WHOL

---

title: "WHOL" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1948-establishments-in-pennsylvania", "radio-stations-established-in-1948", "radio-stations-in-the-lehigh-valley", "rhythmic-contemporary-radio-stations-in-the-united-states", "mass-media-in-allentown,-pennsylvania"] description: "Radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHOL" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	WHOL
city	Allentown, Pennsylvania
country	US
above	Simulcast of WEST
area	Lehigh Valley
frequency
branding	Loud 106.9/99.5
format	Rhythmic contemporary
owner	Major Keystone LLC
sister_stations	WEST
airdate	(at 1230 kHz)
former_frequencies	1230 kHz (1948–1955)
callsign_meaning	"" (former branding; means "hello" in Spanish)
licensing_authority	FCC
facility_id	36987
class	D
power	1,000 watts day
56 watts night
coordinates
translators
webcast
website
::

| name = WHOL | city = Allentown, Pennsylvania | country = US | above = Simulcast of WEST | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | area = Lehigh Valley | frequency = | rds = | branding = Loud 106.9/99.5 | languages = | format = Rhythmic contemporary | subchannels = | network = | affiliations = | owner = Major Keystone LLC | licensee = | operator = | sister_stations = WEST | founded = | airdate = (at 1230 kHz) | last_airdate = | former_callsigns = | former_names = | former_frequencies = 1230 kHz (1948–1955) | callsign_meaning = "" (former branding; means "hello" in Spanish) | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 36987 | class = D | power = 1,000 watts day 56 watts night | coordinates = | translators = | repeaters = | webcast = | website =

WHOL (1600 AM) is a rhythmic contemporary radio station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Major Keystone LLC. It is simulcast with co-owned WEST (1400 AM) in Easton, Pennsylvania. The studios and transmitter are on Colorado Street in Allentown.

WHOL is powered at 1,000 watts by day. To protect other stations on 1600 AM, it reduces power to 56 watts at night. It uses a directional antenna at all times. Programming is also heard on 99 watt FM translator W295CR at 106.9 MHz.

History

WHOL signed on the air at 1230 AM, on September 5, 1948. It was an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network, bringing CBS programming to the Allentown area, including dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio".

Founded by the Allentown Broadcasting Corporation, the station was granted its construction permit in 1946. A suit was immediately brought by a competing applicant, Easton Publishing Co., owner of the daily Easton Express newspaper, charging that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) erred in granting a fourth license to Allentown while Easton had only one radio frequency. The FCC reversed its decision in favor of the newspaper. The case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1955 ruled the FCC had acted properly. The Express was subsequently awarded the 1230 AM frequency for a new full-time station, WEEX, while WHOL moved to 1600 AM as a daytime only operation. Currently, WHOL operates full-time with reduced wattage at night.

For much of the 2000s and 2010s, WHOL aired a Spanish language tropical music format simulcast with 1400 WEST Easton. During 2014, WHOL changed its image from "" to "" and added a translator, W258BM, that allows the station to also be heard on FM radio at 99.5. On January 1, 2017, at the stroke of Midnight, WHOL, WEST, and W258BM rebranded as "Mega 99.5".

On October 19, 2020, WHOL split from its simulcast with WEST and changed its format to syndicated conservative talk, branded as "106.9 The Talk". On January 5, 2021, WHOL dropped the conservative talk format after nearly three months and began stunting with a heartbeat, interspersed with a voice saying "It's coming! It's almost here! Very soon!". The next day, WHOL flipped to a rhythmic contemporary format as "Loud 106.9/99.5", once again simulcasting WEST.

The station, along with WEST and translators W258DV and W295CR, was sold to Major Keystone LLC on January 17, 2022, in exchange for the licenses to WGLD, WTKZ, and W296EA. Major Keystone had been programming WHOL and WEST since the launch of the "Loud" format. The swap was consummated on March 31, 2022.

References

References

1. [https://radio-locator.com/info/WHOL-AM Radio-Locator.com/WHOL]
2. [https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=W295cr&nav=home Radio-Locator.com/W295CR]
3. (September 13, 1948). "WHOL Allentown, Pa. Is New CBS Member".
4. (June 6, 1955). "Federal Communications Commission v. Allentown Broadcasting Corp.". [[New York Law School]].
5. [https://radioinsight.com/headlines/110092/wholwest-relaunches-as-mega-99-5/ WHOL/WEST Relaunches as Mega 99.5] Radioinsight - January 4, 2017
6. [https://formatchange.com/whol-relaunches-as-mega-99-5/ WHOL Relaunches as Mega 99.5] Format Change Archive - January 4, 2017
7. [https://radioinsight.com/headlines/200007/the-talk-106-9-debuts-in-the-lehigh-valley/ The Talk 106.9 Debuts In The Lehigh Valley] Radioinsight - October 20, 2020
8. [https://radioinsight.com/headlines/203753/whol-stunting-in-allentown/ Loud Radio Quickly Doubles Up In Allentown] Radioinsight - January 6, 2021
9. "Mega 107.1 Debuts In Lancaster/York Via Major Keystone Swap".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::