WMAL is one of the oldest radio stations in Washington, D.C., broadcasting in the news-talk format at AM 630. The WMAL call letters were also used in the past on a Washington-area TV station (now WJLA ) and FM radio station (now WRQX ).WMAL first went on the air on October 12, 1925, using call letters incorporating the initials of M.A. Leese , a local optician. The station shifted through various frequencies in its first three years, until the Federal Radio Commission's national frequency allocation plan assigned WMAL the AM 630 frequency in 1928; WMAL still broadcasts on that frequency today. WMAL was a CBS affiliate from 1928 until October 19, 1932, and then was briefly unaffiliated until joining the NBC Blue network in JanuaryJanuary is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, and has 31 days. It is named for Janus, the Roman god of doors and gateways. The original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months (304 days). The Romans originally considered winter a monthle 1933Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 See also 1933 in aviation 1933 in film 1933 in literature 1933 in mu; this network later became ABCPaul Rand in 1962. ABC network re-directs here; an alternate meaning is Australian Broadcasting Corporation The American Broadcasting Company or ABC is a television and radio network in the United States, owned by The Walt Disney Company. History In 1940, which WMAL is still affiliated with today. WMAL broadcast from various facilities in Washington, D.C., and suburban MarylandAlternate uses: Maryland (disambiguation Maryland ( In Detail) State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Governor: Robert L. Ehrlich Other U. States Capital Annapolis Largest City Baltimore Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 42nd 32,160 kmē 25,338 kmē until July 25July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 159 days remaining. Events 306 Constantine I proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. 1261 Constantinople is captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael, 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led, when it settled in at its current studio facility at 4400 Jenifer Street NW in Washington, two blocks from the city's border with MarylandAlternate uses: Maryland (disambiguation Maryland ( In Detail) State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Governor: Robert L. Ehrlich Other U. States Capital Annapolis Largest City Baltimore Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 42nd 32,160 kmē 25,338 kmē. WMAL's transmitting facility in the Bradley Hills section of suburban Bethesda, MarylandBethesda is an urbanized, but unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, near Washington, DC. It takes its name from a church once located there, the Bethesda Presbyterian Church (built 1820), which in turn was named from a passage in the Christi, also housed studios for WMAL's AM, FM, and TV stations at one time.
Among the WMAL broadcasters over the years have been Frank Harden and Jackson Weaver , who co-hosted WMAL's morning show for more than four decades until Weaver's death in the early 1990s; Tom Gauger , who also spent several decades at WMAL; Arthur GodfreyArthur Morton Godfrey ( August 31, 1903- March 16, 1983) was an American entertainer. He was born in New York, New York. Military When he served in the United States Navy from 1920 to 1924, he was assigned to radio training and learned to become a radio o, a national radio and early-TV personality who briefly broadcast on WMAL in 1933 as "Red" Godfrey; Bill Mayhugh , a mellow-voiced overnight broadcaster; and Chris Core , a former Voice of America announcer who has been an on-air host at WMAL since the 1970s. The station also kept a local following by broadcasting sports games featuring the Washington Redskins and University of Maryland Terrapins; Terrapins football and basketball broadcasts remain an important feature on WMAL.
WMAL on-air hosts today, in addition to Chris Core, include morning-show co-hosts Fred Grandy and Andy Parks , weekend host David Burd , conservative commentator Michael Graham , gardening hosts Jos Roozen and John Peter Thompson , investing adviser Ric Edelman , and lawyer Mike Collins. The station also carries national hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Paul Harvey, John Batchelor , and Dr. Dean Edell , and the Coast to Coast AM show hosted by George Noory and Art Bell.
WMAL-TV was a local ABC affiliate operating on Channel 7 in Washington; it first broadcast in October, 1947. The TV station's call letters were later changed to WJLA, incorporating the initials of local media mogul Joseph L. Albritton . TV cameras bearing the WMAL call letters can be seen in the 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was set in Washington. The former WMAL-FM station at 107.3 FM is now WRQX , known as "Mix 107.3."
WMAL was originally owned by a company run by founder M.A. Leese . It was acquired by the publishers of the now-defunct Washington Evening Star newspaper in 1938. The family-owned company that published the Star was purchased by Albritton's company in 1976, and the WMAL properties were spun off to ABC the following year.
