History
Its first broadcast was on July 18, 1922. It was originally assigned the frequency of 350 kHz.
On May 16, 1925, the first live broadcast of the Kentucky Derby was originated by WHAS and was also carried by WGN in Chicago. The call of the Derby featured an announcer who watched from the windows of one of the famous twin spires of Churchill Downs.
During the 1937 Flood the station aired 115,000 messages. On March 29, 1941 the station moved to its current frequency of 840 AM and made a clear-channel station, both as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement. On March 30, 1970 WHAS began 24-hour operation.
The station was originally part of the local media empire ruled by the Bingham family, which also published Louisville Courier-Journal and Louisville Times (now owned by the Gannett Company and merged in 1987) and operated television station WHAS-TV (now owned by Belo). WHAS and its FM sister station, WAMZ (the former WHAS-FM) is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications, which acquired the pair in 1986 as part of the breakup of the Bingham family's media properties.
The station has been broadcasting on a full-time basis in the IBOC digital radio mode, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity, since September 2007 after an initial testing period which started in 2006. Prior to 1995, WHAS broadcast in C-QUAM AM stereo.
Read more about this topic: WHAS (AM)
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