EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Touring 700WLW's Historic Transmitter and Mammoth Tower

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700WLW's huge diamond-shaped antenna along Tylersville Road towers over the Mason area.
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700 WLW's transmitter is in the brick building on the left. On the right is a home once inhabited by the station's engineer. The home was recently demolished.
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Entering for a trip back in time!
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This is the current transmitter, a Harris 3DX which has been pumping out 700 WLW's signal for about the past 20 years.
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An original operator's desk from possibly the 1930's.
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This is the backup transmitter, a Harris DX50.
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This is our second backup transmitter, which has been probably been here since the 1960's. It was used New Year's Eve 1999 to cover possible Y2K disruptions. It operates on tubes.
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News anchor Brian Combs on the left with chief engineer Dave Abbott.
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A tube from the old 500,000 watt transmitter.
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An original guy wire insulator which at one time held the diamond-shaped antenna steady. It was replaced about 12 years ago.
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The top of the insulator.
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A framed picture at the transmitter of 700 WLW founder Powell Crosley, standing at the base of the tower.
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A framed picture of the transmitter building when it was under construction.
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Brian Combs sees the 500,000 watt transmitter, long silenced, for the first time.
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A schematic is among the relics found near the 500,000 watt transmitter.
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Office forms from the old days.
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Brian Combs and chief engineer Dave Abbott tour FEMA's emergency studios at 700 WLW's transmitter site in Mason.
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FEMA's studio in case the world ends.
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The base of 700 WLW's tower.
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Towering into the skies more than 800 feet over Mason.

(Mason) -- The gigantic Blaw-Knox antenna is about 300 feet higher than the Washington Monument, rising 831 feet over the Cincinnati suburb of Mason.

A little brick building nearby sends 50,000 watts of power to the enormous diamond-shaped tower. At one time it delivered a massive 500,000 watts of power to cover much of the United States with 700WLW's programs. It was and still is "The Nation's Station."

The studios have changed locations many times over the years but 700WLW's signal has originated from the same place in Mason since 1928. Amazingly not much has changed there, as news anchors Brian Combs and Matt Reis discovered during a tour conducted by 700WLW's chief engineer Dave Abbott on May 12, 2022.

In the video and photos below, we explore the heart of the Big One. We walk with the ghosts of station founder Powell Crosley, the engineers, programmers, producers, sales professionals, actors, disc jockeys, talk show hosts, news anchors and reporters who have served millions of 700WLW listeners over the past 100 years.