The Cox Enterprises broadcasting tower was located outside the old studio in Kettering, Ohio, before the studio building on Wilmington Pike was torn down in 2017.
WHIO was Cox Radio's first station started by company founder Ohio GovernorJames M. Cox. It signed on the air on February 9, 1935; 89 years ago (February 9, 1935).[5] The original studios were in the Dayton Daily News building downtown, on Ludlow Street. To create a new radio service in Dayton, Cox had to purchase WLBW[6] in Oil City, Pennsylvania, from the Petroleum Telephone Company.[7] Cox shut down the Pennsylvania operation and moved the radio station to Dayton.[8]
The station first broadcast with a power of 1,000 watts on 1260 kHz, which had been the frequency of WLBW.[9] With the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) in 1941, WHIO moved to its current frequency at 1290 kHz. When NARBA went into effect, 90% of all AM stations in America were forced to change frequencies.[10]
In 1946, Cox Radio added an FM station, 99.1 WHIO-FM. At first, WHIO-FM simulcast the AM station. But in the 1960s, it began airing a beautiful music format. And in 1989, it became WHKO with a country music format.
In 1949, Cox added a TV station, WHIO-TV on Channel 13 (later on Channel 7). Because WHIO had been a CBS Radio affiliate, WHIO-TV also began airing CBS television programs. WHIO-TV, along with WHIO 1290 and WHKO 99.1, have been owned by Cox since their founding.
Past personalities
WHIO's long history in the market included Lou Emm. Emm was a popular host of variety shows, live remote broadcasts and station promotions. He started at WHIO in the early 1940s and retired in 1992. When Emm died a few years later, all Dayton radio stations paused for a moment of silence.
Phil Donahue started at WHIO as the host of the weekday talk show "Conversation Piece" in the 1960s before his move to television and competitor Channel 2 WLWD (now WDTN) in 1967. His show became nationally syndicated beginning in 1970. During this era, Winston Hoehner was news director at WHIO for 25 years and was a member of the Ohio Associated Press Broadcast Journalism Hall of Fame. He died in 1990.
WHIO was the originating station of a regional news network in the 1960s and 1970s which was aired late afternoons on stations in surrounding communities throughout the Miami Valley as "The DP&L News Network" (named for its sponsor, The Dayton Power and Light Company). A similar network aired in the 1990s during this same time frame as "The Newscenter 7 Radio Network".
FM simulcast
On October 30, 2006, Cox Radio pulled the plug on the all-1980s hits format on WDPT "95.7 The Point". The FM station switched to a simulcast of WHIO's news/talk format. WDPT took the new call signWHIO-FM. The FM station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts.
WHIO-FM strong FM signal helps the two stations cover much of south central Ohio, also reaching into Eastern Indiana. The simulcast gives listeners the choice of hearing WHIO on either AM or FM.
Programming
Weekdays on WHIO-AM-FM begin with The Wyoming Valley's Morning News anchored by Larry Hansgen, Brittany Otto, and Jeremy Ratliff.[13] In PM drive time, a local talk program is heard, The Evening Edge Todd Hollst. The rest of the day features nationally syndicated talk programs: Brian Kilmeade and Friends, The Erick Erickson Show, The Sean Hannity Show, Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. Weekends feature specialty shows on money, health, cars and gardening as well as repeats of weekday programs. Most hours begin with an update from CBS News Radio.
