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Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| |
Broadcast area | New Orleans metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1350 kHz |
| Branding | The Bet New Orleans |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports gambling |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | April 1, 1925 |
Former call signs | WSMB (1925–2006) |
Call sign meaning | WWL (sister station) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| 72959 | |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 29°55′29.74″N 90°2′4.25″W / 29.9249278°N 90.0345139°W |
| Translator | 92.9 W225CZ (New Orleans) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WWWL (1350 AM, "The Bet New Orleans") is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a sports gambling format. The station's studios are located at the 400 Poydras Tower in Downtown New Orleans. Its transmitter site is in Algiers, near the city limits of Gretna and Terrytown. The station operates at 5,000 watts during the day and 480 watts at night, using a non-directional antenna.[2] The station is simulcast on FM translator station W225CZ (92.9 FM).
This station carried the call sign WSMB from its founding until 2006. It signed on the airwaves April 1, 1925, as New Orleans' first professional radio station, a joint commercial venture by the local Saenger Theatre and the Maison Blanche department store. Programming was provided by the Saenger, allowing Maison Blanche to sell radio sets in the store so customers could hear the station's programming. For most of its early history, the studios were located on the thirteenth floor of the Maison Blanche Building on Canal Street, a few blocks from the theater. By the 1930s, WSMB was an affiliate of the NBC Red Network, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the Golden Age of Radio.[3]
As network programming shifted to TV in the 1960s, WSMB moved to a full service format of middle of the road music (MOR), news and talk. WSMB found success in the ratings, primarily on the strength of morning drive time personalities Roy Roberts and Jeff Hugg, known as Nut and Jeff, and midday political talk show host, Keith Rush. Musically, the station in the 1960s was a mix of pop standards and the softer sounds of rock and roll. In the 1970s, WSMB moved to a more adult contemporary music sound. The station played moderate amounts of music during morning and afternoon drive times while being music intensive and leaning toward oldies overnights and weekends.
By 1980, as music listening shifted to FM, WSMB's ratings had dropped. The station gradually cut back on music through the early 1980s. By 1985, WSMB was strictly news and talk, using the ABC Radio Information Network and its Talk Radio service.[4] Moving to all talk still did not bring ratings up. In 1988, WSMB was sold to Winton Communications, which kept the talk format in place but could not improve the ratings.
In 1996, WSMB was bought by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also owned the news-talk powerhouse 870 WWL. Sinclair turned WSMB into a sister station of WWL, running talk programs that were not available on AM 870, and adding WWL's newsgathering expertise. In 1999, Sinclair sold its New Orleans radio stations to Entercom. WWWL began broadcasting sporting events that were bumped from WWL due to scheduling conflicts, including basketball and football from LSU and Tulane University. The station was the radio home of the New Orleans Brass minor league hockey team from 1997 to 2002 and has sometimes been a local radio outlet for national broadcasts of NFL football.
With all the sporting events on WSMB's schedule, it became an all-sports station between 1999 and 2001. Programming at that time included syndicated shows from ESPN Radio and an afternoon show hosted by local sports commentator Kaare Johnson. Other local personalities heard on the station included sports trainer Mackie Shilstone. There was a period where most programming consisted of psychological call-in shows, featuring hosts such as Dr. Laura and Dr. Joy Browne. From 2005 until November 2006, the station carried a progressive talk radio format as an affiliate of Air America Radio. The Food Show with Tom Fitzmorris remained on the air through all these format changes. It is the longest-running talk show of any kind in New Orleans, airing weekdays since July 18, 1988, and now heard on WWL-FM HD2 or in podcast format.
The station's previous studios adjacent to the Louisiana Superdome were destroyed in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Its frequency, as well as all other operational Entercom and Clear Channel frequencies, was used to simulcast the programming produced by the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans with the staff of sister station WWL. Normal programming was resumed on December 19, 2005.
The WSMB call letters were relinquished in November 2006, when the programming was switched to repeats of shows originated on WWL, becoming "WWWL - WWL On Demand". The WSMB call sign was picked up by another Entercom station located in Memphis (which became WMFS in 2009).
