WKYS (FM) - Great 98 WRC

PR&FII'E
BROEDCEST
28243BOYALROAD
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cASTAlc,
WKYS(FM)
Profile Preparedfor Skip McCloskey
permitfor a newWashington
A construction
D. C. FM broadcast
stationwasgrantedin thefall of 1946by
the FederalCommunications
Commission.
Recipient
of the"ClassB" permit,whichspecifieda powerof 20
KWon94.5megacycles,
wastheNationalBroadcasting
CompanyInc.(NilesTrammel,President),
licensee
of the District'sNB0-affiliated
WRC on the standardAM dial. A transmitting
site on the groundsof the
WardmanParkHotelwassecuredfor WRC-FM,anda combination
FMandTV towerwas builton the site
in April 1947. An RCA FM transmitterwas securedand installedthere. The FCC's FM frequency
realignment
of June12, 1947placedWRC-FMat 93.9megacycles.
WRC-FMwenton theair underan S. T. A. (SpecialTemporary
Authorization)
on Fridaymorning,June27,
1947. Studiosof WRC,on the secondfloorof theTrans-LuxBuilding,724 14thStreetN. W. wereutilized
by WRC-FM,whichfromthe startduplicated
fullytheWRCNBCAM programschedule.FrankM. Russell
was NBCWashington
VicePresident
whileCarltonD. Smithwasthestation'sfirstGeneralManager.The
FCCissuedWRC-FMits firstFM stationlicenseJuly 13, 1948.
On October7, 1949,JosephH. Mc0onnellwas namedto succeedNilesTrammelas President.Mr.
TrammelwaselectedChairmanof the Boardof NBCInc.at thistime.WilliamR. McAndrew
wasappointed
WRC-FMGeneralManagerin 1949. He was succeededin thatpositionin 1951by EugeneJuster. ln a
consolidation
move,studiosweremovedto the WRC-FMtransmitting
location,the WardmanParkHotel
building,in 1952. The hotelnamewas changedto the Sheraton-Park
Hotelin late 1952. In 1953,Vice
PresidentCarltonD. SmithwasagainnamedGeneralManagerof the WRCstationsin Washington.
The FCCissuedWRC-FMa permitto moveits studioandtransmitter
to a newlocationon April19,1957
- to 4001NebraskaAvenueN. W. In late 1957,JosephW. Goodfellowwas promotedto StationManager.
WRC-FMwas silencedJanuary8, 1958for the movefromits old quartersat the Sheraton-Park
Hoteland
retumedto the FM airwavesfroma new484-foottall towerat 4001NebraskaAvenueN. W. on February8,
1958.A newlyinstalledtransmitter
thenmadeits air debut.OnThursday,May22, 1958,the new4 million
dollarWRC Radio-TVCenterbuildingwas dedicated.WRC-FMwas authorized
to reducepowerfrom20
l(A/to 3.9l(A/ on July28, 1958.A daylater,a licensecoveringthemoveof studioandtransmitting
location
was issuedby the FCC. A licensecoveringthe powerreductionfrom 20 l(A/ to 3,9 KyVwas issuedto
WRC-FMby the FCCNovember
5, 1958.
Powerwasagainboostedto the20 lflV levelin late1959andJosephGoodfellow
becameVicePresident
andGeneralManagerof theWRCstations.Hisreplacement
as StationManagerin 1960wasHarryA. Karr
Jr. becameWRC-FMStationManager. Programming
at this time was a duplicationof the WRC AM
schedule,18 hoursa day. On November
partiallyseparateprogramming
28, 1966,WRC-FMinaugurated
witha "Classical
programunitat WIC/G-FMCleveland,
Music"format.Tapeswereprovidedby NBC-FM's
Ohio.45 percentof itsoperatinghourswasdevotedto duplication
of WRC'sNBCnetworkschedule."Jazz
WI(YS(FM)Profile(continued)
PaoeTwo:
"Concert"programming
Musid'elements
wereaddedby 1967.Thestation'ssyndicated
cameto a closeat
"Pop
the end of 1967when a
Standards"musicformatwas undertaken.HarryKarr Jr. was promotedto
GeneralManagerin 1968,the year WRC-FM'santennaheightwas reducedto 480 feet. By 1969,it
programmed
separately
from11:00a. m. until1:00a. m. dailyand by the end of thatyear,all broadcasts
wereinstereo.An adult"Progressive
RocK'musicformat
debutedDecember14,1970.Musicwasprovided
by a newly-installed
automation
system.At thistime,its NBCnetworkaffiliationwas dropped.
GeneralManagerHarryA. KarrJr. diedat 51 at a Bethesda,
Marylandhospitalon May2, 1972.PeterV.
in Juneof that year. A 100 percentseparatelyprogrammed"JazzMusid'
O'Reillywas his replacement
formatwas inaugurated
in late 1972- BruceA. HoustonjoinedWRC-FMas its newGeneralManagerin
October1972.The FCCauthorizedthe stationto increasepowerfrom20 l(A/ to 50 l(\A/andto installa new
transmitter
on February5, 1973. Priorto the implementation
of thosetechnicalimprovements,
WRG-FM
droppedits "JazzMusic"formatto switchto a "BeautifulMusic"formateffectiveMarch5, 1973. Powerwas
increasedto 50 KA/andWRC-FM(knownnowas "Stereo93.9")expandeditsdailyoperatingschedulefrom
18to24 hourson March19,1973.An FGClicensewasissuedJune20, 1973coveringthesechanges.ln
earlyJanuary1974,Mr. Houstonwas succeeded
as GeneralManagerof the WRC stationsby HaroldL.
