KDKA (AM)

KDKA
Broadcast areaPittsburgh metropolitan area
Frequency1020 kHz
Branding100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatNews/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
November 2, 1920;
104 years ago
 (1920-11-02)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID25443
ClassA
Power50,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
Translator(s)100.1 W261AX (Pittsburgh)
Repeater(s)93.7 KDKA-FM HD2 (Pittsburgh)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via Audacy)
Websitewww.audacy.com/kdkaradio Edit this at Wikidata

KDKA (1020 kHz) is a Class A, clear channel, AM radio station, owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. and licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Its radio studios are located at the combined Audacy Pittsburgh facility in the Foster Plaza on Holiday Drive in Green Tree, and its transmitter site is at Allison Park. The station's programming is also carried over 93.7 KDKA-FM's HD2 digital subchannel,[2] and is simulcast on FM translator W261AX at 100.1 MHz.[3]

KDKA features a news/talk radio format. Operating with a transmitter power of 50,000 watts non-directional, the station can be heard during daylight hours throughout central and western Pennsylvania, along with portions of the adjacent states of Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and New York State, plus the southernmost part of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a good radio, KDKA can be heard throughout the state of Pennsylvania and much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada at night. The station serves as western Pennsylvania's Primary Entry Point for the Emergency Alert System.

KDKA has described itself as the "Pioneer Broadcasting Station of the World".[4] It is considered by many historians as the first commercially licensed radio station. Initially using the temporarily assigned "special amateur" call sign of 8ZZ, it traces its beginning to its broadcast of the Harding-Cox presidential election results on the evening of November 2, 1920.

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KDKA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ ""HD Radio Guide" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)". hdradio.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018.
  3. ^ "KDKA Radio has another home... 100.1 FM". radio.com. October 19, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "It Started Hear", KDKA promotional pamphlet, 1970, page 1. (worldradiohistory.com)