WJAS
| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
| Branding | NewsTalk 1320 WJAS |
| Frequency | 1320 kHz |
| First air date | August 4, 1922 |
| Format | Talk |
| Power | 7,000 watts daytime 3,300 watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 55705 |
| Former callsigns | WJAS (1922-1973) WKPQ (1973) WKTQ (1973-1981) |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks |
| Owner | Frank Iorio, Jr. (Pittsburgh Radio Partners LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 1320wjas.com |
WJAS is a talk radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Frank Iorio, Jr., through licensee Pittsburgh Radio Partners LLC, and broadcasts at 1320 kHz with a power level of 7,000 watts, from a transmitter located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh. WJAS' studios are located on Fleet Street in Green Tree.
WJAS, which is one of Pittsburgh's five original AM stations, first signed on the air on August 4, 1922 and became an NBC owned-and-operated station in 1957 (after briefly operating as WAMP in the 1950s).
During the 1930s and 1940s, WJAS was home to the Wilkens Amateur Hour. Sponsored by Wilkens Jewelry Company, a 1942 review in the trade publication Billboard said the show "remains Pittsburgh's most popular local program."
In 1973, the station became extremely popular with a new format as top 40 WKPQ, later WKTQ "13Q", under new owners Heftel Communications. A promotion was run where listeners would win prizes if they were randomly telephoned and answered with "I listen to the new sound of 13Q" (instead of "hello"). Although this was the highest-rated format ever to appear on 1320, ranking second in the ratings to KDKA, it did not last due to the audience's move to FM radio. By 1977, 13Q's fortunes were fading, and Heftel sold the station to Nationwide Communications, who tried adult contemporary, which failed as well. Nationwide later sold the station to Beni Broadcasting, who switched the station to an adult standards format and brought back the WJAS call letters in 1981. Beni eventually sold WJAS to Renda Broadcasting. WJAS was one of the top standards stations in the United States, and would last for the next 3 decades.
WJAS boasts of two personalities with long and storied histories in Pittsburgh media: Jack Bogut and Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille.
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