WDCH-FM (99.1 MHz) – branded Bloomberg 99.1 – is a commercial business news radio station licensed to Bowie, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.
WDCH is one of the few stations that targets both Baltimore and Washington DC, since its transmitter is located halfway between the two cities, providing a strong city-grade signal to both.
Though the broadcasts were not encrypted or restricted in any way, the programming was not intended for reception by the general public; subscribers had specialized receivers to insert announcements for their shoppers.
[3] By 1959, WNAV-FM claimed to have 150 supermarket customers in a 100-mile radius: west to the Washington metropolitan area, north to Westminster, south to Onancock, Virginia and east to Elkton.
[4] However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had always scrutinized such "functional music operations" on FM, considering it and transitcasting (a similar concept aimed at bus and streetcar riders) to be an improper use of the public airwaves.
[8] With public opposition now having dried up, the FCC finally banned simplexing effective December 31, 1964; WNAV-FM received an exemption through July 1, 1965, which allowed it time to install a new 50 kW transmitter.
Robert Benjamin, Bob Waugh and Bill Glasser took the HFStival from a small yearly concert in Fairfax, Virginia, to a large festival in Washington, D.C. that was headlined by major acts and was surrounded by culturally significant booths, games, food, and rides, as well as an outdoor second stage.
Amongst others, Billy Zero was instrumental in growing the HFStival Locals Only Stage where bands like Good Charlotte and Jimmie's Chicken Shack got their big break.
Also in the 1990s, Liberty Broadcasting published a quarterly magazine titled "WHFS Press" that was mailed to listeners and available in local music outlets.
During this period, WHFS featured a specialty show called "Now Hear This", hosted by Dave Marsh, which highlighted indie and local music.
In 1999, WHFS released a New Music New Video Compilation Volume 1 on VHS that was distributed free at Washington area Tower Records outlets.
It featured tracks by Cyclefly, Fuel, Fastball, Elliott Smith, Kid Rock, Eve 6, 3 Colours Red, Puya, and Joydrop.
Its call letters were changed to WZLL on January 28, 2005, and then again to WLZL on February 5, 2005, and the station was rebranded as "El Zol 99.1 FM".
[13] El Zol was finally moved to 107.9 on December 12, 2011, and 99.1 began stunting with Christmas music, with the WNEW-FM call letters now in place on 99.1.
In addition, similar to other CBS-owned all-news stations, 60 Minutes was broadcast at 7 pm on Sundays each and every week, regardless of whether or not the televised version (usually an NFL football game) was delayed on CBS.