WOAI calls itself "The 50,000 Watt Blowtorch of South Texas."[2] It is a Class A, non-directional, clear-channel station, broadcasting fulltime at the U.S. maximum power of 50,000 watts. In the daytime, WOAI covers most of Central and South Texas, providing at least secondary coverage as far north as the Waco suburbs and as far south as Corpus Christi.[3] With a good radio, WOAI's nighttime signal reaches much of the United States and Mexico, and parts of central Canada. However, it is strongest in the central United States. WOAI audio streaming is also available through iHeartRadio.
WOAI received its commercial broadcasting license on September 14, 1922. It was owned by the Southern Equipment Company in San Antonio.[7] The call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential list. Although currently the Mississippi River is used as the dividing line between "K" call signs in the West and "W" call letters in the East, prior to January 1923 the dividing line was along the Texas-New Mexico border, and stations licensed earlier were allowed to keep their original call signs, including WOAI.[8] Co-owned WOAI-TV, and briefly WOAI-FM, were later also allowed to use this call sign, and WOAI and WOAI-TV are currently the westernmost stations in North America with "W" call signs.
WOAI made its debut broadcast on September 25, 1922; 102 years ago (September 25, 1922). Its studios were in the Southern Equipment Company Building at Romana and St. Mary's Streets. Its original transmitter was rated at 500 watts, considered a high power at the time. The station publicity boasted it was "a plant bigger and better than any in the South".[9] The station was initially authorized to broadcast on both the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) and the "market and weather reports" wavelength of 485 meters (619 kHz).[10] However, in May 1923 the Department of Commerce, which regulated U.S. radio at this time, set aside a band of "Class B" frequencies that were reserved for stations that had quality equipment and programming. The San Antonio area was assigned exclusive use of 780 kHz.[11] WOAI was authorized to move to this new assignment.[12]
Over the next few years, regulators struggled to keep pace with a rapidly growing number of stations, and WOAI was moved to a variety of frequencies, beginning with 760 kHz in early 1925.[13] followed by 940[14] It was also heard on 600 kHz in the fall of 1927,[15] and 1070 kHz in early 1928.[16] On November 11, 1928, as part of the implementation of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WOAI was designated as the primary station assigned to the "clear channel" frequency of 1190 kHz.[17] Also during this time period the station was authorized to move its transmitter site and increase its power from 500 to 1,000 watts; then to 2,000 watts, and then 5,000; and finally to 50,000 watts in 1930. In 1941, a major reallocation of the radio dial was prompted by the adoption of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). On March 21, 1941, WOAI moved to 1200 kHz, and until the 1980s was the only station of significant power licensed to this frequency in North America.
NBC Red Network
In 1933, the corporate name was changed to Southland Industries, Inc., which would hold the license for more than four decades. During the 1930s, WOAI was an NBC Red Networkaffiliate.[18] It carried NBC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio."
In the 1940s, the station developed a sizable agricultural department and aired frequent farm market reports. In 1949, WOAI-TV came on the air as San Antonio's first television station. Because WOAI radio was an NBC Radio affiliate, Channel 4 primarily aired NBC-TV shows, although it also carried some programs from CBS, ABC and Dumont. As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WOAI 1200 switched to a full servicemiddle of the road (MOR) music format, with frequent newscasts, farm reports and sports.
In 1956, a Boeing B-29 hit WOAI's transmitter tower, destroying it. The plane made a crash landing, killing one passenger. No one on the ground was injured.[19]
WOAI began to move towards talk programming, and stopped playing music by the late 1970s. In 1979, KEEZ switched its call letters to WOAI-FM playing an easy listening format. In 1981 WOAI-FM switched to country music as KAJA "KJ*97". Through the 1980s, WOAI relied more on its newsroom and focused on local and national news, local talk shows and agricultural reports. The station also began including sports play-by-play, especially after acquiring the radio contract for all San Antonio SpursNBA basketball games. WOAI was the radio home of the San Antonio Gunslingers in the United States Football League (USFL).
In 1998, Clear Channel acquired the parent company of Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicated national talk shows such as The Rush Limbaugh Show, Dr. Laura, Dr. Dean Edell, The Jim Rome Show and Coast to Coast AM. Rush and Dr. Laura had already been airing in San Antonio on talk radio competitor 550 KTSA and were switched over to WOAI's line up. WOAI news anchor Bob Guthrie celebrated 50 years on the radio station in 2006.
In 2001, WOAI regained a TV sister station when Clear Channel acquired KMOL-TV, which had been WOAI-TV from its founding in 1949 until its sale in 1974. In December 2002, KMOL-TV was granted permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change its call sign back to WOAI-TV. The TV station has since been sold twice, to Newport Television and then to current owner Sinclair Broadcast Group. In May 2012, WOAI briefly added an FM simulcast over translator station K289BN at 105.7 MHz, but this only lasted for four months. On September 19, 2012, the translator switched to simulcasting co-owned classic country station KRPT.[23]
On September 16, 2014, Clear Channel renamed itself iHeartMedia, Inc. This brought its corporate name in line with its iHeartRadio internet platform.[24][25]
^"Southern Equipment-San Antonio Radio Station Opens Nation-Wide Broadcasting Today; Biggest in the South", San Antonio Express, September 25, 1922, page 3.
^"Radio Conference Recommendations: New Wave Lengths", Radio Age, May 1923, page 11. Beginning with these assignments radio stations ended the practice of broadcasting their market reports and weather forecasts on the separate 485-meter wavelength.
^Press Release (September 16, 2014). "Clear Channel Becomes iHeartMedia". ClearChannel.com. iHeartMedia. Archived from the original on September 18, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2017. Effective today, CC Media Holdings, Inc. (OTCCB: CCMO) will become iHeartMedia, Inc. In connection with the company's new brand, the company's ticker symbol will also change, effective September 17. Of the company's major businesses, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment will become iHeartMedia; other company brands, including iHeartRadio, Premiere Networks, Total Traffic and Weather Network, Katz Media Group and RCS, will retain their current names.
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