WSWW (AM)

WSWW (1490 kHz, "Charleston's ESPN Radio") is an AM radio station airing a sports radio format in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. The station is an affiliate of ESPN Radio and is owned by WVRC Media. The station has a power of 1,000 watts. It is also heard on FM translator W294CL (106.7 FM) in and around Charleston. WSWW is promoted as part of the "WCHS News Network", which also features co-owned news/talk WCHS (580 AM, 96.5 and 104.5 FM) and business talk WKAZ (680 AM and 95.3 FM). The Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company established WGKV on September 24, 1939, broadcasting with 100 watts on 1500 kHz from a transmitter at Coal Branch Heights. The station moved to 1490 kHz on March 29, 1941, as a result of NARBA. Not long after signing on, the station joined NBC, the network's first affiliate in southern West Virginia. The station survived a 1941 fire in its studios and control room, all while announcer George Kent was able to keep the station on the air as firefighters fought the blaze. WGKV applied to upgrade to 250 watts in December 1941, but it would have to wait for World War II to end before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the increase on January 16, 1946. During that time, however, more serious problems emerged that had the station in a fight for its legal life. In late 1943, Worth Kramer, who was about to be inducted into the Army, filed to relinquish control in Kanawha Valley, and the FCC ordered a hearing on alleged "hidden ownership". The war would soon take a larger toll on WGKV when four station employees were called to serve at the same time on February 1, 1944, leaving the outlet without its manager, women's director, promotions manager, and replacement, who all joined the armed forces and the Red Cross. Even when the war ended, the station's license renewal remained pending at the FCC; the hidden ownership allegations, concerning John A. Kennedy, had also put the license of WGKV's only competitor, WCHS, in doubt. A former secretary testified that Kennedy had secretly paid original station owner W.