WSPZ

This article is about radio station WSPZ in Washington, D.C.. For the radio station serving Birmingham, Alabama which carried the call letters from 2006-2010, see WJOX (AM).

WSPZ

City of license	Bethesda, Maryland
Broadcast area	Metro Washington area
Branding	"SportsTalk 570"
Slogan	"Powered by ESPN"
Frequency	570 (kHz) (also on HD Radio)
First air date	April 9, 2001
Format	Sports/talk
Power	5,000 watts (day) 1,000 watts (night)
Class	B
Facility ID	11846
Transmitter coordinates	39°8′3.0″N 77°18′14.0″W / 39.134167°N 77.303889°W / 39.134167; -77.303889
Callsign meaning	W-"SPort(Z)Talk 570"
Former callsigns	2001–2010: WTNT 1998–2001: WWRC 1992–1998: WTEM 1948–1992: WGMS
Affiliations	ESPN Radio Yahoo! Sports Radio
Owner	Red Zebra Broadcasting (Red Zebra Broadcasting Licensee, LLC)
Sister stations	WTEM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	SportsTalk570.com

WSPZ (570 AM) — branded SportsTalk 570 — is a sports radio station licensed to Bethesda, Maryland and serving the Washington metro area. It has a daytime power of 5,000 watts from a transmitter in Germantown, Maryland.

WSPZ's current programming is sports radio, chiefly as an all-network complement to sister station WTEM. It is the flagship for Yahoo! Sports Radio's morning show hosted by WTEM afternoon personality Steve Czaban, and carries the ESPN Radio programming lineup throughout the rest of the day, while WTEM has an all-local lineup. WSPZ also airs Virginia Cavaliers football and select Baltimore Orioles games not aired on WTEM.

WSPZ and WTEM are owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting, a broadcasting firm owned by Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins.

History

In the 1960s through the early 1990s, WSPZ was WGMS, broadcasting classical music. A proposal in the 1970s to convert WGMS to a Top-40 station upset many of its influential listeners; WGMS received an exception from the then-existing rule to simulcast its programming with its sister station, WGMS-FM.

WGMS was sold to Washington, D.C. venture capitalists Steven and Mitchell Rales, which converted the music station into WTEM, a sports-talk station, on May 24, 1992. Chancellor Broadcasting purchased the station in August 1996. Chancellor Broadcasting restructured and became known as AMFM Inc. in 1999. In 2000, AMFM Inc. merged with Clear Channel Communications.

As Chancellor gained ownership of more stations in the area, WTEM moved to 980 kHz and WWRC was reassigned to 570 kHz on March 9, 1998. On April 9, 2001, WWRC moved to 1260 kHz and the callsign of 570 kHz was replaced by WTNT. The original slogan was "Dynamite Talk" (which was dropped in 2005) and since their launch has aired a variety of conservative-leaning syndicated programming. These past programs included local hosts Michael Graham and Paul Berry, and syndicated shows hosted by G. Gordon Liddy, Don Imus, Bill Bennett, Monica Crowley, Mike Gallagher, Mancow, Glenn Beck and Jim Bohannon, in addition to Coast to Coast AM.

On September 15, 2008, WTNT was branded as "McCain 570" while maintaining its conservative talk plus news coverage from Fox News. (WWRC was likewise dubbed "Obama 1260.") The temporary branding lasted throughout the 2008 Presidential Election.^[1] On November 10, 2008, WTNT was renamed "Freedom 570," and eventually retook the "570 WTNT" brand early in 2010.

For several months in 2009, Ed Schultz aired in middays in a dramatic contrast to the rest of the schedule. Schultz was the most successful show that aired on then-sister station WWRC, which had dropped their progressive talk format for business news programming. Schultz was eventually replaced by Jeff Kuhner, and after WWRC was sold to Salem Communications to become an outlet for that chain's conservative talk radio format, the highest-rated host on WWRC's business lineup, Ray Lucia, moved into Kuhner's slot, displacing him to late afternoons.

