City Washington, DC Class D Frequency 1120 kHz AM Area Washington, D.C. Power 3 kW | First air date 1947 Facility ID 48686 Owner New World Radio, Inc Branding New World Radio | |
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Broadcast area Washington metropolitan area Format Ethnic, Brokered programming Slogan The Multicultural Voice of the Nation's Capital Call sign meaning U Street, past station studio location | ||
WUST (1120 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Washington, DC. Its transmitter is located in nearby Fairfax, Virginia. WUST broadcasts paid foreign language programming, including an English language news program from China Radio International and French language programming from Radio France International. WUST operates at 50,000 watts during the day but it must reduce power during early morning hours and go off the air during the night to protect the signal of KMOX in St. Louis, which is the dominant Class A station on 1120 AM.
WUST first signed on in 1947 as WBCC, licensed to the Washington, DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland with 250 watts of power, broadcasting in the daytime only. It had been a rhythm and blues station. Its call letters came from its studio location at 1120 U Street, NW, later moving to 815 V Street NW, site of today's 9:30 Night Club).
During the 1950s, DJs Lord Fauntleroy Bandy and "Terrible" Thomas popularized R&B music with high school students, weaning them from Top 40. Part of the appeal of WUST was its location in the red light district of the time.
During late August 1963, the ballroom of the WUST studio served as the operations headquarters for the August 28 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.