The Valley's
Watchdog.
Live news, sports, and talk for the Upper Ohio Valley. Pick a station and tune in.
YouTube Livestream
Our Shows
The voices of The Watchdog — news, talk, and sports across the Upper Ohio Valley.
Schedule
All times Eastern. Programming is largely simulcast across WKKX and WVLY during morning and afternoon blocks.
Listen Again
Missed a show? Catch up on demand from our SoundCloud.
The Watchdog Story
Two historic AM signals, paired with modern FM translators, serving the Upper Ohio Valley as its daily home for news, sports, and talk.
Wheeling's longtime 1600 signal, with roots reaching back to 1963. Today it anchors The Watchdog's news, sports, and talk lineup.
Licensed to Moundsville — its call letters stand simply for "Valley." A news-talk station and WKKX's sister signal under the same ownership.
From WBZE to The Watchdog
Wheeling's newest station signs on as WBZE at 1470 kilocycles — a daytime-only operation broadcasting "quality music, entertainment and news" from a new studio on Waddles Run in Greggsville, under general manager John Johns. Principal owners: George Beneke, E. J. Flaccus, and George Thieroff. (An earlier assigned call sign, WJBT, was never used.)
The station is operating as WNEU.
After purchasing the license of the silent WHLL, the station moves from 1470 to the 1600 dial position and boosts power from 500 watts to 5,000 watts.
The 1600 frequency cycles through a string of call signs — WUNI, WZMM, and WBBD — the last lasting until 1995.
The station becomes WOHZ, an affiliate of the children's network Radio AAHS, before eventually taking its current call sign, WKKX.
Bob Fitzsimmons and the Fitzsimmons family purchase the station, beginning the locally owned and operated era that continues today.
Becoming The Watchdog
Today both stations are owned by RCK 1 Group, LLC and operate together as The Watchdog — "News. Sports. Talk." for the Upper Ohio Valley. The two AM signals are paired with FM translators that extend their reach: WKKX on 98.1 FM and WVLY on 97.7 FM, with much of the daily programming simulcast across both stations during morning and afternoon blocks.
Our mission is to give the Ohio Valley its daily news, sports, and talk — and to give local residents a voice that gets heard. As the official radio station of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference (OVAC), The Watchdog carries extensive live local sports — high school football, basketball, wrestling, and baseball — alongside college and professional coverage. The network affiliates with West Virginia MetroNews, the Cleveland Browns Radio Network, the Ohio State Sports Network, Fox Sports Radio, and VSIN, and broadcasts from 1140 Main Street in downtown Wheeling.
Locally Owned & Operated
In 2005, Bob Fitzsimmons and the Fitzsimmons family purchased the station, and they continue to own and operate The Watchdog today — keeping it locally owned, with deep roots in the Ohio Valley community it serves.
The modern Watchdog grew out of Bob Fitzsimmons' vision of what a hometown station could be: not just a spot on the dial, but a genuine service to the Ohio Valley. From the very beginning, he was dedicated to building a station that gives the community a voice — championing local businesses, spotlighting the events and people that make the Valley what it is, and making sure the stories that matter here get heard. That commitment to serving the community remains the heartbeat of everything The Watchdog does today.
The same family also owns and operates The Fitzsimmons Law Firm, PLLC — the Gold Standard law firm in the Ohio Valley.
In 2009, the historic Wheeling Jamboree — the third-longest-running radio program in the United States, behind only the Grand Ole Opry and Music and the Spoken Word — moved to WKKX after decades on WWVA, before later relocating again around 2016.
Contact The Watchdog
Questions, requests, news tips, or feedback — send us a message and we'll get back to you.
Wheeling, WV 26003
Legal & Public Information
Privacy Policy
We recognize that you may be concerned about our use and disclosure of your personal information. Your privacy is very important to us, and the following will inform you of the information that we, The Watchdog AM 1600 WKKX, may collect from you, and how it is used. By using our website, you are accepting the practices described in this policy.
