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Coordinates: 41°22′27″N 73°26′47″W / 41.37417°N 73.44639°W / 41.37417; -73.44639
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Harold "Hal" Brundage's local 15-minute ''Yankee Farmer'' show was aired daily in the late 1940s.<ref>New England Poultry Review, 1947, https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_England_Poultry_Review/ujhJAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=brundage%20wlad</ref><ref>The Newtown Bee, March 18, 1949, https://www.newtownbee.com/08101999/headline-649/</ref>
Harold "Hal" Brundage's local 15-minute ''Yankee Farmer'' show was aired daily in the late 1940s.<ref>New England Poultry Review, 1947, https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_England_Poultry_Review/ujhJAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=brundage%20wlad</ref><ref>The Newtown Bee, March 18, 1949, https://www.newtownbee.com/08101999/headline-649/</ref>

The ''Polish Eagles Radio Show'', a weekly Sunday program of [[Polish language]] and Polish instrumental music, including [[polka]], aired on WLAD during the 1950s.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Polish Eagles Show|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-03-29-BC.pdf|magazine=Broadcasting, Telecasting|date=March 29, 1954|page=86|access-date=March 2, 2021}}</ref> It was hosted by Connecticut bandleader Victor Zembruski (1912–1976).


James Rasmussen presented 30-minute [[country music|country]] and [[Western music (North America)|western]] music shows on Saturday afternoons as of 1962.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=With the Country Jockeys|author=Bill Sachs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=wlad+rasmussen|magazine=Billboard Music Week|date=October 20, 1962|page=48}}</ref>
James Rasmussen presented 30-minute [[country music|country]] and [[Western music (North America)|western]] music shows on Saturday afternoons as of 1962.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=With the Country Jockeys|author=Bill Sachs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=wlad+rasmussen|magazine=Billboard Music Week|date=October 20, 1962|page=48}}</ref>

Revision as of 05:45, 2 March 2021

This article is about radio station. For Washington State discrimination law, see Washington State Law Against Discrimination.
WLAD
Broadcast areaDanbury, Connecticut
Frequency800 kHz (C-QUAM AM Stereo)
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatNews/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerThe Berkshire Broadcasting Corporation
History
First air date
October 5, 1947; 76 years ago (1947-10-05)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID65456
ClassB
Power
Transmitter coordinates
41°22′27″N 73°26′47″W / 41.37417°N 73.44639°W / 41.37417; -73.44639
Translator(s)94.1 W231DJ (Danbury)
Links
Public license information
Websitewlad.com

WLAD (800 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Danbury, Connecticut. It broadcasts a talk format.[2] WLAD is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting. The studios and offices are located on Mill Plain Road in Danbury. The transmitter is off Brushy Hill Road, also in Danbury.[3]

WLAD airs a local morning news and information show on weekdays, hosted by Dave Rinelli and Bart Busterna, with newscaster Jillian Mauro and weathercaster Gary Lessor. They are followed by nationally syndicated talk shows the rest of the day, including Brian Kilmeade, Todd Schnitt, Dave Ramsey, Jim Bohannon, Red Eye Radio, and America in The Morning.[4] WLAD also broadcasts New York Giants football games.

Programming on Saturdays and Sundays consists largely of music and entertainment shows, including American Top 40 hosted by Casey Kasem and Hollywood 360 hosted by Carl Amari among many others. The Big Show, hosted locally by Busterna on Saturday mornings from 6 to 9:30 a.m., features interviews with personalities from the music and sports worlds.

Sunday morning's informational programs include This Morning: America's First News and Motley Fool Money. Jill Schlesinger's financial advice show Jill on Money airs Sundays from 5 to 7 p.m.

