{{short description|Talk radio station in Philadelphia}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name                = WPHT
| city                = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
| country             = US
| logo                = WPHT1210.png
| logo_alt            = WPHT logo
| area                = [[Philadelphia metropolitan area]]
| frequency           = {{Frequency|1210|[[kHz]]}} {{HD Radio}}
| branding            = ''Talk Radio 1210 WPHT''
| language            = [[American English|English]]
| format              = [[Talk radio]]
| affiliations        = {{ubl|[[CBS News Radio]]|[[Fox News Radio]]|[[Premiere Networks]]|[[Radio America (United States)|Radio America]]|[[Westwood One]]|[[WPVI-TV]]|[[Penn State Nittany Lions]]|[[Temple Owls]]}}
| owner               = [[Audacy, Inc.]]
| licensee            = Audacy License, LLC
| sister_stations     = [[KYW (AM)|KYW]], [[WBEB]], [[WIP-FM]], [[WOGL]], [[WPHI-FM]], [[WTDY-FM]]
| airdate             = {{start date and age|1922|5}}
| former_callsigns    = {{ubl|WCAU (1922–1990)|WOGL (1990–1994)|WGMP (1994–1996)|WPTS (1996)}}
| callsign_meaning    = Philadelphia's Talk<!--do not apply special formatting-->
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| facility_id         = 9634
| class               = A
| power               = {{val|50000|u=watts|fmt=commas}} unlimited
| coordinates         = {{ubl|{{coord|39|58|46.4|N|74|59|11.61|W|region:US-PA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} (main)|{{coord|39|58|42.4|N|74|59|13.6|W|region:US-PA_type:landmark|name=WPHT (auxiliary)}} (aux)}}
| repeaters           = {{Radio Relay|98.1|[[WOGL|WOGL-HD3]]|Philadelphia}}
| webcast             = {{Audacy.com|1210wpht}}
| website             = {{URL|https://www.audacy.com/1210wpht}}
}}
'''WPHT''' (1210 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) is a [[commercial radio]] station in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. The station broadcasts a [[talk radio]] [[radio format|format]] and is owned by [[Audacy, Inc.]] Its studios are in Audacy's corporate headquarters on Market Street in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]], and its [[transmitter]] and [[broadcast tower]] are on North Church Street in [[Moorestown, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-28/news/46690566_1_new-tower-moorestown-cinnaminson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923200053/http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-28/news/46690566_1_new-tower-moorestown-cinnaminson |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 23, 2014 |title=Moorestown neighbors facing second radio tower |last1=O'Reilly |first1=David |date=January 28, 2014 |access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref>

WPHT is a [[List of North American broadcast station classes|Class A]] [[clear channel station]] broadcasting at 50,000 watts [[omnidirectional antenna|non-directional]], the maximum for commercial AM stations.<ref>{{cite web |title=WPHT-AM 1210 kHz |url=https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=wpht&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C |website=radio-locator.com}}</ref> It is one of two clear-channel stations in Philadelphia, the other being sister station [[KYW (AM)|KYW]]. Its signal covers the [[Philadelphia metropolitan area]] and much of the [[Lehigh Valley]] region of eastern [[Pennsylvania]] and parts of [[New Jersey]], [[Delaware]], and [[Maryland]]. At night, it can be received in much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada with a good radio. Programming is also available to listeners on the HD3 [[digital subchannel]] of [[sister station]] 98.1 [[WOGL]].

==Programming==
===Talk===
WPHT programming is mostly [[conservative talk]].  Weekdays, local hosts discuss a mix of national issues and news in the [[Delaware Valley]].  Weeknights, [[radio syndication|nationally syndicated]] programs are heard, including ''[[The Mark Levin Show]]'' and ''[[Coast to Coast AM]] with [[George Noory]]''.

On weekends, shows focus on money, health, law and real estate, some of which are paid [[brokered programming]].  [[Mike Opelka]], Jimmy Failla, Walter Sterling and Matt Rooney host talk shows on weekend evenings.  Sunday middays feature the long-running ''Sounds of [[Sinatra]] with [[Sid Mark]]''. Some hours begin with an update from [[CBS News Radio]].  Weather is supplied by Channel 6 [[WPVI-TV]].

