WHOP
Broadcast areaClarksville, Tennessee-Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Frequency1230 kHz
BrandingNewsTalk 1230 AM/99.3 FM
Programming
FormatNews–talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WHOP-FM
History
First air date
January 6, 1940 (1940-01-06)[2][3]
Call sign meaning
Hopkinsville, Kentucky[4]
Technical information[5]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID27634
ClassC
Power1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
36°52′54″N 87°30′44″W / 36.88167°N 87.51222°W / 36.88167; -87.51222
Translator(s)99.3 W257EV (Hopkinsville)
Repeater(s)98.7 WHOP-HD3 (Hopkinsville)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewhopam.com

WHOP (1230 kHz) is an AM radio station broadcasting a news–talk format. Licensed to and serving Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Clarksville–Hopkinsville area. The station is currently owned by Forcht Broadcasting.

The station's studios are located on Buttermilk Road (known to station management as Dink Embry's Buttermilk Road in tribute to the former on-air personality of that name[3]) off Dawson Springs Road on the northwestern outskirts of Hopkinsville. Its transmitter is located on Witty Lane off Princeton Road northwest of Hopkinsville.

History

The station first began broadcasting on January 6, 1940.[3] The station was presided by Pierce Lackey, who had operated WPAD radio in Paducah in the 1930s, with Hecht S. Lackey, who provided the opening remarks in its inaugural broadcast[3], serving as station manager until Henderson’s WSON went on the air in December 1941; F. Ernest Lackey became WHOP manager at that time.[6] In the station's inaugural broadcast, Lackey mentioned that the station was in the process of installing teletype machines for the news programming. Music programs were rebroadcast from WSM in Nashville, WHAS in Louisville and WLW in Cincinnati, with local talent performing at the WHOP studio.[7][3]

For its first year on the air, WHOP originally started broadcasting at 1200 kilohertz with 250 watts of power from a transmitter located on Princeton Road (State Highway 91). However, due to the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) of 1941, the station reallocated its AM signal to their current frequency of 1230 kilohertz.[6] Their original frequency became a treaty frequency under the NARBA that was assigned to a Clear-channel station; in this case, WOAI of San Antonio, Texas took the 1200 AM allocation.

Also in the early 1940s, WHOP was one of the first radio stations in Kentucky to expand agriculture news briefs into complete farm shows. In 1943, WHOP became affiliated with CBS Radio[7],[8] and that affiliation remains with the station to this day, making the hourly news updates from CBS Radio News the longest-running program on the station.[7] Then, in 1948, the station launched WHOP-FM at 98.7 megahertz to simulcast the AM signal. That simulcast lasted for ten years before becoming a separate entity.[6] The station has also been serving as a longtime affiliate of the University of Kentucky’s UK Sports Network, broadcasting football and basketball games since that network began in 1969.

WHOP and WHOP-FM were under the same ownership by The Lackey Family until 1999, when it was sold to its current owner, the Lexington-based Forcht Group of Kentucky.[3]

Recent developments

Logo when simulcasting on 95.3

Sometime in the early 2010s, WHOP had launched low-powered FM translator W237BV to simulcast the station's AM signal onto 95.3 megahertz. In 2023, in addition to relocating its analog FM simulcast to new translator W257EV at 99.3 on the FM dial, the station also began simulcasting on a newly relaunched HD3 subchannel of WHOP-FM.

On January 8, 2020, to mark the station's 80th anniversary, a dozen historic broadcast audio clips from the past were made available for listening on the station's website.[3][7] They were also rebroadcast over its FM sister station on that day.

Programming

As a news-talk-information format radio station, WHOP's programming content includes local newscasts, and public affairs programs. Syndicated radio programs on WHOP include The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Dave Ramsey Show, Coast to Coast AM, and America in the Morning. Hourly national news updates are provided by CBS News Radio. WHOP also provides programming from Premiere Radio Networks.[9]

The station is also the long-time radio home of the annual Hopkinsville Rotary Club Radio Auction, which has been broadcast on the station since 1951.[7]

Sports programming

Sports programming on WHOP-AM includes regionally syndicated sports packages of live coverage of games, including:

Translator

Broadcast translator for WHOP
Call signFrequencyCity of licenseERP (W)ClassFCC info
W257EV 99.3 FMHopkinsville, Kentucky250DFMQ

References

  1. ↑ "WHOP Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ 2010 Broadcasting Yearbook, page D-241
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "WHOP radio marks its 80th anniversary of broadcasting from a hill at the edge of town". Hoptown Chronicle. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  5. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WHOP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  6. 1 2 3 Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and Television in the Bluegrass State. Lexington, Kentucky: HOST Communications.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "WHOP's 80th Anniversary: Through the Years". Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1957). Official Kentucky Highway Map. (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Editor's note: Look for AM station list on the upper left corner of the document.
  9. ↑ WHOP-AM Broadcast Schedule
  10. ↑ "Radio Network Information & Affiliates". University of Kentucky Athletics.
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