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WPHT history
WPHT company history timeline
The station first began broadcasting as WCAU in May 1922; 99 years ago (1922-05). It was a 250-watt station operating out of electrician William Durham's home at 19th and Market Streets.
Murphy later bowed out in favor of Ike's brother, Leon, a local dentist. It is Philadelphia's third-oldest radio station, having signed on two months after WIP (now WTEL) and WFIL. In 1924, WCAU was sold to law partners Ike Levy and Daniel Murphy.
In 1925, the station was sold to law partners Ike Levy and Daniel Murphy for $25,000.
In 1928, Paley, 27, used $500,000 of his family's money to purchase the network which he renamed Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). WCAU was the network's flagship station.
Most recent credit, of note, was the awarding of a SAG award for my performance of the 1930's News Announcer in the feature "Chicago". Janis was featured in the classic film "GoodFellas"; check out the brunette in the "Get your shine box" scene.
In 1930, WCAU initiated a shortwave radio service, operating under the call sign W3XAU. It is believed that this was the first license issued by the FCC for a commercial international shortwave broadcast station.
A series of power increases brought the station to 50,000 watts, with a new 50,000-watt transmitter dedicated October 2, 1932.
On December 26, 1932, WCAU moved to a new facility at 1622 Chestnut Street.
WCAU's founder was an electrician named Wilson Durham, who started the 250-watt station in the back of his shop at 1936 Market Street.
The Levys agreed to sell WCAU-AM-FM to The Philadelphia Record in 1946.
In 1957, The WCAU stations were sold to CBS.
By 1967 it had become a talk station with considerable strengths in news and sports.
WCAU never caught up to established all-news rival KYW 1060 AM. By 1980, WCAU was making moves to reclaim its heritage as a talk and sports leader.
On August 15, 1990 at 1:05 p.m., the 68 year history of WCAU came to an end.
On March 18, 1994, WOGL became all sports WGMP. Much of the station's programming was provided by a syndicated network service.
Realizing that WGMP would never be able to compete against WIP, CBS began phasing out the sports talk shows in the summer of 1996.
In August, 1998, with continued low ratings, the station decided to eliminate most local hosts in favor of syndicated talk programming, such as the G. Gordon Liddy Show, and Doctor Toni Grant.
Rush Limbaugh joined the lineup in 2000 after FM talker WWDB flipped formats.
Posted at 4:36 PM on 12/19/2009 by Howard Levin: Wasn't John Facenda also on WCAU?
Posted at 12:04 PM on 5/11/2010 by Samuel Mann: My dad had a show on WCAU, the Mann-Irwin show, a piano duet.
In June 2012, the Rush Limbaugh show also left the station.
Posted at 1:43 PM on 11/17/2013 by Bill Corsair: In answer to Joe's question: "What happened to Bill Corsair?" I'm fine and have been living in Manhattan for the past 31 years.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.
The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.
Posted at 11:30 PM on 9/10/2019 by Tom Rhea: Can anybody tell me any more detailed information about the electronic musical instruments that Ivan Eremeeff developed at WCAU in the 'thirties? Interest is for my book coming soon.
In 2020, WPHT host Ken Matthews was named one of the 100 most important talk radio show hosts (the "Heavy Hundred") in America by TALKERS Magazine.
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