Green. ln mid-April1974,the nearly27 year-oldcall lettersWRC-FMwerereplacedby newones-- WK/S
(FM).
Effective
June18,1975,WKYS(FM)switched
to a "Contemporary
Musid'format,
a musicalformat
inherited
fromAM sisterstationWRGwhichwentto an all newson thatdate. In thefall of 1975,thatchangedto an
'All DiscoMusiC'format.
GeneralManagerHaroldL. Greenresignedthatpostin March1976.InApril1976,
FrankScottwasrecruitedfroma Coloradostationto becomeGeneralManagerofWashington's
WI(YS(FM).
The FCCon May2, 1977grantedWlffS (FM)a permitto reducepowerto 32 l(A/ and decreaseantenna
heightto 410 feet. WIO/S(FM)continuedto broadcastfroman antennaheightof 480 feet with a powerof
50 KW. Mr.Scottwaspromoted
to VicePresident
andGeneralManagerin earlyJune1978.Namedas FM
1978wasRaymond
GeneralManagerin lateNovember
A. Yorke(Mr.Scottremainedin chargeof WRCon
the AM band), Succeeding
Mr.Yorkeas GeneralManagerof "StereoDisco94" in lateMarch1980was
"UrbanContemporary"
BartleyD. Walsh. ln 1980,the stationswitchedto a Black-oriented
musicformat.
In 1982,Mr.Walshwas promotedto VicePresidentand GeneralManager.
WK/S (FM)installedtwo newHarris25 l(W transmitters
at itstransmitting
siteat 4001NebraskaAvenue
N. W. in early1973. RetiredGeneralManagerJosephGoodfellow
diedon August5, 1983at his Florida
home. He was 73. His deathwas followedby thatof CarltonDabneySmith,managerfromthe station's
inceptionuntil1949,on April27, 1984.Mr.Smithwas79. He becamePresidential
announcerforFranklin
D. Rooseveltin 1933andwas namedmanagerof WRC in 1941.
In 1985,WKI'S (FM)increasedantennaheightto 485 feet. EffectiveJune9, 1986,WKYS(FM) was
transferred
fromNBGlnc.to newownerGeneralElectricCompany.The FCCapprovedthis multi-station
purchaseJune1t (WRChadearlierbeensoldto others-- in September
1984). lts newlicenseewas now
NBCSubsidiary
9 Inc. RobertWrightwasnamedPresident
of NBCon September
1, 1984.
WIC/S(FM)wassoldby NBCSubsidiary
9 Inc.to minority-owned
AlbimarCommunications
on December
'10,1988.The newowr'rers
werepartners'BertramM. LeeandSkipFinley.Thetwoobtaineda 10 milliondollarloanfromNBCto carryoutthepurchase.FCCapprovaltookplacein late1988.SkipFinleybecame
Presidentand
GeneralManagerof
WlryS (FM)in December
1988andinstalleda new'VarietyUrbanBlack"
musicformat. The FCG authorizedWI(YS (FM)to reducepowerfrom 50 l(A/ to 24 KJ'A|
(horizontaland
verticalpolarization)
andto increaseantennaheightto707feeton October25, 1989. In 1990,powerwas
reducedto 24 l(A/ and its antennaheightroseto 7QTteet. The WIC/S(FM)antennawas mountedon one
leg of the WRC-TVtoweron NebraskaAvenueN. W (itsstudiositeas well).
WC/S (FM)Profile(continued)
PaoeThree:
ln 1994,WK/S (FM)affiliated
withtheABCContemporary
Network.SkipFinley'sAlbimarCommunications
soldWl(/S (FM)to AlmicBroadcasting
Inc.(ownedby Catherine
L. Hughes,Chairman
andher30 year-old
tor 34 milliondollarsin earlyJune1995. Theyalsoownedthe licenseeof
sonAlfredC. Liggins,President)
Washington'sBlack-formatted
WOLandWMMJ(FM)in nearbyBethesda,Maryland.Laterin 1995,WK/S
(FM)was transfered to commonly-owned
RadioOne Inc. Tony Washington,WOL's GeneralManager,
assumedthe samepositionat WI(YS(FM)in 1995. Namedas StationManagerwasAndreCarpenter.He
was succeededin thatpostin 1996by JanelleHines.
WI(YS (FM)movedofiicesand studiosin 1997to 5900 PrincessGardenParkway,Lanham,Maryland.
MicheleWilliamssucceeded
JanelleHinesas StationManagerin 1999, Powerincreasedslightly* from
24 l(W to 24.5I(VVin January2000. AlfredC. Ligginswas elevatedto Chairmanof RadioOne Inc.in 2001
and Ms.Williamswas promotedto WO/S (FM)GeneralManager.
Today,WK/S (FM)"Kiss94 FM"operates24 hoursa dayon 93.9mHz.witha powerof 24.5l(A/(horiz.
& vert.)from4001NebraskaAvenueN. W., Washington,
D. C. at an antennaheightaf 7O7feet, Studios
are located at 5900 Princess Garden Parkway in nearby Lanham, Maryland. The "Black Urban
Contemporary"
music-formatted
stereooutletremainslicensedto RadioOne Inc.and is affiliatedwith the
ABCContemporary
Network.GeneralManageris MicheleWilliams.