WLKW (AM)
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| City | West Warwick, Rhode Island |
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| Broadcast area | Kent County and Providence, Rhode Island |
| Branding | 1450 AM ESPN Providence |
| Slogan | "You know us. We know Sports." |
| Frequency | 1450 kHz |
| Repeater(s) | WNBH/1340-New Bedford, Massachusetts (simulcast partner) |
| First air date | August 15, 1956 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 1,000 watts (unlimited) |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 15959 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°41′42″N 71°31′26″W / 41.69500°N 71.52389°W |
| Callsign meaning | "We're L (50 in Roman numerals) KiloWatts" (former call of adult standards stations on 990, 790 and 550 kHz in the Providence market; only 990 was actually 50 kilowatts) |
| Former callsigns | WWRI (1956–1969) WSVP (1969–1973) WKRI (1973–November 13, 1995) WHIM (November 13, 1995–March 20, 1998) WDYZ (March 20, 1998–January 17, 2000) WHRC (January 17–June 22, 2000) WWRI (June 22, 2000–July 9, 2002) |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio |
| Owner | Hall Communications, Inc. |
| Sister stations | WNBH, WCTK |
| Website | wlkwradio.com |
WLKW (1450 AM, "ESPN Providence") is a radio station licensed to West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA. The station is the ESPN Radio affiliate for Rhode Island and is owned by Hall Communications. WLKW was an affiliate of the Pawsox Radio Network until 2009.
The AM 1450 frequency was a longtime home to WWRI, later WKRI, a community station serving the West Warwick area. WWRI began broadcasting August 15, 1956. WWRI was initially headquartered at 1501 Main St. in West Warwick. Its first licensee & president was W. Paul Oury. On October 8, 1957, WWRI was sold to Melvin Green's Grelin Broadcasting. The next change of ownership occurred on February 8, 1969 when RSVP Inc. bought WWRI. By this time, WWRI was an ABC radio affiliate.
Around 1970, the station was bought by MediAmerica Broadcasting, the company that owned WYRE (a daytimer on 810 kHz) that put a listenable signal into both Baltimore and Washington, D.C. with just 500 watts. They changed the calls to WSVP - the call latters standing for "The Suburban Voice of Providence;" a;though that slogan was ever, if rarely used on the air.
Owner Ernie Tannen installed Jim Hooker, later to become a successful radio sales trainer, as the general manager. He hired Bill Hennes, then programming WNHC in New Haven, Ct., as a consultant in hopes of competing for Providence ad dollars. He put in place a Drake-like format using Johnny Mann jingles, however the station had to be oldies based since there were already two established hit-music stations in greater Providence along with several other stations that bled in from outside the market. The station failed to make a dent in WPRO's dominance, but since they sounded big they attracted listeners. Their 1,000-watt daytime signal made them listenable in Providence, but in those days they had to reduce power to 250 watts at night which limited them to just Kent County after dark.
The station was one of the launching pads for air talent in the northeast. During its brief lifespan an all-star team went through there. Among the many were Buzz Brindle, Jack Casey, Dick Downes (using Bob Lawrence), G. Michael McKay, Dusty Brooks, Paul Payton, Bill Donovan, Jim Edwards & Charlie Stone.
Famous Disk Jockeys from Boston's WRKO sometimes volunteered their time to developing WSVP's air talent, by traveling long distances from their homes in Massacjussetts and new Hampshire, offer their major-market talent and consullting to the small station, which was also considered a training ground for RKO General Top 40 stations.
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Wikipedia