The final programming lineup for WTNT's talk radio lineup included Talk Radio Network products "America's Morning News" (which, until late August 2010, was produced in conjunction with the Washington Times), Laura Ingraham, Jerry Doyle, Michael Savage and Phil Hendrie. (In the case of "America's Morning News" and Laura Ingraham, WTNT served as the flagship station for both shows.) Frank Gaffney and Lars Larson (the latter distributed by Compass Media Networks) were also carried, in addition to a live and local midday show hosted by Kuhner. Tony Kornheiser's midday talk show on WTEM was replayed in the overnight hours.

In late summer 2010, WTNT changed to an all-sports format, and was rebranded as "SportsTalk 570," a partial throwback to WTEM's former "SportsTalk 980" nickname and logo. The station changed callsigns to WSPZ that October 18, after Red Zebra sold off the 730 kHz facility to Metro Radio, which picked up WTNT's call letters and previous conservative talk format.^[2]

References

↑ "Red Zebra does "Obama 1260" and "McCain 570"". Radio-Info.com. September 15, 2008.
↑ "D.C.'s new conservative talk "WTNT" is at 730 AM, thanks to a sale". Radio-Info.com. October 18, 2010.

External links

WSPZ official website

Query the FCC's AM station database for WSPZ

Radio-Locator Information on WSPZ

Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WSPZ

Radio stations in the Washington, D.C. market

By AM frequency	Washington, D.C. 630 980 1120 1260 1340 1450 1500 Maryland 540 570 900 950 1030 1050 1160 1540 1560 1580 1600 Northern Virginia 730 780 920 1190 1220 1250 1310 1390 1460 1480

By FM frequency	Washington, D.C. 88.5 89.3 90.1 90.9 93.9 96.3 97.1 98.7 99.5 100.3 101.1 103.5 107.3 Maryland 88.1 91.9 92.7 94.3♦ 94.7 95.5 99.1 99.9 102.3 104.1 107.9 Northern Virginia 87.7 89.9 94.3 96.7 97.5 97.7 104.3 105.1 105.9 106.7 107.7

NOAA Weather Radio	162.45 162.55

By callsign	KHB36 W249BE WACA WAMU WASH WAVA WAVA-FM WBIG-FM WBQH WCRW WCSP WCTN WDCN-LP WDCT WERA-LP WETA WFAX WFED WFRE WGOP WGTS WHUR-FM WIAD WIHT WILC WJEV-LP WJFK WJFK-FM WKDV WKIK WKIK-FM WKYS WLXE WLZL WMAL WMAL-FM WMET WMMJ WMUC WMZQ-FM WNEW-FM WNG736 WOL WOWD-LP♦ WPER WPFW WPGC-FM WPRS-FM WPWC WRCW WRQX WSPZ WTEM WTNT WTOP-FM WURA WUST WWDC WWGB WWRC WWWT-FM WWXT WWXX WYCB WZHF

Defunct Stations	WCAP WGMS WTWP WWZZ WGTB WHFS (FM)

Satellite radio local traffic/weather XM Channel 214 Sirius Channel 152 Washington, D.C. metro markets Frederick, MD Fredericksburg, VA Baltimore See also List of radio stations in Washington, D.C. List of radio stations in Virginia List of radio stations in Maryland ♦WOWD-LP is a planned low-power station with a Summer 2016 launch date.

Sports Radio Stations in the state of Maryland

Stations:	WCEM - Cambridge WCMD - Cumberland WJDY - Salisbury WJFK - Morningside WJZ - Baltimore WJZ-FM - Baltimore WNST - Towson WQLL - Pikesville WSPZ - Bethesda WSRY - Elkton WTGM - Salisbury WWXT - Prince Frederick¹

¹ = WWXT operates as a full-time simulcast of Washington, D. C.-licensed WTEM.

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Maryland See also ESPN Radio ESPN Deportes Radio Fox Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Yahoo! Sports Radio Sports Byline USA

ESPN Radio stations in the state of Maryland

Full-time affiliates	Bethesda WSPZ Elkton WSRY Baltimore WJZ Cambridge WCEM Cumberland WCMD Prince Frederick WWXT¹ Washington WTEM

Part-time affiliates	Snow Hill WRYD Cumberland WCBC

¹ = WWXT operates as a full-time simulcast of Washington, D. C.-licensed WTEM.

See also List of ESPN Radio affiliates See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Maryland See also ESPN Radio ESPN Deportes Radio Fox Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Yahoo! Sports Radio Sports Byline USA

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