WPTW

Last updated
WPTW
Broadcast area Miami County
Miami Valley
Frequency 1570 kHz
BrandingGreatest Hits 98.1 WPTW
Programming
Format Classic hits
Affiliations ABC News Radio
The Weather Channel
United Stations Radio Networks
Ohio State Sports Network
Ownership
OwnerMuzzy Broadcasting Group
History
First air date
December 7, 1947;76 years ago (1947-12-07)
Call sign meaning
WPiqua, Troy and W est Milton
Technical information
Facility ID 70521
Class B
Power 250 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
40°08′25″N84°16′07″W / 40.14028°N 84.26861°W / 40.14028; -84.26861
Translator(s) 98.1 W251BC (Piqua)
Links
Webcast Listen live
Website www.981wptw.com

WPTW (1570 AM "The Voice of the Upper Miami Valley, Ohio" (for Piqua, Troy and West Milton)) is a commercial AM radio station in Piqua, Ohio, United States, with a power output of 250 watts. It is owned by Muzzy Broadcasting Group. ABC News Radio and local news from hall of famer Terry Lafferty. Its music format is a mix of 1970s', 1980s' plus some 60s and 90s for flavor ' classic hits. Local high school sports coverage remains a tradition at the station in addition to Ohio State Buckeyes football.

Contents

History

Sign-on and early years

WPTW began operation as a daytime-only AM station with a middle of the road format on December 7, 1947 and was founded by the Miami Valley Broadcasting Company. It operated with extended hours during the November 1950 blizzard.

For much of its early years, WPTW held the distinction as the only commercial radio station in the Upper Miami Valley between Dayton and Lima; as such, the station opened up several locally originating studios in its service area including the Hotel Lollis in Troy, the Ohio Building in Sidney, and a studio on South Broadway in Greenville. That distinction was held until the late 1950s and early 1960s with the founding of stations in Bellefontaine, Sidney, Greenville, Urbana and Wapakoneta; the auxiliary studios were closed by the mid-1960s.

In 1960, WPTW gained an FM sister station, WPTW-FM 95.7. The two stations initially simulcast a traditional middle of the road format, played out from a sophisticated reel-to-reel automation system, with a few minor exceptions for separate programming on WPTW; WPTW-FM became a beautiful music station later in the 1960s and is today's WHIO-FM. The syndicated "Dell-O Morning Show" hosted by Dell Olney was pre-recorded onto automation tapes. (By the mid-1960s, WPTW-FM In the mid-1970s, there was also a live weekday afternoon show on 1570 AM hosted by Dave Brennan (later of Dayton's WING). The vintage on-air studio gear (a Collins tube-type audio console with original transmitter and Gates transcription turntables almost dating back to the station's beginnings) were properly maintained in mint condition thanks to longtime chief engineer Don Kuether and remained in use until upgrades were made in the late 1970s and 80s.

Separate business ventures

WPTW also founded and grandfathered WCSM and WCSM-FM in Celina in 1964 (currently owned by Buzzards Media, LLC, Inc.). By this time WPTW was locally owned and operated by Richard Hunt and C. Oscar Baker, doing business as WPTW Radio, Inc.

Hunt also owned WSOO and WSUE in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan and Valley Antenna Systems (aka: Piqua CATV) as separate entities in addition to becoming the sole owner of WPTW following Baker's passing in 1974. Hunt sold WPTW to Frontier Broadcasting and WCLR-FM to Cox Radio (dba: Xenia Broadcasting) in 1997 several years before his passing in 2002. Steve Baker, who is the northern bureau chief for WHIO-TV's NewsCenter 7, had his start at WPTW's news department in the early 1970s.

WPTW was previously a CBS Radio Network affiliate since the time it was dropped by WHIO in favor of affiliating with Fox News Radio. Beforehand, WPTW's network affiliations included Metromedia Radio in the 1960s, UPI Audio Network in the 1970s and 1980s, Unistar Radio in the 1990s and currently with ABC News Radio. WPTW was an affiliate of the Agri Broadcast Network and now is aligned with its successor, Ohio Ag-Net.

