WPAY AM Shuts Down In Ohio, KUDO Returns

WPAY-AM 1400 concluded nearly 80 years of radio broadcasting in the Portsmouth community Friday afternoon, according to a story from the Portsmouth, Ohio Daily Times.

The AM station was not included in the WNKU deal to purchase the WPAY-FM station's license and property earlier this year, but WPAY station President Doug Braden said they can't operate the AM-side without a staff — which was lost in the FM purchase.

Braden said the WPAY-AM radio station began in Mt. Orab. The station moved to Portsmouth in about 1936, and was instrumental in covering the historic 1937 flood. On Friday, however, the radio went silent as the AM station concluded its broadcasting and left the air at 2 p.m.

Braden said he has enjoyed being a part of the Portsmouth community, and explained that this move is an entirely financial decision.

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Meanwhile in Anchorage, Alaska 1080 AM KUDO returns to the air today as Sports Talk. Sports AM 1080 The Ticket is a Fox Sports Affiliate.

The new station will air the full FOX Sports Radio lineup, plus college football, the Dallas Cowboys and Anchorage Bucs baseball.

KUDO is owned by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547.  In December 2010 KUDO was taken silent.