WKRC (AM)

WKRC

City of license	Cincinnati, Ohio
Broadcast area	Cincinnati, Ohio
Branding	55KRC The Talk Station
Slogan	"The Talk Station"
Frequency	550 kHz
First air date	1922
Format	News/Talk
Power	5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night
Class	B
Callsign meaning	W Kodel Radio Company"
Affiliations	Fox News Radio Premiere Radio Networks Talk Radio Network WXIX-TV
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Website	55KRC

WKRC (550 AM) is a radio station based in Cincinnati, Ohio that is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts at 550 kHz. Broadcasting under the branding of 55KRC, the station is a news/talk outlet featuring a local morning show and national hosts like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, Mark Levin, and Coast to Coast AM. Studios are in Cincinnati, and the transmitter is in Cold Spring, Kentucky.

WKRC is the former sister station to WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, both having been owned by Taft Broadcasting and later Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia), until the television station was sold to Newport Television, LLC.

The station was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, and was one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.

WKRC is now owned by iHeartMedia; ironically, 50,000 watt WLW and WKRC are now sister stations, even though they are major competitors.

Despite the similarities in their call letters, WKRC was not the inspiration behind the television show WKRP in Cincinnati. The show was inspired by show creator Hugh Wilson's experiences at WQXI in Atlanta. The similarity of the two sets of call letters was used as a joke on the program.

History

In the 1990s, Jacor attempted to create a second WLW in the Cincinnati market, renaming WKRC to WLWA. In 1994, the failed attempt became 550 WCKY. The station's callsign has since returned to WKRC.

Before becoming a primarily talk station, WKRC featured a full-service adult contemporary music format for many years.

External links

• 55KRC
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WKRC
• Radio-Locator Information on WKRC
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WKRC