WDND (1490 AM)

WDND (1490 AM) was a radio station licensed to serve the South Bend, Indiana, United States, area. The WDND call letters were the last ones used before the station went silent. While silent, the station call sign was changed to WPNT, although these call letters were never used on-the-air before the station was deleted.

Broadcast area

South Bend, Indiana

Frequency1490 kHz

First air date

1944; 82 years ago (1944)^[1]

Last air date

April 29, 2009; 17 years ago (2009-04-29)^[2]

Quick facts Broadcast area, Frequency ...

WDND
History
South Bend, Indiana United States
Broadcast area	South Bend, Indiana
Frequency	1490 kHz
First air date	1944; 82 years ago (1944)^[1]
Last air date	April 29, 2009; 17 years ago (2009-04-29)^[2]
Former call signs	WHOT (1944–1955)^[3] WNDU (1955–1998)^[3]^[4] WNDV (1998–2006)^[4] WDND (2006–2009)^[4] WPNT (2009–2011)^[4]
Technical information
Facility ID	41673
Class	C
Power	1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates	41°41′38.2″N 86°13′50″W

History

WHOT

The station began broadcasting in 1944 and held the call sign WHOT.^[3]^[1] WHOT aired a full service format, with music, news, talk, comedy, drama, and variety programs, along with a Polish program mornings and religious programs on Sundays.^[5] Bob Bell worked at WHOT in the late 1940s.^[6]^[7] In 1954, WHOT was sold to the University of Notre Dame for $140,000.^[8]

WNDU

In 1955, the station's call sign was changed to WNDU.^[3] The station aired an oldies format from the mid- to late-1970s.^[9]^[10] In 1979, the station adopted a contemporary hits format, with extra disco at night.^[11] WNDU aired a country music format in the 1980s.^[12]^[13] In 1990, the station adopted an oldies format.^[14] In 1995, the station switched to an all 1970s music format, with programming from Westwood One.^[15] In 1998, the University of Notre Dame sold WNDU and sister station 92.9 WNDU-FM to Artistic Media Partners.^[16]

WNDV

On November 23, 1998, the station's call sign was changed to WNDV, while its sister station's call sign was changed to WNDV-FM.^[4]^[17] In 1999, the station began simulcasting the contemporary hits format of its FM sister station, 92.9 WNDV-FM.^[18]

WDND

In 2006, the station adopted the sports talk format which had been airing on AM 1580 WDND, and 1490's call sign was changed to WDND on May 5, 2006.^[19]^[4] WDND was an affiliate of ESPN Radio.^[20] The station was off the air for a period in January 2007, after its tower fell during a storm.^[20]

End of operations

On April 29, 2009, the station was taken off the air, in preparation for its transmitting tower site on the Notre Dame campus to be dismantled to make way for the Compton Family Ice Arena.^[2] Artistic moved the WDND call sign and its sports format to 1620 AM.^[2] The former callsign of the 1620 station, WPNT, were assigned to the silent 1490 operation on May 13, 2009.^[4] On May 11, 2011, the license for 1490 AM was canceled by the FCC.^[4]

[1]
1971 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting, 1971. p. B-73. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[2]
"Hockey arena construction forces 1490 AM switch", South Bend Tribune. April 29, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
[3]
History Cards for WNDU, fcc.gov. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[4]
Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[5]
WHOT Station Album. 1947. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[6]
"Bob Bell, the first 'Bozo the Clown' on WGN-TV, Dies". WGN-TV. December 8, 1997. Archived from the original on December 5, 1998. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
[7]
"Silver Shines", Billboard. October 30, 1948. p. 92. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
[8]
"WSIX-AM-TV Among Four Sales Asked", Broadcasting — Telecasting. August 16, 1954. p. 58. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[9]
Broadcasting Yearbook 1975^{[dead link]}, Broadcasting, 1975. p. C-66. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[10]
Broadcasting Yearbook 1979^{[dead link]}, Broadcasting, 1979. p. C-77. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[11]
Hall, Doug. "Vox Jox", Billboard. June 9, 1979. p. 38. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[12]
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1982, Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1982. p. C-83. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
[13]
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1987, Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1987. p. B-102. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
[14]
"Format Changes", The M Street Journal. Vol. 7, No. 48. November 26, 1990. p. 1. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
[15]
"Format Changes & Updates", The M Street Journal. Vol. 12, No. 6. February 8, 1995. p. 1. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
[16]
"Transactions", Radio & Records. September 18, 1998. p. 6. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[17]
Call Sign History (WNDV-FM), fcc.gov. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
[18]
"Format Changes & Updates", The M Street Journal. Vol. 16, No. 20. May 19, 1999. p. 2. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
[19]
Devine, Cathy (2006). The Radio Book 2006-2007^{[dead link]}. p. 225. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
[20]
"Radio Tower Falls", WNDU-TV. January 1, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2019.

External links

Facility details for Facility ID 41673 (WPNT) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
FCC History Cards for WPNT/WDND (covering 1944- 1979 as WHOT / WNDU)

History

WHOT

WNDU

WNDV

WDND

End of operations

External links

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