WARM-AM off the air; transmitter woes cited

Northeastern Pennsylvania’s former longtime dominant AM radio station has been knocked off the air for the past month due to technical difficulties: its old transmitter failed.

WARM-AM — which debuted in 1940, pioneered rock-n-roll on NEPA airwaves in the 1950s and introduced the Beatles to local listeners in the 1960s — went silent on Sept. 15, according to a notice filed with the Federal Communications Commission. That “notification of suspension of operations” filed by the station on Sept. 25 as required by the FCC, states that a failure of WARM’s antiquated transmitter knocked it off the air temporarily. It’s not known how long it may take to fix.

A spokesman for the station’s parent company, Cumulus Media, did not immediately respond to a request for comment and information about the company’s plans for the station.

FCC rules mandate that a station that has gone off the air for 12 months loses its license.

In April 2009, WARM went silent because of transmitter problems but returned to the airwaves several days later. 

WARM radio made its debut 74 years ago broadcasting from downtown Scranton at 250 watts at 1400 kHz on the AM dial. In the early 1950s, it was able to change frequencies to 590 kHz and increase its power to 5,000 watts. Its stronger signal reached as far as Newark, New Jersey.

During the 1950s and 1960s, WARM became a Top 40 station as well as a news station, pulling in an unheard-of 70 percent of the radio audience. With on-air personalities like Don Stevens, Joey Shaver, Bill Stewart, George Gilbert, Harry West and others becoming celebrities, the station hosted WARMland events in Rocky Glen Park in Moosic, which drew as many as 50,000 people.

The station was sold in the 1990s to Citadel, which later became part of the ABC radio networks, and was later acquired by Cumulus Media.