Radio Sputnik, the international broadcasting arm of the Russian Federation government, is expanding its programming in Washington DC to a second signal.
Way Broadcasting’s 1390 WZHF Capitol Heights MD has dropped its brokered Regional Mexican “Fiesta 1390” programming to carry the mix of Russian news and Washington based talk shows that began broadcasting on Reston Translator LLC’s 105.5 W288BS Reston VA/Washington DC in July via an HD subchannel of Urban One’s 93.9 WKYS.
In a filing with the Justice Department upon which it needed to register as a “Foreign Agent”, Reston Translator, owned by renowned broadcasting and communications attorney John Garzliglia, disclosed that Sputnik is paying $900,000 to lease W288BS through the end of 2019.
In their announcement of the launch of their programming on WZHF, Sputnik stated “AM radio has a wider range than FM, meaning that more viewers will be exposed to alternative perspectives on current events that you won’t hear anywhere else”. The 1390 signal operates with 9kW day/1kW night from a site due east of Washington. W288BS covers the city of Washington proper and its northern and western suburbs like Bethesda and Silver Spring MD and Tysons Corner VA.
Way Broadcasting is headed by Arthur Liu, who also serves as President/CEO of brokered radio operator Multicultural Broadcasting.
