KQV (1410 AM) is a non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and covering the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, the station simulcasts WKGO (88.1 FM) in Murrysville and airs an easy listening format. The station's studios and transmitter are located on Lincoln Highway in North Versailles Township.
KQV is recognized as one of the oldest radio stations in North America. Due to a complicated early history, the exact date of its founding has been variously stated as either November 19, 1919 (as an experimental station), in the fall of 1921, or on January 9, 1922, the last officially recognized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). KQV is perhaps best recognized for two distinct eras: as a Top 40 station from 1958 to 1975, the majority of that time owned by ABC, and as an all-news radio station from 1975 until the station suspended operations on December 31, 2017.
History Experimental broadcasts The FCC has traditionally listed KQV's establishment date as January 9, 1922."Date First Licensed", Card #1, FCC History Cards for KQV. However, station management has generally traced its history to experimental broadcasts beginning on November 19, 1919, although documentation for this earlier period is limited. In addition, station co-founder Florence C. Potts maintained that the station should be considered to be founded in late 1921, when the first license with the KQV call sign was issued.
KQV's original owner was the Doubleday-Hill Electric Company, located at 719-721 Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh. Doubleday-Hill was a well established seller of electrical equipment, whose offerings included radio equipment (then also called "wireless").
Applying for an amateur license During World War I, the U.S. government had prohibited the operation of radio transmitters by civilians, and the ban was not lifted until October 1, 1919. Shortly thereafter, Doubleday-Hill's radio department manager, Florence C. Potts, announced that the company was in the process of installing a De Forest radiotelephone transmitter, to be used for communication with a second station to be located at the company's branch store in Washington, D.C."Telephone Downtown Soon", "The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, October 26, 1919, Sixth section, page 13. A month later, in late November, Potts reported that the company had been unable to obtain the commercial license needed to operate the business plan. However, "a special amateur license has been applied for, to cover the wireless telephone demonstration station which the company has ordered installed and which is expected to be opened in the near future.""Local Commercial Station Delayed", "The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, November 23, 1919, Sixth section, page 2.
In late January 1920, it was announced that "The latest type of radiophone, developed and produced in the laboratory of Dr. Lee de Forest at New York City, has just been installed in the downtown store of the Doubleday-Hill Electric Company. Arrangements have been made by this company with a local music store to furnish the latest phonograph records weekly for use in connection with wireless concerts to be given on a regular schedule. This schedule has not been definitely fixed, but will be announced in a short time. The fact that different records will be played for each concert should add greatly to the enjoyment derived therefrom by the radio amateurs of this locality. The phone will also be used by this company to announced new development in radio and other items of general interest to wireless amateurs.""Wireless Phone Installed by Local Firm", "The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, January 25, 1920, Fifth section, page 9.
Airing phonograph records A week later, it was reported that "On last Tuesday evening (January 27, 1920), the Doubleday-Hill Electric Company made a preliminary test of their new radiophone equipment, by rendering a short concert of about 15 selections, including many popular numbers, as well as operatic and classical pieces.""Preliminary Test of Radiophone", "The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, February 1, 1920, Second section, page 2. Two weeks later saw the announcement that "The radiophone musical concerts promised the local amateurs by Doubleday-Hill Co. will start this week and be given regularly hereafter on a schedule which is, for the present, Tuesday and Thursday evening, from 7 to 10 p. m. All the latest popular music will be played and records changed for each concert. Messrs. Williams and Devinney will operate the radiophone for these concerts.""Radiophone Concert Schedule", "The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, February 15, 1920, Second section, page 4. "Messrs. Williams and Devinney" were Burton P. Williams and Robert C. Devinney.
A February 29 report further stated that "On Sunday evening, February 22, and Tuesday evening, February 24, wireless concerts were given by Doubleday-Hill Electric Company, using the DeForest radiophone, which was operated by Messrs. Williams and Devinney at the station of B. P. Williams, Orleans street, North Side. Reports were received from Washington, Vandergrift and other outlying towns that the music was being heard clearly, Mr. Williams states. A few days prior to this a test was made by these radio men for the Doubleday-Hill company, transmitting the voice and music to a station in Butler, Pa., very successfully.""The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, February 29, 1920, Sixth section, page 10.
