WMET
| City | Gaithersburg, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Washington |
| Branding | Radio For Your Soul |
| Frequency | 1160 kHz |
| Format | Catholic religious programming |
| Power | 50,000 watts day 1,500 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 4643 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°11′16.00″N 77°12′56.00″W / 39.1877778°N 77.2155556°WCoordinates: 39°11′16.00″N 77°12′56.00″W / 39.1877778°N 77.2155556°W |
| Former callsigns | WJOK (1980–1984) WMTG (1984–1986) |
| Affiliations | Guadalupe Radio Network (EWTN Catholic Radio Network) |
| Owner | Huffines Media |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Official website |
WMET is a radio station broadcasting on 1160 kHz in the mediumwave AM band, serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Over several decades, it has gone through a number of radio formats, from progressive rock to all-comedy to a conservative talk-show format. Since May 3, 2010, it has been a Catholic religious radio station.
WMET moved from the 1150 kHz frequency in 2003. Its transmitter is located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. WMET has a daytime transmitter power of 50,000 watts and a 1500 watt directional signal at night.
WMET first went on the air as WHMC (the Heart of Montgomery County) which broadcast at 1150 kHz. During the 1960s, WHMC was known as the "500 Watt Flower-pot". 'HMC, as it was nicknamed, hired disc jockey Barry Richards away from WINX (1600AM) in nearby Rockville, MD. He turned the station into one of the DC area's first progressive rock stations. It was the only one on the AM band. The station also sponsored a series of rock concerts underneath the towers (which were on a grassy hillside in Gaithersburg, Maryland) that were well-attended by area teens.
WMET has run through a variety of formats including an all-comedy format as WJOK in 1983. In recent years, station owner IDT had aired a conservative talk format including syndicated hosts Tony Snow & G. Gordon Liddy.
In the 90's, simulcast the business news format of WPGC while airing brokered talk shows on the weekend. The 1994 College World Series final game was broadcast on the station. Oklahoma State with Ryan Minor. Minor gained fame in his major league career as the player who replaced Cal Ripken, Jr., ending the legend's consecutive game streak. Georgia Tech feature Nomar Garciaparra and number one draft pick Jason Veriteck.
By the mid-90's, WMET picked up the business news format full-time from WPGC. The station's most popular show was The Don MacDonald Show. Show host from various sectors of the financial world would purchase air time on the station. The station also became known as an affiliate of Baltimore Orioles Minor League affiliate The Frederick Keys and affiliate of Mount Saint Mary's Basketball of the Division I North East Conference. The stations feed was also carried on the Dulles Airport Flight Information Channel on Media General Cable in Northern Virginia. The Greaseman was hired for the morning drivetime slot in November 2005. WMET switched to a brokered (paid) programming format in March 2006. Greaseman's show was among the few weekday programs to be retained in the transition but he later left on hiatus in November 2007. Until the spring of 2010, WMET aired Music of Your Life standards in the slot, which remains available for live-streaming on the internet and other stations that carry it nationally.
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Wikipedia