WNIS

Weekdays, WNIS has local morning drive time talk and information shows called "Marcrini's Morning News" and the “Karen and Mike Show.” Other weekday hours feature nationally syndicated shows from Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade, "Clay Travis & Buck Sexton," Mark Levin, "Coast to Coast AM with George Noory" and "This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal." Weekends feature shows on money, health, cars and fishing, with syndicated hosts including Kim Komando, Guy Benson, Rudy Maxa, Mike Imprevento, "Live on Sunday Night, It's Bill Cunningham" and "Somewhere in Time with Art Bell." Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio.

WNIS is the oldest radio station in Virginia. The station was first licensed, as WTAR, on September 21, 1923.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008420265&seq=182 "New stations"], Radio Service Bulletin, October 1, 1923, page 2. The original call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. WTAR signed on the air at 780 kHz with a power of 15 watts.{{cite news|title=WTAR-TV Marks Its First Year|url=https://archive.org/details/broadcastingtele40unse/page/n569/mode/1up|access-date=8 August 2016|work=Broadcasting|date=April 30, 1951|page=62}}

A second Norfolk station was licensed as WSUF, which in early 1928 changed its call sign to WPOR.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?eid=uc1.b3221818&seq=516 "Alterations and Corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, February 29, 1928, page 6. As part of a consolidation, WTAR was formally licensed as WTAR-WSUF and later WTAR-WPOR, with WPOR only used when the station was broadcasting from an auxiliary studio.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Popular-Communications/90s/Popular-Communications-1990-08.pdf#page=24 "Radio Remembered"] by Alice Brannigan, Popular Communications, August 1990, page 22. However, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) requested that stations using only one of their assigned call letters drop those that were no longer in regular use, so on May 15, 1933 WPOR was eliminated from the dual call sign, with the station reverting to just WTAR.[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1933-06-25/ed-1/seq-44/ "Double Call Letters Are Being Eliminated"], Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 25, 1933, Part 4, page 6.

On July 6, 1934, WTAR became an affiliate of the NBC Red Network after dropping the CBS Radio Network. At that time, the station was owned and operated by the parent company of the Norfolk Ledger-Star and The Virginian-Pilot.{{cite news|title=WTAR Joins the NBC|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1934/1934-07-15-BC.pdf#page=5|access-date=7 December 2014|agency=Broadcasting|date=July 15, 1934}}

By the late 1930s, WTAR got a power boost to 5,000 watts by day, 1,000 watts at night.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015080101259&seq=168 "Directory of Broadcasting Stations of the United States: Virginia"], Broadcasting Yearbook (1940 edition), page 162. In the 1940s, the nighttime power was increased to match the daytime power, 5,000 watts.

WTAR added an FM counterpart in 1947, WTAR-FM (97.3), which mostly simulcast the AM station.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1951/Radio%20ALL%20BC%20YB%201951%20B&W-9.pdf#page=246 "Directory of AM, FM and TV Stations of the United States: Virginia: Norfolk"], Broadcasting Yearbook (1951 edition), page 314. However, few people owned FM radios at that time, and WTAR gave up its FM license a couple of years later. The 97.3 frequency returned to the air in the mid-1950s as WGH-FM.

File:WTAR advertisement (1950).gif

In 1950, WTAR signed on a TV station, WTAR-TV (Channel 4, now WTKR on channel 3). Because WTAR was an NBC affiliate, the TV station primarily carried NBC-TV programs. As the first TV station in the Norfolk area, it also ran some shows from CBS, ABC and the DuMont Television Network. Within a year of the TV station's debut, both the TV and radio facilities moved into a new broadcasting center at 720 Boush Street.

In 1961, WTAR management decided to return to FM broadcasting, and signed on a new WTAR-FM, this time at 95.7 MHz (now WVKL).[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1971/Section-B-Radio-Broadcasting-Yearbook-1971-11.pdf#page=215 "Directory of AM and FM Radio Stations in the U.S.: Virginia: Norfolk"], Broadcasting Yearbook (1971 edition), page B-217. WTAR-FM aired automated beautiful music, separate from the AM station, which had a full service format of middle of the road music, adult contemporary, news, sports and talk. On March 7, 1984, WTAR began broadcasting in C-QUAM AM stereo.{{cite web|title=Offenders of the Faith|url=http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca:80/~amstereo/offenders.htmwebsite=eastlink.ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010109103400/http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca:80/~amstereo/offenders.htm|archive-date=January 9, 2001}}

By 1986 or 1987, WTAR switched its full-service format to an oldies format and became an affiliate of CBS Radio News. In the early 1990s, the station stopped playing music and became a news/talk station, adding an affiliation with CNN as well as CBS Radio.[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1993/A-Radio.pdf#page=377 "Directory of Radio Stations in the U.S.: Virginia: Norfolk "], Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook (1993 edition), page B-376. Around the same time, rival talk station WNIS got a big boost in power, going to 50,000 watts by day, 25,000 watts at night. Eventually, both stations would become co-owned, with Sinclair acquiring AM 850 in June 1997.

On July 15, 1997, WTAR and its sister station on AM 850, WNIS, exchanged call letters, with AM 790 becoming WNIS, and the station stopped broadcasting in AM stereo, while WTAR was moved to 850 kHz.[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=4671 Call Sign History] (Facility ID: 4671)[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=60472 Call Sign History] (Facility ID: 60472) 850 has the stronger signal, broadcasting at 50,000 watts by day, the highest power authorized for AM stations by the Federal Communications Commission. At night it runs 25,000 watts, while 790 kHz transmits 5,000 watts day and night. Both stations had talk formats, although 850 WTAR later became a sports radio station and network affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.wnis.com/ AM 790 WNIS Online]

{{AM station data|4671|WNIS}}

• [https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=67366 FCC History Cards for WNIS] (covering 1923-1981 as WTAR / WTAR-WSUF / WTAR-WPOR / WTAR)
• [https://sinclairstations.com/ Sinclair Telecable List of Stations]

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{{Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News Radio}}

{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Virginia}}

NIS

Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1923

Category:1923 establishments in Virginia