WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services the Washington metropolitan area as the flagship station of the Washington Wizards. WTEM is also the co-flagship station of the Maryland Terrapins (shared with Audacy-owned WJZ-FM in Baltimore), and is the Washington affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.
History
WRC era
The station was originally licensed in April 1923 as WRC—the call sign having represented the original owner's name, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). The station's original frequency was 469 meters (equal to 640 kHz). It was shared time with another Washington station, WCAP. The time-sharing arrangement between the two stations continued until 1926, when RCA purchased WCAP's share.
WRC was a charter network affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company when it launched in November 1926. NBC split its programming into two networks two months later and WRC was assigned to the Red Network. NBC's other radio chain, the Blue Network, had no affiliate in the national capital until RCA entered into a lease agreement with WMAL in 1933. WRC and WMAL would become de facto sister stations during the lease term, which ran for eight years. WRC moved its frequency to 950 AM in 1928, and then shifted to 980 AM in 1941 as a result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA).
RCA/NBC later launched WNBW television (channel 4, now WRC-TV) and WRC-FM (93.9 MHz, now WKYS), with both stations signing on in 1947. For its first couple of decades, WRC-FM mostly simulcast WRC. One popular WRC show featured Willard Scott and Ed Walker as the Joy Boys from 1955 to 1972. WRC also carried the Monitor radio program on weekends. From 1972 to 1975, WRC broadcast a Top 40 format and was known as the Great 98. A popular DJ on WRC was Doug Tracht, known as the "Greaseman," who would later host mornings for many years on WWDC-FM and in radio syndication.
News and talk
WRC switched to an all-news radio format, using the "NBC News and Information Service" (NIS) from 1975 to 1977. After the NIS network was discontinued, the station aired its own all-news format, competing with established all-news station WTOP. It switched to a news/talk format in 1979. The talk programming included the first pairing of political writers Pat Buchanan and Tom Braden, who became the original hosts of CNN's Crossfire, as well as satirist Mort Sahl, psychologist Karen Shanor and former Philadelphia talk-show host Jerry Williams. Jack Doniger hosted an evening sports-talk show.
The AM's former Top 40 format was moved to WRC-FM and later evolved into a disco music format in the late 1970s as WKYS "Kiss FM." When the disco format cooled, WKYS evolved to an Urban Contemporary format.
NBC sold WRC to Greater Media in 1984 as it began its exit from radio ownership. FCC rules at the time did not allow two separately-owned stations to share a call sign. Since NBC retained WRC-TV and the right to the call sign, the AM station became WWRC. The station remained the Washington affiliate of the NBC Radio Network well into the late 1980s. With the sale, the station changed to a full-service middle of the road format, of popular music, talk and information, on September 1, 1984. During the early 1990s, WWRC was the home to popular shows hosted by Joe Madison, Mark Davis and Joel A. Spivak. It was also one of the brief homes for the last radio show to be hosted by Morton Downey, Jr. (the other being WRC's former sister station WTAM in Cleveland). By the mid-1990s, WWRC was a full-time talk station.
Two weeks prior to swapping call signs and formats, in February 1998, WWRC dropped its talk radio format for a financial news and talk format, one that would last over to a second dial position move to 1260 kHz.
SportsTalk Radio 570 - The Team
Before moving to 980 kHz, WTEM was known as Sports Radio 570 - The Team and on the frequency of 570 kHz. It previously had been used by classical music station WGMS. WTEM made its debut at 3:30 p.m. on May 24, 1992, right after the Indianapolis 500. At the beginning, WTEM emulated the program lineup and even imported the jingles from New York City's WFAN, the first all-sports radio station in the United States.