WLPA(AM) Lancaster

Studio facilities

1996 Auction Road
Manheim, PA 17545
(717) 653-0800

Network affiliation

Sporting News Radio, CNN Radio, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Phillies

Ownership

Hall Broadcasting

About WLPA

WGAL signed on in June 1922, becoming Lancaster's first radio station in the process. The station was launched by the Steinmans, owners of the city's newspapers, the Intelligencer-Journal and the New Era. According to Bob Nelson's page on call letters' origins, the calls stood for "Wonderful Gardens at Lancaster".

The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement of 1941 moved WGAL from 1500 kHz to 1490 kHz.

Over the years, Steinman Stations would launch an FM operation (101.3, WGAL-FM) and the first television station in central Pennsylvania, WGAL-TV (Channel 8).

The Steinmans eventually sold their broadcasting interests, with Pulitzer picking up the television station and the radio stations finally finding their way into the hands of Florida-based Hall Broadcasting. By this time, the FM was WNCE, airing easy-listening music.

1490 flipped calls twice, finally settling on WLPA(AM), and had different formats before settling on CNN audio in the early 1990s. In 1995, WLPA flipped to all-sports as an affiliate of One-on-One Sports. (At the time, WPDC Elizabethtown had been or was about to go sports full-time with Prime Sports Radio.) In 2001, Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures completed its purchase of One-on-One Sports and re-badged the network as Sporting News Radio, taking advantage of the cache of one of Allen's other media properties.

Related stations

Back to Lancaster AM and FM dial
Susquehanna Valley Radio and Television