WHIS

WHIS (1440 AM) is a talk-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Bluefield, West Virginia, serving Bluefield in West Virginia and Bluefield in Virginia. WHIS is owned and operated by Charles Spencer and Rick Lambert, through licensee First Media Services, LLC. History The Daily Telegraph Printing Company was issued a license for a new radio station to transmit on 1420 kHz on February 14, 1929. The new station would adopt the WHIS call letters in honor of the newspaper's editor, Hugh Ike Shott, and be based in the West Virginian Hotel in downtown Bluefield. At the time, West Virginia had four other broadcasting stations, none of them in the southern portion of the state. While the station did not start up formally until June 24, the station made several test broadcasts, including a June 11 program that included music and primary election results. Even prior to the 1929 launch of WHIS, the Shott family had been involved in Bluefield broadcasting. In 1922, Hugh's sons, Jim and Hugh Shott, Jr., had a transmitter built for them and started WHAJ ("Hugh and Jim"). The transmitter was located in Hugh Ike Shott's office; however, a battery in the equipment spilled acid and damaged a prized rug he owned, spelling the end of the station.