WIRO
 | |
| City | Ironton, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Ironton, Ohio Huntington, West Virginia Ashland, Kentucky |
| Frequency | 1230 kHz |
| Branding | Fox Sports 1230 & 1420 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio Ohio State Sports Network Columbus Blue Jackets Radio Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | KW Ministries |
| History | |
First air date | September 1951 |
Call sign meaning | IROnton |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 61685 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°32′21″N 82°40′30″W / 38.53917°N 82.67500°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | foxsports1420 |
WIRO (1230 AM) is a commercial radio station serving the Ironton, Ohio, Flatwoods, Kentucky, Ashland, Kentucky and Huntington, West Virginia areas.
The station currently is affiliated with Fox Sports Radio, beginning on April 6, 2009. Previously it repeated WVHU in Huntington.
The station's antenna system uses a single tower that results in an omnidirectional signal pattern. According to the Antenna Structure Registration database, the tower is 62.4 m (205 ft) tall.[1] The transmitter and broadcast tower are located near the intersection of U.S. Route 52 and Ohio State Route 93 in Ironton.
History of WIRO[edit]
WIRO signed on in September 1951 by Iron City Broadcasting with C.A. Baker as president. The station was purchased in February 1962 by Tri-Radio Broadcasting. The station remained Adult Contemporary for majority of the ownership under Tri-Radio until it was sold in 1995 to Adventure Radio for $300,000. This was the first time not only did WIRO exit local ownership, it was separated from its FM sister station and vacated the Ironton studios and merged with the new co-owned radio stations in Huntington. The new Huntington group included 97.1 WBVB-FM Coal Grove, 800 WKEE-AM and 100.5 WKEE Huntington, and 1600 WZZW-AM Milton. Adventure Radio based in Bluefield West Virginia also owned 1400 WSIC-AM and 105.7 WFMX-FM Statesville, 1130 WFXH-AM and 106.1 WFXH Hilton Head Island with 107.9 WLOW-FM Bluffton, and 1440 WHIS-AM and 104.5 WHAJ-FM Bluefield.
Adventure Radio sold their Huntington West Virginia stations, which included WIRO-AM to Commodore Media in 1997. Commodore Media of New York also owned radio stations WINE-AM and WRKI-FM Brookfield, WNLK-AM and WEFX-FM Norwalk, 1400 WSTC-AM and 96.7 WKHL-FM in Stamford, 1290 WJBR-AM and 99.5 WJBR Wilmington, 94.7 WBBE-FM Gifford, 97.1 WOSN-FM Indian Shores, 92.1 WZZR-FM Stuart, 1370 WAXE-AM, 92.7 WAXE-FM, 99.7 WPAW-FM and 103.7 WQOL-FM Vero Beach, 1510 WPUT-AM Brewster, 106.3 WZZN-FM Mount Kisco, 105.5 WAXB-FM Patterson, 1230 WFAS-AM and 103.9 WFAS-FM White Plains, and 790 WAEB-AM, 1320 WKAP-AM and 104.1 WAEB-FM Allentown. Commodore also owned other Huntington radio stations 1200 WHRD-AM, 103.3 WTCR-FM, 106.3 WAMX-FM Milton and 107.1 WFXN-FM Ironton. Commodore would be sold to Atlantic Star in 1996 for $200 Million. The purchase of Atlantic Star would add new co-owned stations 1420 WACT-AM and 105.9 WRTR-FM Tuscaloosa, 1320 WMMV-AM and 99.3 WLRQ-FM Cocoa, 1240 WMMB-AM and 95.1 WBVD-FM Melbourne, 102.7 WHKR-FM Rockledge, 95.3 WXHT-FM York Center, 580 WTAG-AM and 96.1 WSRS-FM Worcester, 610 WGIR-AM and 101.1 WGIR-FM Manchester, 1380 WTMN-AM and 100.3 WHEB-FM Portsmouth, 92.9 WEZF-FM Burlington, 93.5 WJLM-FM Salem and 1400 WBBD-AM, 97.3 WKWK-FM and 107.5 WEGW-FM Wheeling.
Chancellor Media, which Atlantic Star was a subsidiary of became AMFM and was acquired by Clear Channel in a deal announced October 3, 1999, and valued at $17.4 billion.
In December 2021, iHeart donated WIRO to KW Ministries and has since closed in March 2022. It is also the last remaining station for the Aloha Station Trust that has been held since 2007.[2]
See also[edit]
- Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO)
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- WIRO Website
- WIRO in the FCC AM station database
- WIRO on Radio-Locator
- WIRO in Nielsen Audio's AM station database