WLAD operates at 1,000 watts using a non-directional antenna; but because 800 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Mexico, WLAD must reduce power at night to 286 watts. In early 2017, WLAD began simulcasting on an FM translator, W231DJ at 94.1 MHz.[5]

History

WLAD first signed on the air on October 5, 1947.[6] At first, the station broadcast with only 250 watts of power as a daytime-only station.[7] It later increased its power to 1,000 watts by day, but it took until the 1980s for it to get nighttime authorization. In 1953, the station signed on an FM sister station, 98.3 WLAD-FM, which is today WDAQ.

WLAD's studios and offices were located at Ives Manor within the Main Street Historic District in downtown Danbury from 1962 until July 2012.[8] After moving, WLAD upgraded their equipment from analog to digital.

Harold "Hal" Brundage's local 15-minute Yankee Farmer show was aired daily in the late 1940s.[9][10]

The Polish Eagles Radio Show, a weekly Sunday program of Polish language and Polish instrumental music, including polka, aired on WLAD during the 1950s.[11] It was hosted by Connecticut bandleader Victor Zembruski (1912–1976).

James Rasmussen presented 30-minute country and western music shows on Saturday afternoons as of 1962.[12]

For most of its history, WLAD broadcast a full service middle of the road music format, including the local call-in talk show Dialogue 80 hosted by Rhoda Daum from 1978-1988,[13] but in the 1990s, it shifted to its current format of full-time talk radio on weekdays.

As of 1990-1991, Thom Foulks' nationally syndicated show Computing Success! was aired every Sunday on WLAD.[14]

As of 2003-2012, WLAD broadcast baseball games featuring the New York Yankees.[15] They later switched to Boston Red Sox games.[16] As of 2017, New York Mets games were broadcast instead.[17]

Melvin "Mel" Goldstein preceded Lessor as the station's weathercaster from the mid-1970s through January 13, 2012.[18]

For many years until February 26, 2021, WLAD aired Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated talk show in the time slot from noon to 3 p.m., but due to Limbaugh's death the station replaced it with the Markley, Van Camp and Robbins Show starting on March 1, 2021.[19] The latter show had been aired from 6 to 8 p.m. since April 2020.

WLAD has also carried Lars Larson's syndicated talk show.

Translator

Broadcast translator for WLAD
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
W231DJ 94.1 FM Danbury, Connecticut 156264 99 D 41°22′27″N 73°26′47″W / 41.37417°N 73.44639°W / 41.37417; -73.44639 (W231DJ) LMS

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLAD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com
  4. ^ http://www.wlad.com/
  5. ^ FCC.gov
  6. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-35
  7. ^ "WLAD at Danbury, Conn., 250-w Daytimer, Starts" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 27, 1947. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  8. ^ Robert Miller (March 1, 2012). "Radio station moves off Main Street". The News-Times. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  9. ^ New England Poultry Review, 1947, https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_England_Poultry_Review/ujhJAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=brundage%20wlad
  10. ^ The Newtown Bee, March 18, 1949, https://www.newtownbee.com/08101999/headline-649/
  11. ^ "Polish Eagles Show" (PDF). Broadcasting, Telecasting. March 29, 1954. p. 86. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  12. ^ Bill Sachs (October 20, 1962). "With the Country Jockeys". Billboard Music Week. p. 48.
  13. ^ "Obituary of Rhoda Fenster Daum Kenner". Associated Press. February 2, 1996. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  14. ^ InfoWorld, December 24/31, 1990, p. 13 and March 4, 1991, p. 72.
  15. ^ https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/On-the-air-for-Sept-5-24443.php
  16. ^ Chris Bosak (February 26, 2017). "WLAD simulcast seeks to prop up AM radio". Radio Insight. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  17. ^ https://wlad.com/pages/new-york-mets-baseball-on-wlad
  18. ^ Robert Miller (January 18, 2012). "Meteorologist 'Dr. Mel' dies". The News-Times. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  19. ^ Scott Fybush (February 25, 2021). "Rush To The Exits: Affiliates Begin Making Their Next Moves". Radio Insight. Retrieved February 25, 2021.


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