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WINT (1330 kHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Willoughby, Ohio, serving Lake County and eastern portions of Greater Cleveland. Owned by Spirit Broadcasting, WINT serves as a local affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets Radio Network; Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network; Motor Racing Network; Performance Racing Network; The Sean Hannity Show and The Dave Ramsey Show. The station also airs programs hosted by nationally-syndicated personalities Doug Stephan, Armstrong & Getty and Dana Loesch. In addition to a standard broadcast AM signalanalog transmission, WINT is relayed over low-power Willoughby FM translator W268CO (101.5 FM), and is also available online.

History

The station first broadcast on January 27, 1965, as WELW. As the station's AM transmitter site (and current studio site) resides on the Eastlake-Willoughby border, the call letters stood for Eastlake and Willoughby. WELW's first format was briefly religious; subsequently, it has had top 40, country music, oldies, and news/talk formats. WELW almost always has broadcast nationality music shows, local sports and some religious programs. Spirit Broadcasting assumed ownership in February 1990. Over the years, the station has been honored countless times for its community service, as well as receiving Associated Press awards.

On March 31, 2014, as a part of the station's 50th anniversary, WELW re-launched as Integrity Radio 1330 and changed its call sign to WINT to match the branding. The station also upgraded their signal to serve more of the Cleveland radio market. In July 2015, WINT began simulcasting on translator W268CO (101.5 FM) from a site in Kirtland.

FM translator

Current programming

WINT carries national talk radio programs hosted by Doug Stephan, Armstrong & Getty, Sean Hannity, Dana Loesch and Dave Ramsey. Nationality programming is aired on Sunday mornings. Additionally, the station offers a small part of its broadcast schedule for purchase by program providers.

WINT was the flagship station of the Lake County Captains minor league baseball team when they moved to Ohio in 2003. The Captains are now broadcast on a stream of WJCU, but not over the air. In 2014, WINT added NASCAR and IndyCar races to its programming. The station also broadcasts area high school football and basketball games, and occasionally Lake Erie College Football games, as well as locally produced and originated shows focusing on sports talk, tech and computer, business and legal, plus veterans and senior issues.

With the realization that many polka music fans from Ohio and the Steel Belt have retired to warmer climates, WINT also began and serves as base operation for a 24/7 streaming polka website, 247polkaheaven.com, which was the first of its kind in the world. Known as the "World's Polka Network", it features polka hosts and music from across the United States and Canada.

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WINT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. Marucci, Carl (March 31, 2014). "WELW flips to 'Integrity Radio WINT'". RBR.com. Streamline RBR, Inc. Retrieved April 3, 2014. plans to significantly improve our coverage on 1330AM.
3. Imagolutions - Jonathan Somich. "Radio Coverage Area on WELW 1330 AM Radio". Welw.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
4. "Radio station WELW to change name after 50 years on the air". News-herald.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
5. Imagolutions - Jonathan Somich. "WELW Story on WELW 1330 AM Radio". Welw.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
6. "About Us". 24/7 Polka Heaven.

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 26221 (WINT) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WINT in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• 247PolkaHeaven.com
• FCC History Cards For WINT (AM) (1962–1980)

FM translator

• Facility details for Facility ID 106489 (W268CO) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• W268CO at FCCdata.org

• 1965 establishments in Ohio
• Radio stations established in 1965
• Radio stations in Cleveland
• Talk radio stations in the United States