page_title: WHK (AM)
section_title: WHK (1922–2001)
hierarchical_section_title: WHK (AM) / History / WHK (1922–2001)
caption_attribution_description: English: Advertisement for the Radiovox company of Cleveland, Ohio, which included promotion for its radio station, WHK.
context_page_description: WHK – branded AM 1420 The Answer – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving primarily Greater Cleveland. WHK was the first radio station to broadcast in Ohio, and is the 15th oldest station still broadcasting in the United States. Currently owned by Salem Media Group, WHK serves as the Cleveland affiliate for the Salem Radio Network. The WHK studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, while the station transmitter resides in neighboring Seven Hills. WHK also simulcasts over low-power translator W273DG, and is available online.
context_section_description: WHK was issued its first broadcasting station license on February 21, 1922, for operation on the 360 meter entertainment wavelength, with Warren R. Cox listed as the licensee. (Prior to April 4, 1922 the Commerce Department issued three-letter call signs to most commercial radio stations. The WHK call letters were randomly chosen and did not have any particular meaning.) According to one analysis, WHK was the second broadcasting station license issued for Ohio, and the 52nd in the United States, and is Ohio's oldest surviving radio station, and 15th in the country.
  The station began broadcasting from the Radiovox Company, which was located at the Stuyvesant Building on 5005 Euclid Avenue. WHK's debut broadcast, on Sunday night March 5, 1922, was advertised as a continuation of the suspended Cleveland Radio Association weekly concert series. Cox announced that, in addition to the Sunday schedule, he planned to broadcast Tuesday night concerts in conjunction with the Keith vaudeville organization, with additional programs on Thursday nights. In July 1922 the station's transmitting power was reported to be 200 watts. Later in the year the licensee name was changed to "Radiovox Company (Warren R. Cox)".
  In May 1923 the U.S. government made additional broadcasting station transmitting frequencies available. In late 1923 WHK was reassigned to 1060 kHz, which was followed by moves to 1100 kHz in early 1925 and 1130 kHz in 1927.
  WHK was sold to the Radio Air Service Corporation in October 1925. In the following years, the station facilities underwent a series of moves, including 5105 Euclid Avenue, the Hotel Winton at 1010 Prospect Avenue (later the Hotel Carter), the Standard Building at St. Clair and Ontario, the top floor of the Higbee Company on Public Square, and Carnegie Hall at 1220 Huron Road. By 1928, the station was located in the Engineers' Building at 1370 Ontario Street.
  On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of a major reallocation resulting from the Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, WHK was reassigned to 1390 kHz. WHK became a CBS affiliate in 1930 and increased its power to 5,000 watts full-time. On March 9, 1931, the station moved to the Terminal Tower, and celebrated with the live broadcast of Faust from its auditorium. As of January 1, 1934 WHK was broadcasting with a daytime power of 2,500 watts and a nighttime power of 1,000 watts. The station broadcast a full season of Cleveland Indians baseball games in 1936, with announcers Jack Graney and Pinky Hunter.
caption: December 1922 print ad
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