WTKG

Last updated

WTKG
Frequency 1230 kHz
BrandingAM 1230 WTKG
Programming
Format News/talk/sports
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
February 8, 1945 (1945-02-08)
Former call signs
  • WJEF (1945–1973)
  • WCUZ (1973–1997)
Call sign meaning
Talk Grand Rapids
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 51729
Class C
Power 1,000 watts
Repeater 96.1  WMAX-FM HD2 (Holland)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via iHeartRadio)
Website wtkg.iheart.com

WTKG (1230 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk/sports format. Licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, and now owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., Previous to adopting the current calls and format in 1997, the station played country under the WJEF (the station on which radio Hall of Famer Wally Phillips started his career) and WCUZ calls.

Contents

History

The station began as WJEF on February 8, 1945, with studios located on the 10th floor of the Pantlind Hotel (Amway Grand Plaza Hotel) in Downtown Grand Rapids. Its power at that time was 250 Watts. It would be Grand Rapids' third radio station, after WOOD and WLAV. WJEF was a sister station to WKZO in Kalamazoo; both stations were owned by John Fetzer. In 1951, WJEF would gain an FM sister station in WJEF-FM 93.7.

The AM station was sold to Pathfinder Communications in 1973 and would take on the WCUZ call sign on June 18, 1973. WCUZ, and later WCUZ-FM, would be Grand Rapids' only country music station until 1992 when WBCT (the former WJEF-FM) ended WCUZ's hold on the Grand Rapids country music radio audience. During the early 1980s the station would begin broadcasting in AM stereo with the Magnavox system. However AM Stereo broadcasting would end when the Motorola C-QUAM standard won out.

In 1992 WCUZ's former sister station WJFM would also be sold by Fetzer Broadcasting. WJFM flipped to a country format as WBCT and went head to head with WCUZ. In the end WBCT would win out, likely due to the facts that WBCT has a grandfathered 320,000 watt superpower signal and (more likely) because they targeted the younger generation of listeners recently discovering country music.

Bronco Radio Network

WTKG was an affiliate of the Western Michigan University "Broncos Radio Network" and carried all of the Broncos football and men's basketball games. WTKG was dropped as an affiliate after WMAX-FM was added for both sports.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WTKG". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.

42°59′42.1″N85°40′36.1″W / 42.995028°N 85.676694°W / 42.995028; -85.676694


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