===Sports===
WPHT airs [[Temple University]] [[college football|football]] and men's basketball. It also carries some [[Penn State Nittany Lions]] games.

WPHT was the [[Flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] station for [[Philadelphia Phillies]] [[MLB|baseball]] for 32 years, until the 2016 season, when co-owned 94.1 [[WIP-FM]] took over that role.<ref name=Phillies>{{cite web |url=http://www.insideradio.com/free/new-deal-makes-wip-fm-exclusive-local-home-for-phillies/article_14af46b4-d598-11e5-89d4-db71188874eb.html |title=New Deal Makes WIP-FM Exclusive Local Home for Phillies. |website=InsideRadio.com |date=February 17, 2016 |access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref> However, WPHT still carries any Phillies games that WIP-FM is unable to air due to programming conflicts.

==History==
===Early years===
The station first began broadcasting as WCAU in May 1922. It was a 250-watt station operating out of electrician William Durham's home at 19th and Market Streets. It is Philadelphia's third-oldest radio station, having signed on two months after WIP (now [[WTEL (AM)|WTEL]]) and [[WFIL]]. In 1924, WCAU was sold to law partners Ike Levy and Daniel Murphy. Murphy later bowed out in favor of Ike's brother, Leon, a local dentist.

The station began its long association with [[CBS]] in 1927, when it was one of 16 charter [[network affiliate]]s of the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System, a network airing CBS' first program on September 18, 1927.<ref>
''Radio Digest'', September 1927, quoted in: McLeod, Elizabeth (September 20, 2002). [http://members.aol.com/jeff560/cbs.html CBS—In the Beginning], ''History of American Broadcasting''. Retrieved January 1, 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006101837/http://members.aol.com/jeff560/cbs.html |date=October 6, 2007 }}</ref><ref group=note>The other stations were
[[WOR (AM)|WOR]], [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]]; [[WARF|WADC]], [[Akron]]; [[WAIU]], [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]]; [[WCAO]], [[Baltimore]]; [[WPRV|WEAN]], [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]]; [[WFBL]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]]; [[WXYT (AM)|WGHP]], Detroit; [[WJAS]], [[Pittsburgh]]; [[WKRC (AM)|WKRC]], [[Cincinnati]]; [[WBEN (AM)|WMAK]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo-Lockport]]; [[WMAQ (AM)|WMAQ]], Chicago; [[WBIX|WNAC]], [[Boston]]; [[WOWO]], [[Fort Wayne]]; [[KMOX]], [[St. Louis]]; and [[KOIL]], [[Omaha]]-[[Council Bluffs]].</ref> The network struggled to find advertisers, however, and [[William S. Paley]], who had previously purchased time on the station for an entertainment program promoting his family's La Palina cigars, bought the network with $500,000 of his family's money and renamed it the Columbia Broadcasting System.

Actor [[Paul Douglas (actor)|Paul Douglas]] began his career at WCAU, where he worked as an announcer and sportscaster from 1928 to 1934.

===Power boost and shortwave===
In 1930, WCAU initiated a [[shortwave]] radio service, operating under the [[call sign]] W3XAU.<ref>[https://transdiffusion.org/2024/03/26/the-short-waves-w3xau-philadelphia/ The Short Waves: W3XAU – Philadelphia - International radio - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System]</ref> It is believed that this was the first license issued by the FCC for a commercial international shortwave broadcast station. Initially W3XAU simulcast WCAU programming, but eventually original programming was created specifically for international listeners. W3XAU, later WCAI, then WCAB, was closed down in 1941 as CBS consolidated various shortwave operations. The 10&nbsp;kW shortwave transmitter was disassembled, and WCAU staff were told that it was sent to England to aid the BBC war propaganda efforts. However, the transmitter was actually sent to [[Camp X]], a secret [[World War II]] paramilitary and commando training facility located near [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada, becoming part of the Hydra [[signals intelligence]] and communications program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioworld.com/article/wcau-used-shortwave-in-philadelphia/1248 |title=WCAU Used Shortwave in Philadelphia |last1=Peterson |first1=Adrian |date=August 15, 2007 |website=RadioWorld.com |access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioworld.com/article/a-sequel-to-the-philadelphia-story/1259 |title=A Sequel to the Philadelphia Story |last1=Peterson |first1=Adrian |date=May 12, 2009 |website=RadioWorld.com |access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref>