Information Collection
We may collect non-personal information, such as a domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address from which you have accessed our site. We may also collect information about the type of Internet browser you are using, your operating system, what brought you to our website, and which of our web pages you have accessed. Additionally, if you communicate with us regarding our website or our services, we will collect any information you provide in that communication. We may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.
Information Use
We use the collected information primarily for our own internal purposes, such as providing, maintaining, evaluating, and improving our services and website, fulfilling requests for information, and providing customer support.
Security
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. If we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information, and the computers and servers on which we store such information are kept in a secure environment.
Cookies
We use cookies on this site. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a visitor's hard drive to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors. Cookies can enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance their experience. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site.
Sharing
We will not sell or otherwise provide the information we collect to outside third parties for the purpose of direct or indirect mass email marketing. We will disclose personal information and/or an IP address when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to cooperate with investigations of purported unlawful activities and comply with legal process; to protect and defend the rights or property of our website; or to identify persons who may be violating the law, the rights of third parties, or otherwise misusing our website.
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online, that information can be collected and used by others. You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information.
Links
This website may contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.
Surveys & Contests
From time to time our site may request information via surveys or contests. Participation is voluntary. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address) and demographic information (such as zip code, age). Contact information will be used to notify winners and award prizes; survey information will be used to monitor or improve the use and satisfaction of this site.
Consent
By using this website, you consent to the collection and use of information as specified above. If we make changes to our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on this page.
If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, please contact us immediately via telephone at (866) 514-1600 or via mail, Attn: Privacy Officer.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
The Watchdog Radio Network (RCK 1 Group, LLC) is an equal opportunity employer. Our most recent FCC EEO Program Reports for each station are available below.
EEO Program Reports
WKKX — 2026 EEO Program Report (PDF) ↗
WVLY — 2026 EEO Program Report (PDF) ↗
Contest Rules
The following general rules apply to WKKX/WVLY Radio (The Watchdog) contests and promotions, in addition to any specific rules announced for an individual promotion.
- A person cannot enter on behalf of another person.
- There may only be one winner of any WKKX/WVLY Radio promotion per household during a 30 day period.
- WKKX/WVLY Radio is not responsible for lost or delayed mail, for telephone or fax equipment failures, or for e-mail system malfunctions causing a contestant to lose or delay the chance to participate.
- Employees of WKKX/WVLY Radio, and persons involved with providing the prize or award, or the immediate families of such employees are not eligible to participate or win.
- Winners are responsible for any and all taxes associated with winning the prize. Winners will need to sign a W-9 form, provided by WKKX/WVLY Radio, before receiving any prizes valued at over $600.
- Participants must be U.S. citizens for prizes valued at $600 or greater, unless otherwise specified.
- Prizes have no cash equivalent and are not transferable.
- WKKX/WVLY Radio reserves the right to substitute a prize of similar value in its sole discretion, either before or after a winner has been selected.
- WKKX/WVLY Radio management will have sole discretion to decide any questions concerning the interpretation of rules governing the promotion and the administration of the promotion, and such decisions shall be final.
- The promotion rules may be amended at any time by WKKX/WVLY Radio management without prior notice. However, all changes will be published on the WKKX/WVLY Radio website and effective as of that date.
- In the case of a tie, WKKX/WVLY Radio reserves the right to choose the winner by any method it deems appropriate.
- WKKX/WVLY Radio reserves the right to reject or discard any incomplete or confusing entry and any entry not submitted in accordance with promotion rules.
- No promotion, promotion rules or explanations thereof shall be construed or implemented in any way which violates applicable laws and regulations, including FCC rules and regulations.
- Participants will not have any expectation of privacy concerning the information submitted or the announcement of winners. WKKX/WVLY Radio reserves the right to use such information for any purpose as WKKX/WVLY Radio deems appropriate.
- Submission of an entry or response shall constitute acceptance of the promotion rules and a waiver of any and all claims against WKKX/WVLY Radio related to the promotion.
- No purchase or donation is necessary to enter.
Online Public Inspection File
The FCC hosts each station's public inspection file online. View ours directly: