WWSW-FM
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| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
| Branding | 94.5 3WS |
| Slogan | Pittsburgh's Classic Hits Pittsburgh's Official Christmas Station (Nov.-Dec.) |
| Frequency | 94.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) 94.5 HD-2 for Jammin' Oldies |
| First air date | 1940 (as WMOT) |
| Format |
Classic Hits Christmas music (Nov.-Dec.) |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 247 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 59968 |
| Callsign meaning | The Branding 3WS Means That There Are 3 W'S in WWSW |
| Former callsigns | WMOT (1940s-1950's) WWSW-FM (1950's-1973) WPEZ (1973-1980) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (AMFM Radio Licenses, L.L.C.) |
| Sister stations | KQV, WBGG, WDVE, WKST-FM, WPGB, WXDX |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 3wsradio.com |
WWSW-FM (3WS), is a classic hits radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The iHeartMedia, Inc. station broadcasts at 94.5 MHz with an ERP of 50 kW. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh just north of downtown, while its studios are located west of downtown. The current airstaff is made up of Jonny Hartwell, Sheri Van Dyke, Mike Frazer, Steve Grenato, and Kate Harris.
The station signed on as WMOT in 1940, and was a classical music station until the early 1960s. The station eventually changed its call letters to match its AM sister station, WWSW. The station became WPEZ in 1973 and was a successful top 40 station for the next seven years.
On Labor Day, 1980, the station gave up top 40 for an adult contemporary format, changing its identity at that time to "3WS", and recapturing its sister station's call letters of WWSW. For most of the 80's, the station began to slowly add more and more oldies titles into its playlist, based on listener response.
The AM and FM stations both flipped to oldies in January 1988, simulcasting for much of the time. When not simulcasting, the FM played a core blend of oldies hits from the 60s and 70s, while the AM leaned more towards 50s and 60s titles. In 1991, the AM's independent programming was abandoned and simulcast the FM 100%.
The AM split from the FM in August 2000 and adopted a sports radio format as WBGG. In 2006, it was announced that Pitt Panthers football and basketball games would be aired on WWSW-FM.
Like many oldies stations, WWSW-FM recently had been de-emphasizing music of the 1950s and 1960s in favor of more songs from the 1970s (and even a few from the 1980s), while declining to use the word "oldies" on the air. In 2006, the music was abruptly adjusted forward with more emphasis on the 1970s and even more from the 1980s. The station started to play artists it had ignored before, like Styx, Huey Lewis & the News, Supertramp and Bruce Springsteen, while dropping long-time staples of an earlier vintage like the Dave Clark Five, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Herman's Hermits. (However, The Beatles continue to be a staple of the station's on air playlist.)
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Wikipedia