24-hour operation and sale to Muzzy

In 1986, WPTW began operating 24 hours a day with full power, following a decision by the FCC to allow local stations operating on Mexican clear-channel frequencies to continue operation during nighttime hours with their normal licensed power. It is currently an affiliate of The True Oldies Channel featuring hits from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s but for most of its years, it maintained a traditional middle of the road format until the 1980s when it slowly began moving towards adult contemporary occasionally switching to adult standards in the 1990s, then back to its previous format mixed with 1950s/60s oldies (a satellite-delivered format from ABC Radio called "Unforgettable Favorites," which has since been discontinued). 1570 WPTW for several years broadcast in C-QUAM AM stereo in the 1990s which was later abandoned by 2000.

In 2007, Miami Valley Radio, LLC, headed by Mark Hiner, purchased WPTW from Frontier Broadcasting, which was headed by Bart Johnson, son of the late farm broadcaster and ABN founder Ed Johnson.

According to a Piqua Daily Call story dated July 8, 2011, owner Miami Valley Radio LLC announced that it may leave the air and shut down permanently unless a buyer is found. The story was also posted on its website several weeks after rumors abounded of the station making several on-air announcements in June 2011 that it may go silent. Rick Muzzy's Muzzy Broadcasting purchased the station in December 2011, and FCC approval was granted on April 20, 2012. Rick Muzzy was a familiar name and voice on WPTW in the 1970s.

WPTW is the last locally originating commercial radio station still serving Miami County as the former WPTW-FM is now WHIO-FM and the former short-lived competitor WTRJ-FM (later WRNB) in nearby Troy which is now WYDA, a repeater of K-LOVE. 1570 WPTW continues to serve Piqua, Troy, Sidney and the Upper Miami Valley with local news plus local and area high school sports coverage. Tom Michaels and Ryan Brandt and others anchor the local live sporting events for the station. The station is now an affiliate for the Ohio State Buckeyes airing all Football games.

Muzzy Broadcasting purchased a 98.1 FM translator in Sidney from the Educational Media Foundation in September 2012. The FM returned to the air on March 22, 2013 rebroadcasting WPTW.

See also

Related Research Articles

WBLL is an American radio station in Bellefontaine, Ohio. It currently broadcasts with country music programming, along with certain sporting events. The station is owned by V-Teck Communications, and is the sister station of WPKO 98.3 FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHIO-TV</span> CBS affiliate in Dayton, Ohio

WHIO-TV is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It has been owned by Cox Media Group since its inception, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Cox. WHIO-TV's transmitter is located off Germantown Street in the Highview Hills neighborhood of southwest Dayton. It shares facilities with sister properties the Dayton Daily News and Cox's Miami Valley radio stations in the Cox Media Center building on South Main Street near downtown Dayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSAN</span> Radio station in Pennsylvania, United States

WSAN is a commercial radio station licensed in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the Lehigh Valley radio market. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, with its studios and offices in the iHeart Broadcasting Center in Whitehall Township. It is the oldest station in the Lehigh Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSOO</span> Radio station in Michigan, United States

WSOO is a radio station in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The station airs a gold-based soft adult contemporary format during daytime hours, featuring music from the 1960s through the 2000s, and features paranormal talk programming in late night timeslots. WSOO has been owned and operated by Sovereign Communications since 2003, and is part of Sovereign's 7-station cluster in the Sault Ste. Marie and Newberry market.

WCLR is a radio station located in DeKalb, Illinois. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation, and airs a Christian contemporary format, as an affiliate of K-Love.

WIZE — branded Dayton's BIN 1340 — is a commercial all-news radio station in Springfield, Ohio owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. as part of their Dayton cluster. While servicing the Dayton metropolitan area, WIZE is also targeted towards Springfield, and their transmitter - and former studios - are located in Springfield. WIZE functions as the Dayton market affiliate for the Black Information Network. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WIZE streams via iHeartRadio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLYF</span> Adult contemporary radio station in Miami

WLYF is a commercial radio station in Miami, Florida. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format. WLYF's studios and offices are co-located with its Audacy sister stations on NE 2nd Avenue in Miami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHIO (AM)</span> News/talk radio station in Dayton, Ohio, United States

