City Carnegie, Pennsylvania First air date 1960-2010 | Frequency 1590 kHz | |
Broadcast area Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Branding "1590 WZUM, The Promise" Slogan "Inspiration For the Family" | ||
WZUM (1590 AM) was a radio station in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. WZUM was owned by Sovereign City Radio Services LLC.
History
WZUM began in the 1960s as an R&B and top 40 station, owned by popular Pittsburgh polka bandleader Jimmy Pol. During the 1970s, WZUM was a freeform AOR outlet from 10:00 am until sunset, (broadcasting polkas in the morning from sunrise). "Powerful" Paul Perry, son of Pittsburgh TV personality Nick Perry, was one of the Free Form disc jockeys; along with Kit Baron, "Laid Back" Larry Allen and Mark Wallace. WZUM switched to religious programming under the WPLW callsign in 1974 after its purchase by Robert Hickling. In 1998, following Hickling's death, it was sold to Pittsburgh area broadcaster Mike Horvath and returned to WZUM, changing to smooth jazz, but went dark after just one year with the format. The station later returned after a major transmitter and studio overhaul with time-brokered programming, then oldies, with Catholic programming added in 2002. Upon purchase of the station, Starboard converted it to 100% Catholic programming under the Relevant Radio branding.
In recent years, WZUM applied for an upgrade to its signal, which would have given the station minimal night power.
Relevant Radio would cease programming on WZUM by early 2009. In its place, WZUM aired an Easy Listening format, and was in talks with the Delmarva Educational Association, an owner of a small group of religious stations in Virginia and Florida, for a more stable format or possible sale.
By May 23, 2009, the station dropped its easy listening format for Gospel and picked up the branding "1590 WZUM, The Promise".
The station ceased operations in March 2010, with the FCC approving a special temporary authority a month later for the station to remain silent. The station's license was cancelled by the FCC on May 29, 2013.