WEW
Encyclopedia
WEW is the oldest broadcast station west of the Mississippi River
, and claims to be the second oldest in the United States
. It broadcasts on AM
at 1000 watts on 770 kHz; , it has a construction permit to raise its daytime power to 10,000 watts and introduce nighttime operation with 200 watts but still protecting clear-channel station WABC (AM)
at New York City.
WEW features a brokered ethnic format, except for a midday show which features easy listening
Standards and big band
music. WEW's daily broadcast schedule consists largely of foreign language programming, mostly targeting area Mexicans and Bosnians
, and weekend programming featuring Italian
and German language
.
established the station 9YK around 1912, using Morse code
to communicate seismological
and weather information. Brother George E. Rueppel, assistant director of the Meteorological Observatory at SLU, worked with 9YK before he founded WEW in 1921. Audio transmissions began at 10:05 a.m. on ; the first voice heard was SLU president Rev. William Robison. The station received radio license #560 to broadcast on 618.6 kHz (wavelength
485 meters) as WEW on ; KSD
had been licensed on March 8.
The station has claimed to have broadcast the first quiz show
, Question Box Hour, in 1923.
The station later moved to 833 kHz (360 meters). In April 1927 it was changed to 1210 kHz then 850 kHz; and changed in 1928 to 760 kHz, which was moved to 770 kHz on when NARBA took effect.
WEW became the first radio station in the St. Louis area to receive a permit for FM
broadcasting around 1945, and began work on an FM transmission tower in 1947. The station was housed on the top floor of SLU's Law School (currently O'Neil Hall). The tower, which was located roughly where Pius XII Memorial Library now stands, was torn down in 1954, when Saint Louis University sold WEW to Bruce Barrington, a news director at 630 KXOK. Barrington sold WEW five years later. In 1964, it was bought by Charles Stanley, who moved the station to various locations, and was known for trading merchandise for commercial time.
It was later owned by the Broadcast Center
, then by a rich Texan named Gary Acker through his Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc. Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc. transferred the station to Birach Broadcasting Corporation
on .
The station has been located in several places, including "The Hill"
, Busch Stadium
, Soulard
, and Clayton
.
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, and claims to be the second oldest in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It broadcasts on AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
at 1000 watts on 770 kHz; , it has a construction permit to raise its daytime power to 10,000 watts and introduce nighttime operation with 200 watts but still protecting clear-channel station WABC (AM)
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
at New York City.
WEW features a brokered ethnic format, except for a midday show which features easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
Standards and big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
music. WEW's daily broadcast schedule consists largely of foreign language programming, mostly targeting area Mexicans and Bosnians
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
, and weekend programming featuring Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
History
Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...
established the station 9YK around 1912, using Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
to communicate seismological
Seismology
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...
and weather information. Brother George E. Rueppel, assistant director of the Meteorological Observatory at SLU, worked with 9YK before he founded WEW in 1921. Audio transmissions began at 10:05 a.m. on ; the first voice heard was SLU president Rev. William Robison. The station received radio license #560 to broadcast on 618.6 kHz (wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
485 meters) as WEW on ; KSD
KTRS (AM)
KTRS, located at 550 kHz, is an AM radio station in Maryland Heights, Missouri that carries a News/Talk format and is owned by the St. Louis Cardinals and CH Radio Holdings. It broadcasts with 5,000 watts of power during the day and 5,000 watts at night. The call letters KTRS stand for K Talk...
had been licensed on March 8.
The station has claimed to have broadcast the first quiz show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
, Question Box Hour, in 1923.
The station later moved to 833 kHz (360 meters). In April 1927 it was changed to 1210 kHz then 850 kHz; and changed in 1928 to 760 kHz, which was moved to 770 kHz on when NARBA took effect.
WEW became the first radio station in the St. Louis area to receive a permit for FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
broadcasting around 1945, and began work on an FM transmission tower in 1947. The station was housed on the top floor of SLU's Law School (currently O'Neil Hall). The tower, which was located roughly where Pius XII Memorial Library now stands, was torn down in 1954, when Saint Louis University sold WEW to Bruce Barrington, a news director at 630 KXOK. Barrington sold WEW five years later. In 1964, it was bought by Charles Stanley, who moved the station to various locations, and was known for trading merchandise for commercial time.
It was later owned by the Broadcast Center
Broadcast Center
Broadcast Center is a private vocational school located in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides training in the broadcast industry in radio and television talent, production, and marketing positions. Broadcast Center first opened in 1972 in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, MO...
, then by a rich Texan named Gary Acker through his Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc. Metropolitan Radio Group, Inc. transferred the station to Birach Broadcasting Corporation
Birach Broadcasting Corporation
Birach Broadcasting Corporation is a Southfield, Michigan-based company that owns several AM radio stations and one low-power television station in the US....
on .
The station has been located in several places, including "The Hill"
The Hill, St. Louis
The Hill is a mostly Italian-American neighborhood within St. Louis, Missouri, located on high ground south of Forest Park. The official boundaries of the area are Manchester Avenue on the north, Columbia and Southwest Avenues on the south, South Kingshighway Boulevard on the east, and Hampton...
, Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB...
, Soulard
Soulard, St. Louis
Soulard is a historic French neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri. It is named after Antoine Soulard, who first began to develop the land...
, and Clayton
Clayton, Missouri
Clayton is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 15,939 at the 2010 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse.-Geography:...
.
External links
- WEW official website
- "Auble at Large" (circa 1996) — KTVIKTVIKTVI, virtual channel 2, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the St. Louis, Missouri, designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, under a local marketing agreement with Tribune-owned CW affiliate KPLR...
reporter John Auble reports on WEW's then month-and-a-half old kitchen studio - "History of WEW St. Louis" — later KTVIKTVIKTVI, virtual channel 2, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the St. Louis, Missouri, designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, under a local marketing agreement with Tribune-owned CW affiliate KPLR...
9pm news report with John Brown, discussing Bosnian programming - Saint Louis University's digital collection of WEW Radio materials