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WTOP-FM (103.5 FM broadcasting) – branded "WTOP Radio" and "WTOP News" – is a commercial all-news radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station serves the Washington metropolitan area, extending its reach through two Repeater: WTLP (103.9 FM) in Braddock Heights, Maryland, and WWWT-FM (107.7) in Manassas, Virginia. The WTOP-FM studios, referred to on-air as the "WTOP Glass-Enclosed Nerve Center", are located on Wisconsin Avenue in the Washington D.C. suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, while the station transmitter is located on the American University campus. Besides a standard analog transmission, WTOP-FM broadcasts over three HD Radio channels,http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=8 HD Radio Guide for Washington D.C. and is available online.
WTOP-FM is the successor to the original WFED, an AM station at 1500 kHz, which held the WTOP call sign from 1943 until 2006, and adopted an all-news format on March 9, 1969.
Among the recurring segments on WTOP-FM every week: To Your Health, devoted to health topics and related warnings; Sprawl & Crawl, devoted to road construction updates; Friday Freebies, presenting sales and deals from local stores and businesses; Garden Plot, hosted by Mike McGrath; and Data Doctor's Tech Tips, offers tech advice. WTOP also features two daily commentaries hosted by Chris Core and Clinton Yates.
Two contests air on WTOP: the weekly Mystery Newsmaker Contest, and the daily Winning Word.
In 2006, WTOP dropped its long-standing association with The Weather Channel and began airing weather reports exclusively from WJLA-TV all day long. Previously, WTOP had used weather reports from WJLA chief meteorologist Doug Hill during morning and evening rush hours and The Weather Channel all other times. Until 2015, the station used all WJLA meteorologists, not just Doug Hill. WJLA's "Live Super Doppler 7" has been featured in weather reports as necessary.
In 2007, the WTOP radio configuration was realigned once again. WTLP-FM (formerly WGYS) at 103.9 picked up the WTOP simulcast on April 6, 2007, after the adult hits "George 104" simulcast with WXGG (now WPRS-FM, since sold to Radio One) was broken up, and adopted the WTLP calls on July 5, 2007.
Also in 2007, WTOP began broadcasting on WJLA's "Weather Now" digital sub-channel, which is carried on cable systems well beyond WTOP's broadcast area, though this was ended in late July 2009.
In May 2007, WTOP sold the naming rights to its "Glass-Enclosed Nerve Center" (its nickname for its studio) to area business Ledo Pizza. That sponsorship concluded at the end of 2007. Other sponsorship continues, with sportscasts being "fed" by Ledo Pizza.
The former WFED took over the WTOP call sign on the AM dial and became a simulcast of WTOP, with preemptions for sporting events. On June 13, 2009, the 1050 AM frequency changed to a separate Talk radio format, operated by Air America Radio as WBQH. On January 26, 2010, following the shutdown of Air America Radio, WZAA returned to the WTOP simulcast. It took back the WTOP call letters on February 1, 2010. WTOP AM left the simulcast on June 23, 2010, as Bonneville leased the station to United Media Group. United Media changed the call letters to WBQH and flipped to Regional Mexican.
In March 2008, WTOP-FM completed a year-long, $2.5-million state-of-the-art renovation of its newsroom and studios, the first since 1989 when the station moved into the building it presently occupies in northwest Washington.
In 2008, WTOP-FM generated $51.75-million in revenue, the sixth-highest total for any radio station in the United States and the only station not based in New York City or Los Angeles to crack the top ten. In 2009, the station generated $51-million in revenue, good for second among all radio stations in the United States, trailing only KIIS-FM in Los Angeles. In 2010, WTOP generated $57.225-million in revenue, making it tops among radio station in the United States. In 2011 WTOP once again generated more revenue than any other station in the United States, this time with $64 million. In 2010, WTOP-FM's coverage of the record Washington-area snowfalls in early February earned it record ratings as the only local media outlet on the air and covering the storm live all day and night. During the week of the storms, which dropped two feet of snow in the area, WTOP had a 16.9% share of the area's radio audience, far exceeding its typical weekly average of around 10%. Consumer research company Arbitron estimated a total of 1.49 million people tuned in at some point during the week, 39% of the total local radio audience of 3.8 million.
Bonneville announced the sale of WTOP-FM, WTLP, and WWWT-FM, as well as 14 other stations, to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011.
In 2011, WTOP-FM brought their traffic reporting in-house, ending their relationship with Metro Networks. This meant that Lisa Baden, the longtime "voice of D.C.-area traffic" and a Metro Networks employee, was forced to leave the station in what WTOP's Vice President of News and Programming Jim Farley said was strictly a business decision. Farley said WTOP tried to bring Baden and other Metro Networks employees to WTOP, but they have clauses in their contracts prohibiting them from working for competitors for one year. Baden said she was "devastated". Shortly after that, Baden joined rival radio station WMAL-FM.
In 2015, WTOP began airing weather reports and using meteorologists exclusively from WRC-TV all day long. The partnership ended in March 2023, as WRC underwent major changes, and just months after some longtime WTOP personalities accepted corporate buyouts from WTOP's parent company. The station then returned to using WJLA-TV meteorologists for their weather reports.
On January 1, 2018, WTOP-FM switched from CBS to ABC for its top-of-the-hour newscasts, pausing a relationship with CBS that, as noted above, dated to the late 1920s. WTOP-FM rejoined CBS exactly two years later.
| WTLP | 103.9 megahertz | Braddock Heights, Maryland | 350 watts | A | 47105 | WMHI-FM (1972–75) WZYQ-FM (1975–88) WZYQ (1988–95) WXVR (1995–96) WWVZ (1996–2006) WGYS (2006–07) | |||
| WWWT-FM | 107.7 Megahertz | Manassas, Virginia | 29,000 watts | B | 21636 | WEER-FM (1966–81) WXRA (1981–82) WWWK (1982–84) WMJR (1984–92) WRCY (1992–97) WUPP (1997–98) WTOP-FM (1998–2006) WTWP-FM (2006–07) |
The HD2 subchannels of WTOP-FM and WTLP relay the programming of WFED (1500 AM). WTOP-FM-HD2 feeds one translator:
The HD3 subchannels of all three stations air a freeform music format branded as "The Gamut", which is also simulcast on WSHE (820 AM digital) and one translator:
As of November 25, 2014, WTOP is still #1 in Washington, DC according to Arbitron.
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