Translator(s) W231DJ (94.1, Danbury) Area Danbury | First air date October 5, 1947 Class B City of license Danbury | |
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Format Talk radio, All-news radio Owner The Berkshire Broadcasting Corporation Affiliations Premiere Networks, Westwood One, Fox News Radio | ||
WLAD (800 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Danbury, Connecticut. It broadcasts a talk format. WLAD is owned by Berkshire Broadcasting. The studios and offices are on Mill Plain Road in Danbury. The transmitter is off Brushy Hill Road, also in Danbury.
WLAD airs a local morning news and information show on weekdays, hosted by Dave Rinelli and Bart Busterna, with newscaster Jillian Morrow. They are followed by nationally syndicated talk shows the rest of the day, including Brian Kilmeade, Rush Limbaugh, Todd Schnitt, Dave Ramsey, Jim Bohannon and America in The Morning. WLAD also broadcasts Boston Red Sox baseball games.
WLAD operates at 1,000 watts using a non-directional antenna; but because 800 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Mexico, WLAD must reduce power at night to 286 watts. In early 2017, WLAD began simulcasting on an FM translator, W231DJ at 94.1 MHz.
History
WLAD first signed on the air on October 5, 1947. At first, the station broadcast with only 250 watts of power as a daytime only station. It later increased its power to 1000 watts by day, but it took until the 1990s for it to get nighttime authorization. In 1953, the station signed on an FM sister station, 98.3 WLAD-FM, which is today WDAQ. For most of its history, WLAD broadcast a full service middle of the road music format, but in the 1990s, it shifted to its current talk radio format.