WODT (1280 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It broadcasts an all-news radio format as an affiliate of the Black Information Network. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios on Howard Avenue. WODT is powered at 5,000 watts full-time. To protect other stations on 1280 AM from interference, it uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array. The transmitter is in the Algiers district of New Orleans. Programming is also heard on 45-watt FM translator K244FX at 96.7 MHz in New Orleans. History NBC Blue Network The station made its debut broadcast, as WCBE, on July 23, 1923. The original call sign was randomly assigned from a roster of available call letters. It was owned by Joseph Uhalt and based in his New Orleans backyard. In 1928, he moved the station to the DeSoto Hotel (now the Le Pavillon Hotel) in downtown New Orleans and changed the call letters to WDSU. In the 1930s, WDSU broadcast on 1250 kilocycles and was an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network. It carried its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio." (The Blue Network became the ABC Radio Network in 1945.) With the 1941 enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), WDSU moved to 1280 kHz. In 1948, it put Louisiana's first television station on the air, WDSU-TV. A year later, it added an FM station, WDSU-FM (now 93.3 WQUE). The radio stations were sold in 1972, and the AM became WGSO with an adult contemporary format. Around 1984 it switched to a Top 40/CHR format as "Stereo 13Q" under the WQUE call letters. On December 21, 1985 the station switched to R&B oldies as WMKJ, "Majic 1280". Soon thereafter, it became a simulcast of WQUE-FM after the station evolved to a CHUrban format. Sports Radio In the early 1990s, WQUE tried an all-sports format that included broadcasts of the New Orleans Saints, but it didn't last long. On February 1, 1996, the station flipped to an all-blues format as WODT. The call sign represented the chant used by fans of the New Orleans Saints, Who dat? Despite good ratings, the format did not attract advertisers. In October 2003, WODT returned to sports programing from Fox Sports Radio, ESPN Radio and "The Jim Rome Show." WODT was the flagship station of the