The legendary call letters WKRP are finally making their way to Cincinnati — this time for an actual radio station, not just a TV sitcom.
D.P. McIntire, who operates the media nonprofit currently auctioning these famous call letters, confirmed the long-awaited move to The Associated Press. “I cannot, by contract, tell you when. I cannot tell you who. But I can tell you, direct to the camera, WKRP, after 48 years, is coming to Cincinnati,” McIntire stated. “Book it! It’s done!”
The call letters gained nationwide recognition through the CBS sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired from 1978 to 1982. The show launched careers for performers including Loni Anderson and Richard Sanders, whose character Les Nessman became infamous for a disastrous Thanksgiving stunt involving turkeys dropped from aircraft.
McIntire recalls viewing the series premiere with his family, watching characters Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) work their radio magic.
“And at the end of the 30-minute episode,” he said, “I got up and I proclaimed, ‘I’m going to be in radio. And if I ever have the opportunity, I’m going to run a station called WKRP.’”
At age 13, McIntire landed his first broadcasting position as a news anchor at WNQQ “Wink FM” in Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
In 2014, his North Carolina nonprofit organization obtained the call sign through the Federal Communications Commission. Previously, stations in Dallas, Georgia, and Alexandria, Tennessee, had used these letters.
McIntire chuckles when describing his conversation with an FCC audio division representative.
After preparing two call letter options, the official requested a third choice.
“Being the jokester that I am, I said, ‘Well, if you need three, and if it’s available, we’ll take WKRP,’” he explained. “And 90 seconds later, she came back and she said, ‘Mr. McIntire. Congratulations. You’re the general manager of WKRP in Raleigh, North Carolina.’”
WKRP-LP began broadcasting on 101.9 FM on November 30, 2015. The LP designation indicates “low power,” a station category designed for communities seeking alternatives to mainstream programming.
“Our format is what radio used to be 35 years ago in small-town America,” he explained. “There is Greats of the 80s, Sounds of the 70s, 90s Rewind.”
Low-power FM stations like his Oak City Media operation must be run by nonprofit groups and serve highly localized areas.
“Your broadcast capacity is limited to 100 watts,” McIntire explained. “So, your average range is between, depending on your terrain and circumstances, 4 and 12 miles (6 and 19 kilometers) in any direction. Enough to cover a small town.”
The operation runs on a shoestring budget.
McIntire’s garage houses the transmitter, squeezed between recycling containers and household cleaners. A 25-foot metal flagpole in his backyard supports the broadcast antenna. The studio equipment — microphones and mixing console connected to a computer — operates from his basement.
Similar to the fictional WKRP, McIntire and his team aimed to be “irreverent.” Their programming includes a two-hour program called “Weird Al and Friends,” featuring satirical music from Weird Al Yankovic.
They even organized annual Thanksgiving turkey distributions. However, unlike the show’s infamous helicopter incident, they distributed grocery store gift certificates.
“We don’t toss them out of helicopters,” he said with a laugh.
After a decade of broadcasting, the 56-year-old McIntire decided to step back.
“We’re in a position where the older members like me who started the station are turning the leadership over to younger members,” he said. “They’re not interested in radio.”
The organization solicited bids for using the call letters across FM and AM radio, plus television and digital television platforms.
Revenue from the sale will fund a new nonprofit called Independent Broadcast Consultants. McIntire said IBC will be “geared specifically toward helping these new broadcasters get up and running, get the consulting that they need in order to be, hopefully, more successful than we have been.”
Oak City Media was prepared to transfer television-related versions — WKRPTV and WKRPDT — when another buyer backed out, McIntire said. However, he confirmed the Cincinnati arrangement is finalized, though legal restrictions prevent him from sharing details.
“It will be radio,” he said. “But that’s all I can tell you at this time.”
Regardless of how the new owners utilize the call sign, he hopes they’ll honor the show’s legacy.
“It has a special place in the hearts of an awful lot of people,” he said. “And we have been very, very, very proud to have been a steward of that legacy.”
