WDDH

Infobox Radio Station


name = WDDH-FM
frequency = 97.5 (MHz)
city = Saint Marys, Pennsylvania
area = Saint Marys, Pennsylvania
format = Country
owner = Laurel Media Inc.
erp = 19,500 watts
branding = "97.5 The Hound"
slogan = Today's Hit Country
class = B2
website = [http://www.houndcountry.com]
callsign_meaning = W Dennis D. Heindl

WDDH is an American radio station, licensed to Saint Mary's, Pennsylvania. The station operates at the assigned frequency of 97.5 mHz and an effective radiated power of 19,500 watts. Its studios and offices sit atop Bootjack Mountain, just on the outskirts of Ridgway, Pennsylvania in Kersey, about 12 miles west of its city of license. Its transmitter site is located in Lamont, Pennsylvania, about 2.5 miles south of Kane, PA.

History: Beginnings as WKYN-FM

This station first went on the air as WKYN, on April 22, 1986. The station was founded by legendary Pittsburgh radio personality Bob Stevens, who had been looking to buy or build a radio station of his own in Western Pennsylvania. That opportunity presented itself in 1985, when he successfully applied for the license to operate at 97.5 FM, originally licensed to Ridgway.

Stevens picked a vacant location which had been the site of a former restaurant at the top of Bootjack Mountain as the location of his new station. The location would allow Stevens to co-locate studio and transmitter, as Route 219 was a major traffic artery and because of the naturally high elevation, it allowed Stevens to simply place the FM antenna on top of a standard utility pole beside the building, thus eliminating the need for tower painting and lighting.

WKYN, billed now as "97 1/2 KYN", signed on with an Adult CHR format, appealing primarily to working women in the highly desirable 25-54 age demographic. Stevens stuck with this formula for many years, until the opportunity presented itself in 1993 to acquire WCCZ (now WPCL) in Spangler. WCCZ operated on the adjacent frequency of 97.3 and could be heard clearly in the more populous area of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Stevens purchased WCCZ and changed the call letters to WKVE, turning it into a translator to extend WKYN's signal into the Johnstown market. At the time of the acquisition, the station changed format from Adult CHR to AOR, as there was no album rock formatted station in Johnstown at that time.

In 1996, an opportunity presented itself for Stevens to buy a radio station closer to his hometown in Western Pennsylvania. WKVE was sold to Cam Communications, reverting back to Adult CHR as "97.5 The Peak". Call letters were changed to WPKK. Stevens purchased WHJB (now WKHB) and WBCW (now WKFB) in Greensburg and Jeannette, respectively. Both of those stations are pending assignment to different communities.

In 2001, Cam Communications sold WKYN to Laurel Media, Inc of Ridgway, a company owned by Dennis Heindl, who had owned WLMI in Kane and a construction permit for an FM station in Reynoldsville (now WDSN. DDH is the initials of Dennis D. Heindl

Three years later, ownership was transferred from Laurel Media Inc. to Intrepid Broadcasting owned by Michael Stapleford.

In the Summer of 2008, ownership was reverted back to Laurel Media Inc. and Dennis D. Heindl.

WDDH Today

WDDH continues to serve more than a million listeners in northcentral Pennsylvania and western New York with a contemporary country format.