WHIO – branded AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO – is a commercial talk AM radio station licensed to serve Dayton, Ohio and covering the Dayton metropolitan area. Owned by Cox Media Group, the WHIO studios are located at the Cox Media Center building in Dayton, while the transmitter is located in nearby Kettering. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHIO is simulcast full-time on WHIO-FM (95.7) and is available online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHIO-FM</span> News/talk radio station in Pleasant Hill–Dayton, Ohio

WHIO-FM – branded AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to serve Pleasant Hill, Ohio, covering Dayton, Ohio and the Dayton metropolitan area. Owned by Cox Media Group, WHIO-FM acts as a full-time simulcast of WHIO. The WHIO-FM studios are located at Cox Media Center building in Dayton, while the transmitter is located in nearby Piqua. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHIO-FM streams online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WYDA</span> Radio station in Troy, Ohio

WYDA is a radio station licensed to Troy, Ohio. The station airs the Christian worship formatted Air1 network programmed by the Educational Media Foundation. WYDA is broadcast to Dayton, its northern suburbs and the Upper Miami Valley region of Miami, Clark, Shelby, Champaign, Darke and surrounding counties in West Central Ohio with local offices are located on south Main in Dayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMOH</span> Radio station in Hamilton, Ohio

WMOH is a commercial radio station in Hamilton, Ohio, and serving the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It broadcasts a mixed news/talk and sports radio format and is owned by Vernon R. Baldwin, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHKO</span> Radio station in Dayton, Ohio

WHKO is a commercial radio station in Dayton, Ohio. The station is owned by Cox Media Group and carries a country music radio format. Its studios and offices are co-located with the Dayton Daily News, WHIO-AM-FM-TV, and two more radio stations in the Cox Media Center building near downtown Dayton.

WMVR-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Sidney, Ohio, broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format. Its studios, offices, and transmitter are located on Russell Road, just outside Sidney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCLI-FM</span> Radio station in Enon, Ohio

WCLI-FM is a classic country radio station, licensed to Enon, Ohio, and serving the Dayton area. The station is owned by Alpha Media. Its studios are located in Kettering, Ohio and its transmitter is in New Carlisle, Ohio, northeast of Dayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDLR</span> Radio station in Marysville, Ohio

WDLR is a commercial radio station licensed to Marysville, Ohio. The station primarily serves the Union County region, with limited coverage in the Columbus market. The station is under ownership of Brent Casagrande through licensee Delmar Communications, Inc, and features a locally programmed classic hits format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WZLR</span> 1980s classic hits radio station in Xenia, Ohio, United States

WZLR, known as "95.3 and 101.1 The Eagle," is a radio station broadcasting a 1980s classic hits format. Licensed to Xenia, Ohio, United States, it serves the Dayton area. According to the Federal Communications Commission's website, the station has transmitted at 6,000 watts since 1998. Its studios are co-located with the Dayton Daily News, WHIO-AM-FM-TV and two more radio stations in the Cox Media Center building near downtown Dayton. WZLR has a transmitter in Xenia and translator on the WHIO-TV tower in Germantown, Ohio. The station is currently owned by Cox Media Group.

WCSM-FM is an American FM radio station broadcasting at 96.7 MHz in Celina, Ohio. The station features a full-service hot adult contemporary format with local news, weather, sports and agricultural programming. It is co-owned with 1350 WCSM and the two stations simulcast with local news and farm programming, although WCSM's music format is Country music. WCSM-FM music programming comes from Westwood One's mainstream Adult Contemporary service evenings, overnights and weekends.

WCSM is an American AM radio station in Celina, Ohio, broadcasting at 1350 kHz on the AM dial. The station is owned with 96.7 WCSM-FM by Brent and Danielle Selhorst, through licensee Buzzards Media, LLC, and also broadcasts on FM translator W262DC at 100.3 MHz, also located in Celina. The station airs a country music format branded as Lake 100.3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFGL</span> Radio station in Massachusetts, United States

WFGL is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format and licensed to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by Horizon Christian Fellowship of Fitchburg, and operates as part of its RenewFM network.

WMVR was a radio station broadcasting at 1080 AM in Sidney, Ohio, United States. It operated from 1963 to 2001.

References

FM Translator