WHP (AM)

WHP (580 AM) is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station's broadcast area covers the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon region. The station's transmitter is located in East Pennsboro Township near Enola, Pennsylvania. WHP's signal is non-directional during daytime hours and is directed southeastward toward Harrisburg and Lancaster at night.
WHP programming is simulcast on translator W279EC and on the HD2 subchannel of sister station WRVV.
History.
The Department of Commerce granted John S. Skane a license for a new station on 1300 kHz on February 20, 1925, with the sequentially assigned call letters WHBG. In late 1926 ownership was transferred to Macks Battery Service, and the call letters changed to WMBS. The station later operated on 820 kHz, and the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) reallocated the station on June 1, 1927 to 1280 kHz.
On October 19, 1928, the FRC granted Mack's Battery Company a construction permit to move the station to 1430 kHz, followed by a new license for operation on the new frequency on January 31, 1929. WMBS was required to share the 1430 kHz frequency with WBAK and hence it could not be a full-time station.
The station's license was transferred by the FRC to Pennsylvania Broadcasting Company effective March 22, 1929, accompanied by a change in call sign to WHP. On December 1, 1930, the FRC granted another transfer of the license to WHP, Incorporated.
On January 26, 1933, the state withdrew its objections and WHP was granted full time operation. The FRC granted WHP full-time operation (6 a.m. to 1 a.m.) on April 27, 1934.
WHP moved from 1430 kHz to 1460 kHz on March 29, 1941. On that day, 795 US radio stations changed frequency as the result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement in Havana with representatives from Canada, US, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. A smaller reallocation had been done in 1928.
The Federal Communications Commission granted WHP a construction permit on January 6, 1950 to move the station from 1460 kHz to 580 kHz, followed by a new license for operation on the new frequency effective May 1, 1952.
WHP once used HD Radio but its digital signal was reported off the air as of July 2017.
Programming.
In addition to two local hosts — morning drive host RJ Harris and afternoon drive host Ken Matthews — WHP carries the standard Premiere Networks talk slate including the "Glenn Beck Radio Program", "The Rush Limbaugh Show", "The Sean Hannity Show", "America Now" and "Coast to Coast AM". "Hannity" and "America Now" both air on delay to accommodate Matthews's show. Regular host Ken Matthews was named one of the 100 most important talk radio show hosts (the "Heavy Hundred") in America by "TALKERS Magazine".
News staff.
WHP also provides news to sister stations WRVV, WRBT, WHKF, WLAN (AM), WLAN-FM, and WAEB (AM).
Translator.
WHP (AM) programming is simulcast on the following translator: