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WTOP is the only all-news radio station in Washington, DC. The station's primary signal is a monaural FM broadcast at 103.5 MHz under call sign WTOP-FM; its secondary AM outlet, 820 kHz, holds the WTOP call and broadcasts from Frederick, Maryland. The primary WTOP antenna and engineering facility is located on University Blvd. in Wheaton, Maryland.

WTOP is a 24 hour news station with traffic and weather every ten minutes on the 8s. It is affiliated with the CBS Radio Network, and many of its reporters (including Neal Augenstein, Tim Haeck, Hank Silverberg and Tom Foty) also appear on the network.

Sister stations to WTOP include WGMS-FM (Classical 104.1), WTWP (Washington Post Radio) and WFED (Federal News Radio, formerly an online-only service of WTOP).

WTOP is owned by Bonneville International. In 2005, the station began providing podcasts of selected broadcast programs.

Contents

History

WTOP's origins trace back to Brooklyn, New York as station WTRC in September 25, 1926, on 1250 kilocycles with a power of 50 watts. On August 2, 1927, the station migrated to Mount Vernon Hills, Virginia as WTFF at 1470 kHz. In November, 1927, the power of WTFF was increased to 10,000 watts and the frequency changed to 1480 kilocycles.

Purchased by J.S. Vance on January 10, 1929, the callsign was changed to WJSV, reflecting his initals. In June, 1932, the station was purchased by CBS and moved from Mount Vernon Hills to Alexandria, Virginia. WJSV was off the air for about three months during this period and resumed broadcasting on October 20, 1932.

The station became the CBS outlet for the Washington, DC area. WJSV was a key training ground for pioneering newsman Bob Trout in the 1930s before he became a network correspondent. (One of his broadcasting mentors was Wells (Ted) Church, who later became a CBS News executive.) Also, another future CBS Radio star, Arthur Godfrey, had a live program on WTOP in the 1940s before he became a national radio figure.

In 1940, WJSV's operating power was increased to 50,000 watts, with a new transmitter site built in Wheaton, Maryland. (That site is still in use today.) [link] On March 29, 1941 with the implementation of NARBA, WJSV moved its broadcast frequency from 1460 to 1500 kHz. In May 1943, the call sign was changed to WTOP because its new frequency was now at the "top" of the mediumwave AM band.

The Washington Post bought a 55-percent share in WTOP from CBS in February 1949 and took over the remainder of the station in December 1954. The Post sold WTOP to The Outlet Company company in June 1978 amid the FCC wanting to break up the Post/WTOP cross-ownership arrangement.

One month later, WTOP-TV was swapped with the Detroit News's WWJ-TV, and became WDVM-TV. The station is today WUSA-TV, owned by Gannett. The original FM frequency for WTOP-FM was 96.3 MHz, but that frequency was donated to Howard University. That station became WHUR in 1971, a commercially-run radio station.

By the early 1990's, WTOP eventually acquired a Warrenton, Virginia frequency (94.3) for better coverage in the Virginia suburbs. On April 1, 1998, that frequency was swapped for a stronger signal at 107.7, also licensed to Warrenton. Then in December 2000, WTOP gained another simulcast in Frederick, Maryland with WXTR at 820 kHz, establishing the "WTOP Radio Network."

On January 4, 2006, WTOP station owner Bonneville International announced that WTOP would move to a new primary frequency of 103.5 FM, then held by classical station WGMS (which would itself move to 103.9 and 104.1 FM). The frequencies long-used by WTOP, 1500 kHz and 107.7 MHz (and the low-powered 104.3 FM translator in Leesburg), would be reassigned to the new "Washington Post Radio" for a March 30, 2006 launch date. Ironically, this new partership also signaled the Post's reemergence into the radio scene on the very same dial spot WTOP once held.

The stations' respective call signs were changed as of January 11, 2006: the former WTOP pair became WTWP (The Washington Post) and WTOP's new primary stations (formerly WGMS-FM and WXTR) assumed the WTOP calls. An HD Radio digital subchannel of the 103.5 carrier continues to broadcast classical music.

During WTOP weather reports, ABC 7 Super Doppler is featured from local TV station WJLA Channel 7.

Programming and on-air personalities

''This information is current as of the summer of 2005.
Monday-Friday: Saturday: Sunday:

Other personalities

Feature segments

Awards

External links


FM radio stations in the Washington, D.C. market

By Frequency: 88.1 | 88.5 | 89.3 | 89.9 | 90.1 | 90.9 | 91.9 | 92.5 | 92.7 | 93.3 | 93.9 | 94.7 | 95.5 | 96.3 | 97.1 | 98.7 | 99.1 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 100.3 | 101.1 | 101.5 | 102.3 | 103.1 | 103.5 | 103.9 | 104.1 | 104.3 | 105.1 | 105.9 | 106.7 | 107.3 | 107.7 | 107.9

By Callsign: WAMU | WARW | WASH | WAVA | WBIG | WBQB | WBZS | WCSP | WETA | WFLS | WFRE | WFSI | WGMS | WGTS | WGYS | WHUR | WIHT | WINC | WJFK | WJZW | WKYS | WLZL | WMMJ | WMUC | WMZQ | WPER | WPFW | WPGC | WRNR | WRQX | WTOP | WTWP | WWDC

AM Radio Stations in the Washington, D.C. Market

By Frequency: 570 | 630 | 700 | 730 | 780 | 820 | 900 | 930 | 950 | 980 | 1030 | 1050 | 1120 | 1160 | 1220 | 1260 | 1310 | 1340 | 1390 | 1450 | 1460 | 1480 | 1500 | 1540 | 1560 | 1580 | 1600

By Callsign: WABS | WACA | WCTN | WDCT | WFAX | WFED | WFMD | WGOP | WILC | WKDL | WKDV | WKIK | WLXE | WMAL | WMET | WOL | WPGC | WPWC | WTEM | WTNT | WTOP | WTWP | WUST | WWGB | WWRC | WYCB | WZHF

 

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