On June 30, 2008, ESPN Radio returned to AM 1350, as WWWL became a full-time affiliate.[5] On October 14, 2013, WWWL re-branded as 3WL: Sports, Food & Fun; the format would continue to primarily feature sports programming, switching to NBC Sports Radio and featuring a morning show with T-Bob Hebert and Kristian Garic, but with an afternoon lineup featuring lifestyle programming such as Tom Fitzmorris' The Food Show, and John "Spud" McConnell moving from WWL midday to host afternoon drive.[6]
On February 9, 2017, WWWL began running announcements redirecting 3WL listeners to WWL-FM-HD2, where the format would be moving full-time. The next day at noon, WWWL flipped to urban adult contemporary as "Hot 103.7", using new FM translator W279DF to enable its signal to be heard with FM quality. The first song on "Hot" was "Rude Boy" by Rihanna. The new format competes with market-leading WYLD-FM and KMEZ with a younger skewing take on the format, focusing solely on R&B hits from the 1990s through today, as opposed to the playlists of its two competitors, who include songs from the 1970s and 1980s.[7][8]
On February 14, 2018, WWWL flipped to an urban oldies format, but maintained the Hot branding and on-air staff. The station now focuses primarily on classic R&B from the 1970s and 1980s.[9] On April 11, 2018, WWWL's FM translator W279DF was replaced by W225CZ, which operates from a taller antenna at 92.9 FM. At the same time, the station re-branded accordingly as Hot 92.9.[10]
On June 28, 2021, WWWL/W225CZ flipped to sports gambling, branded as "The Bet New Orleans". The previous urban oldies format and "Hot" branding continued to air on WLMG-HD2.[11]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W225CZ | 92.9 FM | New Orleans, Louisiana | 148534 | 250 | D | 29°55′12.7″N 90°1′28.3″W / 29.920194°N 90.024528°W | LMS |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
WWWL (1350 AM, "The Bet New Orleans") is a commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts a sports gambling format. The station's studios are located at the 400 Poydras Tower in Downtown New Orleans. Its transmitter site is in Algiers, near the city limits of Gretna and Terrytown. The station operates at 5,000 watts during the day and 480 watts at night, using a non-directional antenna. The station is simulcast on FM translator station W225CZ (92.9 FM).
The New Orleans Brass were a hockey team in the ECHL from 1997 to 2002. The team was at one time affiliated with the San Jose Sharks. Home games were played first at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium (until October 29, 1999) and then at the New Orleans Arena. In 2002, the NBA's Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans and became the primary tenant in the arena. The New Orleans Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans) pressured the state of Louisiana, which owns the arena, into demanding that the Brass bear the expense of converting the arena to and from basketball and hockey as a condition of staying in the arena. The expense was more than the Brass' ownership was willing to pay. The Municipal Auditorium had recently replaced its floor, and in the process removed its ice plant. Without a suitable home, the Brass folded. The only head coach of the Brass was Ted Sator. The team's first GM was Larry Kish, who was succeeded by Dan Belisle. Future New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was a co-owner and president of the team. The most prominent player was former Boston Bruin Jeff Lazaro, who was one of two players to play every season for the Brass, and who is the team's career leader in most statistical categories. The Brass made the playoffs every year, winning three series, two in the 1998–99 season (the same season the Brass earned its worst record), and one in the 2000–01 season, putting the Brass in the conference semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. The principal rivals of the Brass were the Louisiana IceGators and the Mississippi Sea Wolves (Biloxi, MS). The Baton Rouge Kingfish were another, intrastate rival for the Brass. The team's games were broadcast in New Orleans on radio station WSMB (now WWWL). The first radio voice of the Brass was Steve Carroll, who is now the radio voice of the Anaheim Ducks.
The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans, is a metropolitan statistical area designated by the United States Census Bureau encompassing seven Louisiana parishes—the equivalent of counties in other U.S. states—centered on the city of New Orleans. The population of Greater New Orleans was 1,007,275 in 2020. Greater New Orleans is the most populous metropolitan area in Louisiana, and the 59th most populous in the United States. The broader New Orleans–Metairie–Slidell combined statistical area had a population of 1,354,257 in 2025. The New Orleans metropolitan area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina—once a category 5 hurricane, but a category 3 storm at landfall—on August 29, 2005. Within the city of New Orleans proper, multiple breaches and structural failures occurred in the system of levees and flood walls designed under federal government auspices. The city of New Orleans experienced a steep population decline after the hurricane, though by the 2020 census, it had regained a good portion of that loss. The post-August 2005 decline in the city's population negatively impacted population numbers for the entire metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,337,726 as recorded in the 2000 United States census. Most of the decline in population was accounted for by the decline experienced in the city of New Orleans proper (coterminous with Orleans Parish); the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the city's population dropped from 453,728 prior to the storm (July 1, 2005) to 389,476, the estimate for 2020. Greater New Orleans is the largest regional economy in Louisiana and borders the second largest economically-important area, Greater Baton Rouge. One Fortune 500 company is headquartered in the region, Entergy. The largest companies operating in the New Orleans metropolitan area are Globalstar, AT&T, GE Capital, and the Port of New Orleans. Home to some of Louisiana's most-visited tourist destinations, tourists have spent over $10.05 billion in 2019.
WWL (870 kHz) is an commercial AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. WWL and 105.3 WWL-FM simulcast a news/talk radio format with sports talk at night. The station's studios are in the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District. On January 7, 2024, Audacy filed a chapter 11 plan for bankruptcy with almost $2 billion of debt. WWL is a clear-channel, Class A station. Its transmitter power output is 50,000 watts, the maximum for commercial AM stations in the U.S. It uses a directional antenna with a two-tower array. The transmitter is in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park in Estelle, Louisiana. The daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage to large parts of the Gulf Coast, with city-grade coverage reaching as far east as Pensacola, Florida, and as far west as Lafayette, Louisiana. At night it can be heard across much of the central and southern United States. WWL is the Louisiana Primary Entry Point for the Emergency Alert System (EAS). With sister station 101.9 WLMG, it is responsible for activation of the Southeast Louisiana EAS plan.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.