AM Technical Profile: WOOF

Frequency:

560

Format:

Sports

Transmitter Location:

[map]

Power (ERP):

Day: 5 kW

Night: 118 watts

Antenna:

1 tower

Other Information:

-

History:

On the air in 1948 as a CBS affiliate, this 5 kW daytimer put a big signal out at 560 on the dial. They billed themselves in early ads as "the 42nd most powerful station in the nation" -- strange, considering there were more than 42 50kW stations out there at the time!  One popular slogan was "When Daytime's Here, WOOF Is Near."  In the '60s played Top 40 music during the afternoon hours, and by the '70s was a fulltime hit music station.  They began to lean  toward rock in the early 1980s, and just as low-powered nighttime operation was authorized, changed its format to AOR and the slogan "Rockin' 56" -- this lasted until 1988, when WOOF started simulcasting the FM. According to the NAB, in 1985 the station was broadcasting in stereo with the Harris system.

 

During the 1990s, WOOF-AM went between satellite nostalgia and repeating WOOF-FM. In the late 1990s, they went to their current sports/talk format, calling themselves "The Ball."

 

Contributor's Note: "Over all these years and different formats, WOOF-AM has always had a weekend all-day gospel format.  For many years it was on Saturdays; these days it's on Sundays (perhaps moved because of the importance of Saturday to a sports format)."