WHFS (historic)
- This article is about the current talk-formatted AM station on 1580 kHz. For the former FM stations on 99.1, 102.3, and 105.7, see WHFS (defunct FM stations). For a further history of the former WPGC (AM), see WPGC (defunct).
| File:WHFS-AM 2008.PNG | |
| Broadcast area | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1580 kHz |
| Branding | Big Talker 1580 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WJFK, WLZL, WPGC-FM, WTGB | |
| History | |
First air date | May 1954 |
Former call signs | WPGC (1954-2008) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 28638 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts (day) 270 watts (night) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°52′07″N 76°53′49″W / 38.86861°N 76.89694°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | bigtalker1580.com |
WHFS (1580 AM, "Big Talker 1580") is a radio station broadcasting a Talk format. Licensed to the suburb of Morningside, Maryland, it serves the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1954 under the call sign WPGC, which remained in place until 2008. The station is currently owned by CBS Radio.
On November 12, 1953, former FCC employee Harry Hayman received a construction permit for a radio station in Morningside operating at 250 watts daytime-only on 1580 kilohertz. The call letters WPGC, representing Prince Georges County were issued soon afterwards. The station switched to a business talk format in 1988. Infinity Broadcasting acquired the WPGC stations from Cook Inlet in June 1994 for $60 million. The next year, the station returned to music programming as "Flava 1580", with an all hip-hop/go-go format. The format was unsuccessful, and ultimately evolved to gospel in November 1996 as "Heaven 1580". After briefly simulcasting sister station WPGC-FM, the station dropped its original callsign in favor of the WHFS call letters.
On November 3, 2008, WHFS (FM), on 105.7 MHz, flipped to a sports talk format, similar to that of sister station WFAN in New York City. Along with the format change came a new callsign: WJZ-FM. On November 10, 2008, the WHFS callsign was moved to 1580 kHz which dropped its long time call letters of WPGC. The format was changed to talk, with programs hosted by Michael Smerconish (from sister station WPHT), Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Lou Dobbs, and Laura Schlessinger.
The station does not generate enough listeners to show up in ratings books from Arbitron.
External links
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- WHFS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- WPGC tribute site