WWNL

WWNL is a Christian radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is owned by Steel City Radio, Inc., broadcasts at 1080 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts daytime (25,000 watts during critical hours).

History

WWNL was originally WILY, a station which primarily served an African American audience in the 1950s; in 1957 it became WEEP, a top 40 station, before switching to the call letters WYRE in 1961 (and then back to WEEP). Unable to compete with KQV in the format, WEEP changed to country music, in which it enjoyed its greatest success, and for which it is best remembered. The station format complemented its then (WDSY) FM sister station in the 1970s, which was originally WEEP-FM.

Throughout the 1980s, WEEP continued to simulcast WDSY part of the day until the early 1990s, when it adopted a failed all-business news and talk format before its call letters were changed to WDSY-AM and the station was a full simulcast of its FM sister. That didn't last long, as a management change resulted in a complete separation of programming between the two stations, with WEEP affiliating with ABC/SMN's "Real Country" format delivered via satellite in September 1992.