City Scranton, Pennsylvania Frequency 590 kHz Format Sports | Branding Sportsradio 590 First air date 1940 | |
Broadcast area Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton | ||
WARM (590 AM) is a radio station licensed to the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media. The station is a Class B AM broadcasting station according to the Federal Communications Commission. WARM broadcasts with a power of 5,000 watts with two types of directional antenna signal patterns during daytime and nighttime. The antenna patterns of the signal in both instances are generally aimed towards the southeast with some signal aimed towards the northwest from its transmitting facility located 15 miles northwest of Scranton in Falls, Pennsylvania. WARM uses five, 495 feet high broadcasting towers to transmit its signal from that location. The station used to derive a portion of its programming from Scott Shannon's The True Oldies Channel from Cumulus Media Networks.
History
WARM has a long and distinguished history in northeastern Pennsylvania broadcasting. It was the predominant Top 40 format music station in the area during the 1960s and into the 1970s. It was known during this era as "The Mighty 590". WARM has held its original call sign since it signed on the AM broadcast band in 1940. However, the station originally broadcast on a frequency of 1400 kHz during its early years. The station was an affiliate of the ABC radio network since the 1940s. After Citadel Broadcasting bought ABC Radio Networks in 2007, WARM became an ABC Radio O&O station. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.
For a time in April 2009, WARM left the air due to transmitter problems; the station then announced that it had no plans to return. The host of the station's polka show told a reporter, "Unless there's a miracle, they ain't coming back." However, on April 23, WARM returned to the air, still airing its oldies format. On September 15, 2014 WARM went silent again, due to a transmitter failure. On November 24, 2014 an application was filed with the FCC to lower power to 1,800 watts daytime and 430 watts night-time using 3 of the 5 towers. The station resumed broadcasting in December 2014 and is now an affiliate of CBS Sports Radio.