WARF history

The station originally broadcast at 1160 kHz with 100 watts, but its signal increased to 500 watts by 1926.

WADC was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.

On March 29, 1941, it moved to 1350 kHz as part of the NARBA frequency shifts.

WADC's success was symbolized by the two-story art-deco WADC Building, which was completed on May 6, 1949, and became a local landmark on the southeast corner of Main and Mill Streets in downtown Akron.

WADC was sold in late 1964 to Welcome Radio, Inc. headed by Cleveland lawyer Harrison Fuerst.

In January 1965, the station became WSLR, known as "Whistler 1350". It brought a country music format to the area, with morning host Jaybird Drennan.

On August 22, 1984, Welcome Radio sold WSLR to OBC Broadcasting, Inc., headed by Richard A. Nicoletti.

On September 1, 1994, the station adopted an urban contemporary format delivered by ABC Radio called "The Touch", and it switched to call letters WTOU on September 29.

In October 1999, the station switched to a sports talk format.

It first carried programming from ESPN Radio and kept the WTOU calls but dropped "The Touch" nickname and instead went by "1350AM ESPN - Akron's Sports Network." WTOU and sister station WKDD (96.5 FM) were sold by OBC Broadcasting to Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) on August 15, 2000.

WARF also held the distinction of being the only station in the country to carry Bill Press's radio show when it debuted on June 27, 2005, until KRXA picked up the show on August 22.

On February 13, 2006, veteran radio personality Joe Finan (long heard on rival talk station WNIR) began a locally produced talk show 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. weekdays.

WARF changed back to a sports format on March 30, 2007; branded as "Sportsradio 1350", becoming an affiliate for Sporting News Radio.

In June 2009, WARF switched back to Fox Sports Radio, which it airs to this day.