Early call sign 8ZAE KQV employees have generally traced the station's history back to Doubleday-Hill's initial 1919 activities, and a September 1934 newspaper article reported that the staff was in the process of preparing a celebration of the station's fifteenth birthday."Operator Who Established KQV Calls It Second Oldest Station" by S. H. Steinhauser, Pittsburgh Press, September 19, 1934, page 27. (Many later recountings give a specific debut date of November 19, 1919.)"KQV Just Keeps on Groovin'" by John Mehno, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 8, 1999. Most accounts of Doubleday-Hill's earliest activities say that the initial broadcasts were transmitted using a Special Amateur station authorization, 8ZAE, issued to Burton P. Williams, a company employee living in Pittsburgh. (Contemporary information about licensed stations suggests that 8ZAE didn't receive its first license until late 1921,"New Stations: Special Land Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 4. The "8" in 8ZAE's call sign specified that the station was located in the 8th Radio Inspection District, while the "Z" indicated that it was operating under a "Special Amateur" license. Special Amateur stations were permitted to transmit on wavelengths in addition to the congested 200 meter (1500 kHz) wavelength used by standard amateur stations. although it also reports that Williams previously held a license for a standard amateur station, 8EN.)"Eighth District: by Owner, Amateur Radio Stations of the United States, Edition June 30, 1920, page 90.
In late 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh launched an ambitious broadcasting service, and its efforts soon overshadowed Doubleday-Hill's earlier broadcasts. Westinghouse's first station debuted on November 2, 1920, as 8ZZ, soon becoming KDKA. In 1946, a KDKA promotional pamphlet claimed that it had conducted "the world's first regularly scheduled broadcast.""Going Forward with Radio" as presented by KDKA (promotional pamphlet), 1946, page 3. KQV, and a number of other stations, such as WWJ Detroit and KCBS San Francisco, countered that they had broadcasting histories that predated KDKA. Based on their heritages, both KQV and KDKA have claimed to being the oldest broadcasting station in Pennsylvania. (A local Westinghouse engineer, Frank Conrad in nearby Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, preceded both efforts, conducting a series of semi-regular entertainment broadcasts at his experimental station, 8XK, from his home's garage. They began on October 17, 1919. He suspended his broadcasts shortly after KDKA debuted.)
Becoming KQV In September 1921, it was announced that Doubleday-Hill was planning to install a high-powered station, which again was planned to be used primarily for two-way communication with a second proposed station located at its Washington, D.C. store. In addition, it was stated that the new station would "be used to give entertaining programs for amateur reception on certain evenings of each week"."The Radio Amateur" by C. E. Urban, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 11, 1921, Sixth section, page 7. In October 1921 this new station was issued a Limited Commercial license, transmitting on 200 and 425 meters (1500 and 706 kHz), with the call letters KQV."New Stations: Commercial Land Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, November 1, 1921, page 2. KQV's call sign was randomly assigned, by later tradition it was said to stand for "King of the Quaker Valley," although from 1925 to 1931 the station's slogan was "The Smoky City Station."Radio Station Treasury by Tom Kneitel, 1986, page 16.
KQV's initial license in the fall of 1921 was the first one issued in the name of Doubleday-Hill, and the first to receive the KQV call letters. Moreover, in the same September 1934 newspaper article in which the KQV staff dated the station's founding to the predecessor 1919 activities, F. C. Potts was quoted as stating that in his opinion KQV's founding shouldn't be considered to have occurred until two years later, when the first KQV license was issued, endorsing an earlier slogan that the station was "On the Air since 1921."
Unusual call sign Beginning in 1912 the normal practice had been to issue call letters starting with "K" only to land stations located in the western United States. It is unclear why KQV was not assigned a call sign starting with "W," which was the standard practice for stations located in the east.
For the first half century of radio, KQV; KDKA; KFIZ in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; and KYW, first in Chicago and now in Philadelphia, have been the only AM radio stations, still broadcasting to this day, with K call signs in eastern states. (In recent years, a handful of other K call signs have gone on the air in the east. Most are non-commercial FM stations whose construction permits were granted in the west but later were relocated to the east.)
KQV's early years
From 1912 to 1927, the Department of Commerce regulated U.S. radio, and initially there were no specific restrictions on stations wanting to engage in broadcasting entertainment to the general public. The first formal standards were adopted effective December 1, 1921, which specified that broadcasting stations had to hold a "Limited Commercial License" that also authorized operation on the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) or the "market and weather reports" wavelength of 485 meters (619 kHz). "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10. At the time this regulation was adopted, a small number of stations already met the new requirements. This did not include KQV, which although it held a Limited Commercial License, was not authorized to transmit on either of the broadcasting wavelengths. On January 9, 1922, Doubleday-Hill was issued a new Limited Commercial License for KQV, which now included an authorization to transmit on the 360-meter entertainment wavelength.Limited Commercial license, serial #452, issued to the Doubleday-Hill Electric Company on January 9, 1922 for a 6 month period. For this reason FCC records generally list January 9, 1922, as KQV's "Date First Licensed".