Information About

Wtop
  CATEGORIES ABOUT WTOP
   
bonneville international
   
news and talk radio stations
   
SHOPPER'S DELIGHT
 
Shop For:  
Department
Price Minimum:
Price Maximum:
      



  Name WTOP, WTOP-FM
  Airdate 1927
  Callsign Meaning '''W''' '''TOP''' of the dial
  Frequency FM: 1035
  Area Washington, DC
  Format News
  Owner Bonneville International
  Website wwwwtopnewscom


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.


HISTORY


WTOP's original callsign was WJSV; it was changed to WTOP because its then-primary frequency 1500 kHz was at the "top" of the Mediumwave AM band.

The CBS affiliate (in its WJSV days) 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.) Another future CBS Radio star, Arthur Godfrey , had a live program on WTOP in the 1940s before he became a national radio figure.

''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 broadcasting company in June 1978.

The original FM frequency for WTOP-FM was 96.3 MHz, but that frequency was donated to Howard University for their WHUR in 1971. WTOP acquired a Warrenton, Virginia frequency (94.3) for better coverage in the Virginia suburbs. Later in the 1990s, that frequency was swapped for a stronger signal at 107.7.

On January 4, 2006, station owner and WXTR) assumed the WTOP calls. An HD Radio digital subchannel of the 103.5 carrier continues to broadcast classical music.


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