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WNAV (1430 AM) is a oldies-formatted radio station located in Annapolis, Maryland.

WNAV also broadcasts on FM translator W260BM (99.9 MHz).

History

WNAV signed on along with WNAV-FM (99.1 FM) on April 22, 1949, with studios located at 89 West Street in Annapolis. The original owners were the Capital Broadcasting Company, and the first president and general manager was Albert H. MacCarthy. From the beginning, its programming has been adult-focused music (initially middle of the road) with coverage of local news and the Navy Midshipmen and other local sports. Beginning in 1953, the stations were co-managed with WITH (1230 AM) in Baltimore.

In 1956, WITH and WNAV received attention for organizing a marathon, run from the Maryland State House to Baltimore, in order to raise money and develop athletes for the 1956 Summer Olympics later that year in Brisbane.

In 1959, WNAV received approval to increase power from 1 kW to 5 kW during the day. In 1963, Capital Broadcasting sold WNAV and WNAV-FM to Henry Rau, the owner of WDOV in Dover, Delaware.

In 1970, WNAV and WDOV were two of six Mutual affiliates that filed a lawsuit claiming the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned the advertising of cigarettes on radio and television, was a violation of the broadcasters' free speech rights. Lower-court rulings upholding the law were appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to intervene in April 1972.

Rau died in 1981, and his estate decided to sell all of his broadcast interests. WNAV and the recently renamed WLOM were sold in 1983 to ABW Broadcasting for $2.8 million; ABW had previously sold the original WHFS (102.3 FM) to Outlet Broadcasting. The stations made headlines in 1984 and 1985 when they briefly gave a daily call-in show to former Governor of Maryland Marvin Mandel, who had been convicted of fraud and racketeering and imprisoned while in office in 1977.

In 1987, the two stations were sold to Chicago-based Duchossois Communications for $8.2 million.The combination was subsequently broken up as WNAV was re-sold to former WHFS manager (and ABW Broadcasting partner) Jake Einstein two years later for $1.63 million.

In 1997, Einstein, who by then owned all three Annapolis-based radio stations (WNAV, WYRE and WXZL) decided to retire. He sold off the other two stations but kept WNAV. In 1999, Einstein sold WNAV to Wheel of Fortune host and Anne Arundel County resident Pat Sajak for $2.2 million.

In 2021, Sajak reached a deal to sell WNAV to Chris Roth and Francis Brady's BMSC Media for $1,000. Sajak retained the land housing the transmitter and studios, valued at $2.6 million, to sell off separately; he contributed $100,000 toward relocating the station. In December, the new management, which aimed for the station to break even for the first time in its history, informed on-air staff that they would be let go at the end of the month. In 2022, BMSC completed an overhaul of WNAV's staff, music, and branding, with Roth taking over as morning host, John Tesh in middays, and Neal Ellis in afternoon. It also added FM translator W260BM (99.9 FM) to provide FM coverage in Annapolis proper.

By 2023, the station was running automated music from The True Oldies Channel in addition to sports programming. BMSC reached a deal that December to sell to Todd Bartley, owner of WINC and WINC-FM in Winchester, Virginia, for $78,000. The sale was approved on May 22, 2024 and has yet to close, though Bartley began operating the station immediately through a local marketing agreement.

Programming

Daily programming is largely music from the True Oldies Channel. Local programming includes The Time Machine, airing Saturdays and specializing in doo-wop and pop music from the 1950s and 60s. The Yacht Club, airing Sunday mornings and specializing in yacht rock from the 1970s through 1990s, moved to WNAV from WTMD (89.7 FM) in 2022.

The station also airs the hourly CBS News Radio bulletin and is the flagship station for Navy baseball, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's basketball teams. Additional sports programming consists of Navy football (flagshipped instead at WBAL), the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, Chesapeake Baysox, and Washington Wizards, as well as nationally syndicated college football and National Football League games from Westwood One. In case of conflicts, the lower-priority game airs on WYRE (810 AM).

Translator

In addition to the main station, WNAV is relayed by one FM translator to alleviate difficulty with AM reception in cities.

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WNAV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. "WNAV, WNAV-FM Operating in Annapolis, Md" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 2, 1949. p. 66.
3. "WITH Executives To Manage WNAV" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 28, 1953. p. 53.
4. "WITH, WNAV Set Relay Date" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 12, 1956.
5. ^ "WNAV Facility Data". FCCData.
6. "NAB enlists in ad-ban challenge" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 15, 1971. p. 63.
7. "Cigarettes now a dead issue" (PDF). Broadacsting. April 3, 1972.
8. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 5, 1983. p. 81.
9. Phillips, Angus (February 27, 1985). "Mandel Hears Sound of Silence From Radio Audience". Washington Post.
10. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 12, 1987. p. 97.
11. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 5, 1989. p. 81.
12. Fisher, Marc (April 14, 1997). "3 MORE AREA RADIO STATIONS CHANGE HANDS". The Washington Post.
13. "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 15, 1999. p. 56.
14. Venta, Lance (October 15, 2021). "Station Sales Week Of 10/15: Sajak Sells WNAV For Price Of Four Vowels". RadioInsight. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
15. Clabaugh, Jeff (October 15, 2021). "Pat Sajak sells Annapolis radio station to investors, including a WTOP employee". WTOP-FM. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
16. Conaway, Donovan (December 17, 2021). "Annapolis' WNAV on-air staff to be let go as new owner aims for radio station to break even". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
17. Venta, Lance (May 10, 2022). "WNAV Completes Revamp; Enters The Yacht Club". RadioInsight.
18. "Station Sales Week of 12/22". RadioInsight. December 22, 2023.

External links

• Facility details for Facility ID 19554 (WNAV) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WNAV in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 154359 (W260BM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• W260BM at FCCdata.org

38°59′00″N 76°31′21″W / 38.98333°N 76.52250°W / 38.98333; -76.52250

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