A series of power increases brought the station to 50,000 watts, with a new 50,000-watt transmitter dedicated October 2, 1932.<ref>{{cite news|title=Endurance Record Set By Sponsor on WCAU|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1932/1932-10-15-BC.pdf|access-date=October 5, 2014|agency=Broadcasting|date=October 15, 1932}}</ref> The Levy brothers eventually became major stockholders in CBS, and were members of the network's board for many years.

===Studios and FM===
On December 26, 1932, WCAU moved to a new facility at 1622 Chestnut Street. ''[[Broadcasting (magazine)|Broadcasting]]'' magazine called it "a thoroughly modern 9-story building ... erected especially for the WCAU Broadcasting Co."<ref name=bc010133>{{cite news|title=WCAU in New Home|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1933/1933-01-01-BC.pdf|access-date=October 7, 2014|agency=Broadcasting|date=January 1, 1933}}</ref> The building included eight studios and "a special office for Leopold Stokowski, director of the Philadelphia Orchestra".<ref name=bc010133/>

WCAU began experimenting with an FM station in 1942 and it was licensed in 1943.<ref name="historycards">{{cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=80347 |title=History Cards for WOGL (covering W73PH / WPEN-FM / WCAU-FM from 1942-1981) |website=fcc.gov |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref>  The [[call sign]] in its early years was [[WMGK|WCAU-FM]] and it broadcast at 102.9&nbsp;MHz.

===CBS ownership===
The Levys agreed to sell WCAU-AM-FM to ''[[The Philadelphia Record]]'' in 1946. However, the ''Record'' folded shortly thereafter, and its "goodwill", including the rights to buy WCAU-AM-FM, passed to the ''[[Philadelphia Bulletin]]'', which already owned [[WKDN (AM)|WPEN]] and [[WOGL|WPEN-FM]], and had secured a [[construction permit]] for WPEN-TV (channel 10). In a complex deal, the ''Bulletin'' sold off WPEN and WCAU-FM, while changing WPEN-FM's call sign to [[WCAU-FM]] and WPEN-TV's call letters to [[WCAU-TV]]. The Levys continued to run the stations while serving as consultants to the ''Bulletin,'' and it was largely due to their influence that WCAU-TV took to the air on May 23, 1948, as a CBS affiliate. The stations moved to a new studio in [[Bala Cynwyd]] in 1952.

In 1957, the ''Bulletin'' sold WCAU-AM-FM-TV to CBS.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia|url=https://www.broadcastpioneers.com/bp/57memo.html|access-date=September 15, 2021|website=broadcastpioneers.com}}</ref> This came because the ''Bulletin'' had recently bought WGBI-TV in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]] and changed its call sign to [[WDAU-TV]] to complement WCAU. However, the two television stations' signals overlapped so much that it constituted a [[duopoly (broadcasting)|duopoly]] under [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) rules of the time. CBS had to get a waiver to keep its new Philadelphia cluster. In addition to significant overlap of the television stations' grade B signals, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of [[Clear-channel stations|clear channel]] stations with overlapping nighttime signals.

===Talk and news===
In the 1960s, WCAU gradually began moving away from music programming, as most CBS stations.  By 1967 it had become a [[Talk radio|talk]] station with considerable strengths in news and sports.  All of Philadelphia's major professional sports teams had WCAU as their flagship radio station at one time or another. Although the station's ratings were good, in the mid-1970s, CBS made a corporate decision to move WCAU to an [[all-news]] format.  All-news had earlier been established on [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS]] in New York City, [[KNX (AM)|KNX]] in Los Angeles, and several other CBS AM stations.

WCAU never caught up to established all-news rival KYW. By 1980, WCAU was making moves to reclaim its heritage as a talk and sports leader. However, 96.5 [[WTDY-FM|WWDB-FM]] had established itself as a strong talk station, and WCAU struggled for years to attract listeners and establish a consistent image.

