WFED is a 50,000 watt Class A radio station in the Washington, D.C. region. The station broadcasts a news talk format focused on issues and news pertaining to members and staff of the United States government. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, WFED transmits with a power of 50,000 watts continuously. As of July 1, 2017, WFED is also available on WTOP-FM-HD2 in the Washington, D.C. area.
History
Formation of Federal News Network
The format was launched by Bonneville International, former owners of terrestrial-based all-news station WTOP, as FederalNewsRadio.com—the first Internet-only all news station, and the first Internet station to make the jump to terrestrial radio—on February 22, 2000. For some time before then, WTOP had significant listenership among federal employees, and many of them had emailed the station asking for more coverage tailored to federal employees. The programming concept has changed little to this day, except that the Associated Press' All News Radio service originally filled in during the overnight hours, as a complement to WTOP. It is one of a few radio stations that originated on the Internet prior to moving onto a traditional broadcasting signal. It first found a home on the radio dial in 2004, on the 1050 kHz frequency licensed to Silver Spring, Maryland; that station was founded in 1946 as beautiful music station WGAY, but had become business radio station WPLC by 2004, when Bonneville bought the station and converted it to Federal News Radio and the WFED call letters. When AP All News Radio was terminated, the station began an affiliation with CNN Headline News, which itself was phased out in 2007 by provider Westwood One. In November 2007, the 1050 frequency increased its daytime power from 1 kW to 3.5 kW in order to better reach the government office workers in Washington, D.C. who comprise its core audience. The 1050 frequency is now used by Hubbard as regional Mexican station WBQH.
The current WFED, along with WWFD, WWWT-FM and W282BA, were former frequencies and simulcasts of WTOP. On March 30, 2006, WTOP transitioned entirely to FM, with 1500 AM and 107.7 becoming "Washington Post Radio" under the calls WTWP and WTWP-FM, respectively. The primary AM station was one of the oldest frequencies in the capital. It had originally been founded as Brooklyn, New York station WTRC in 1926, moving to Washington in 1927 as WJSV. A series of power increases culminated in its current 50,000-watt facility in Wheaton in 1940. The call letters became WTOP in 1943. WWWT-FM had operated as a simulcast of WTOP since 1998. WWFD had simulcast WTOP since 2000 before switching to a simulcast of WTWP as WTWT on June 28, 2007. As WTWP, these stations provided news and commentary during the weekday hours in a long-form style similar to that of National Public Radio, but on a commercial station staffed and programmed jointly by the Washington Post and WTOP. From 8 PM to 5 AM ET, the station was programmed as a general interest talk radio station, featuring hosts such as Clark Howard, Larry King and Jim Bohannon. On weekends, WTWP rebroadcast programs produced by Radio Netherlands and George Washington University.
WWWT: "Talk Radio 3WT"
The Washington Post reported that they would discontinue the Washington Post Radio service after Bonneville decided to pull the plug, citing financial losses and low ratings. Bonneville International officially launched personality driven talk format Talk Radio 3WT, with the WWWT call letters on September 20, 2007. The call letters stood for "Whatever We Want" talk radio from the station's imaging. The morning show with David Burd and Jessica Doyle was retained along with all live sporting events, The Tony Kornheiser Show and automotive commentator Pat Goss. Syndicated talkers Neal Boortz, Bill O'Reilly, Randi Rhodes and Phil Hendrie were initially added to the lineup, as was a simulcast of sister station KSL's Nightside with Michael Castner overnight program. Stephanie Miller was added in November after the Washington Nationals' season ended, and Glenn Beck was added, replacing Randi Rhodes on the 1500 and 107.7 frequencies, in January 2008. Sports that had been broadcast on 3WT continued on 1500 kHz and 820 kHz. The stations remained the flagships of Washington Nationals baseball until 2011, when the team changed its primary station to WJFK-FM. Bonneville announced the sale of WFED and WWFD, as well as 15 other stations, to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011; this put WFED under common ownership with KSTP, Hubbard's flagship station and the other clear-channel station on 1500 kHz. The sale was completed on April 29, 2011. In October 2018, WFED rebranded from Federal News Radio to Federal News Network, as part of an effort to rebrand the station as a multi-platform outlet.
On January 11, 2007, while being interviewed on WFED's morning program The Federal Drive, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Charles "Cully" Stimson criticized some major U.S. law firms for representing detainees at Guantanamo Baypro bono. Stimson further suggested that U.S. corporations who retained these same U.S. law firms should reconsider their associations with those firms. His comments drew immediate criticism from legal scholars, professional legal associations and the ACLU, and even the Pentagon itself sought to distance itself and the Bush administration from Stimson's comments. Although he apologized a few days later, on February 2, 2007 Stimson resigned his position with the Pentagon, saying he believed the flap would prevent him from effectively doing his job. The controversy heightened the profile of the station, however, as the station's morning hosts and reporters were interviewed by news organizations around the world about the controversy.
