Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Bonneville International Corp. will launch radio station WWWT to replace WTWP, its radio-station venture with The Washington Post that will end next month.

The new station will feature local and syndicated talk shows to replace programming provided by The Post. WWWT, dubbed "Talk Radio 3WT," will begin airing Sept. 20. WWWT will be simulcast on the same frequencies on which Washington Post Radio now airs: 1500 AM, 107.7 FM and 820 AM.

Bonneville has lined up four nationally syndicated programs for the station: three featuring conservative-libertarian personalities -- Neal Boortz, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly -- and one with liberal Stephanie Miller. Reflecting its ideological diversity, the station's slogan will be, "Left, Right, and Whatever We Want."

The station will air some programs that began under WTWP, including its locally originated morning program, hosted by David Burd and Jessica Doyle, and Pat Goss's automotive program.

The station also will continue to carry Nationals baseball games through the end of this season. The team has no radio or TV deals lined up for next year.

As reported yesterday, WTWP, which features journalists from The Post, failed to generate enough interest from listeners and advertisers. It will end its run 18 months after signing on.

In an e-mail message to The Post's newsroom, Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. yesterday called Post Radio "a noble experiment." He wrote that the station "had a loyal and enthusiastic core of listeners, whose numbers were growing, but that growth was not as rapid as we and Bonneville had hoped to see."

The newspaper does not expect to lay off any members of the small in-house department that helps produce The Post's radio and TV projects.

-- Paul Farhi