===Oldies and sports===
On August 15, 1990, CBS abruptly changed the WCAU call sign after 68 years, becoming WOGL.  It dropped the talk format in favor of [[oldies]] of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  It was partially simulcast with its FM sister station, by then [[WOGL-FM]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=WCAU Drops Talk Format and Legendary Calls |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1990/RR-1990-08-24.pdf |newspaper=R&R The Industry's Newspaper |date=August 24, 1990 |issue=854 |page=3 |access-date=June 5, 2017}}</ref>

In 1993, the AM station began running [[sports talk]] after 7&nbsp;pm. The station went full-time with the format March 18, 1994, with the calls switching to WGMP and the station now called ''The Game''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=CBS's WOGL (AM)/Philadelphia Drops Simulcast for Sports |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-03-25.pdf |newspaper=R&R The Industry's Newspaper |date=March 25, 1994 |issue=1036 |page=3 |access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref> Once again it went against a deeply entrenched competitor, [[WTEL (AM)|WIP]] with a much weaker lineup of mainly syndicated personalities, and critically without any local professional sports rights, effectively leaving the format adrift with little support as CBS itself was distracted with the [[1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment#The CBS–Westinghouse deal|acquisition of Group W/Westinghouse]] and a trade of WCAU-TV to [[NBC]] for [[KYW-TV]].

[[Image:Wpht logo.png|thumb|right|150px|WPHT's logo as "The Big Talker 1210", used until January 2011.]]

===Merger with Westinghouse===
The CBS/Westinghouse merger completed a year later, and 1210 was now a sister station to its long-time rival, KYW. With this move, the higher-rated KYW became the flagship station of [[CBS Radio]]'s Philadelphia cluster.<ref>{{Cite news|agency=[[Bloomberg Business News]]|title=Purchase of CBS completed Westinghouse is now biggest broadcaster with $5.4 billion deal|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-11-25-1995329069-story.html|access-date=September 15, 2021|website=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|language=en-US}}</ref> Finding it a losing battle to continue to compete with WIP, CBS soon began to phase out its existing sports talk programming through the summer of 1996.

Finally, on August 23, the station went all-talk once again as WPTS, calls switched merely a month later to avoid [[Nielsen Audio|radio diary]] confusion with [[WPST]] to the north in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], landing on WPHT instead. Only a year later, WIP became a sister station to WPHT when CBS merged with its owner, [[Infinity Broadcasting Corporation]], which was then part of [[Viacom (1952–2005)|Viacom]].

===Entercom ownership===
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with [[Entercom]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/116299/cbs-radio-to-merge-with-entercom/|title=CBS Radio To Merge With Entercom - RadioInsight}}</ref> Entercom already owned numerous radio stations around the country and wanted to add the CBS stations to its portfolio.  The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entercom.com/press/entercom-receives-fcc-approval-merger-cbs-radio/|title=Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio|work=Entercom|date=November 9, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/121072/entercom-completes-cbs-radio-merger/|title=Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger|last=Venta|first=Lance|work=Radio Insight|date=November 17, 2017|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref>  In 2021, Entercom changed its name to Audacy, Inc.

In 2020, WPHT host [[Ken Matthews (radio)|Ken Matthews]] was named one of the 100 most important talk radio show hosts (the "Heavy Hundred") in America by [[Talkers Magazine|''TALKERS Magazine'']].<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 14, 2020|title=Thursday, May 14, 2020|url=http://www.talkers.com/2020/05/14/thursday-may-14-2020/|access-date=July 22, 2020|website=TALKERS magazine - "The bible of talk media."}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Broadcasting of sports events]]
* [[CBS radio]]
* [[KYW (AM)]]
* [[WIP-FM]]
* [[WOGL]]
* [[List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{officialwebsite|https://www.audacy.com/1210wpht}}
{{AM station data|9634|WPHT}}
* {{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=68971 |title= History Cards for WPHT|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards|Guide to reading History Cards]])<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}-->

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[[Category:1922 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Audacy, Inc. radio stations]]
[[Category:Clear-channel radio stations]]
[[Category:Moorestown, New Jersey]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1922]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Philadelphia|PHT]]