WTKS (AM)

WTKS

Savannah, Georgia
Broadcast area	Savannah metropolitan area
Frequency	1290 kHz
Branding	NewsRadio 97.7/1290 AM WTKS
Programming
Format	Talk radio
Affiliations	Fox News Radio Premiere Networks Westwood One Compass Media Networks NBC News Radio WTOC-TV
Ownership
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WAEV WLVH WQBT WSOK WYKZ
History
First air date	October 15, 1929; 94 years ago (1929-10-15)
Former call signs	WTOC (1929–1979) WWSA (1979–1987) WCHY (1987–2002)[1]
Call sign meaning	"Talks"
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	8589
Class	B
Power	5,300 watts (day) 5,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates	32°5′21″N 81°8′46″W / 32.08917°N 81.14611°W / 32.08917; -81.14611
Translator(s)	97.7 W249BS (Savannah)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	newsradio1290wtks.iheart.com

WTKS (1290 kHz, "NewsRadio 97.7 & AM 1290") is a radio station licensed to Savannah, Georgia. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with iHM Licenses, LLC holding the license.^[3] WTKS airs a news/talk format. Its transmitter is located behind WTKS's studios on Alfred Street in Garden City, Georgia, with a Savannah address.

By day, WTKS is powered at 5,300 watts. At night, power drops to 5,000 watts. The station uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. Programming is simulcast on an FM translator station, 97.7 W249BS. The station uses this FM frequency in calling itself "NewsRadio 97.7 and AM 1290".

Programming

Weekday mornings begin with The Scott Ryfun Show.^[4] The rest of WTKS's weekday schedule features syndicated talk shows, mostly from co-owned Premiere Networks: The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, The Mark Levin Show, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.

Weekends include programs on health, gardening, home repair, golf, law and technology. Weekend shows include Bill Handel on the Law, Rick DeMuro on Tech, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Armstrong & Getty and In The Garden with Ron Wilson. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio. Some local news and weather is supplied by WTOC-TV.

History

Early years

The station signed on the air on October 15, 1929. Its call sign was WTOC and it was the first broadcasting station in the Savannah area.^[5] It was an enterprise of the civic group Junior Board of Trade that was the forerunner of the Savannah Jaycees. WTOC broadcast on 1260 kilocycles with 500 watts day and night, non-directional. Later, the power increased to 1,000 watts daytime, and later to 5,000 watts days and 1,000 watts at night. With the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) nationwide frequency shift in 1941, the station moved to 1290 kHz. Shortly thereafter, a four tower array was built in Garden City, and power increased to 5,000 watts at night using a directional antenna.

WTOC ("Welcome To Our City"), was owned for many years by the Knight family, with William T. Knight serving as president of the Savannah Broadcasting Company. It was a CBS Radio Network affiliate, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the Golden Age of Radio. One of its rivals, WSAV, was an network affiliate of NBC Radio.

WTOC added an FM station in 1946.^[6] It first broadcast at 97.3 MHz, later moving to 94.1 MHz (today WQBT). In 1954, WTOC-TV (channel 11) came on the air. Because WTOC radio was a longtime CBS affiliate, WTOC-TV also carried CBS TV programming and news.

Switch to MOR

As network programming shifted to television in the 1950s, WTOC became a full service middle of the road (MOR) music station. WTOC aired many features, both network and local, as well as having significant news programming. It was not until the mid-1970s that WTOC became much more contemporary with its programming. For a while, the station called its sound "The Love Rock," primarily playing what would today be called adult contemporary music. WTOC used TM's "Sound Of Chicago" jingle package, which had been created for WMAQ.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, WTOC-FM used BPI's beautiful music format. In the mid-1970s, it switched to BPI's country music format, and became "Country 94".

Great American Country

In 1979, the Knights sold WTOC radio and television to the American Family Life Assurance Company from Columbus, Georgia. American Family spun the radio stations off to Bluegrass Broadcasting of Lexington, Kentucky. Bluegrass built a large studio-office complex adjacent to the AM transmitter site on Alfred Street, and renamed the AM WWSA ("Working With Savannah") and the FM became WCHY-FM. In 1987, the AM switched to the WCHY call letters. It flipped to classic country music, using the "Great American Country" syndicated service, while the FM continued with contemporary country.^[7]

WCHY (AM) and WCHY-FM were sold by Roth Broadcasting in 1995 to WP Radio. When WP Radio decided to leave broadcasting, it sold the stations to Patterson Broadcasting.^[8] In May 1998, WCHY switched to a children's radio format, becoming the Radio Disney affiliate in Savannah.

Talk radio format

In 2000, the station was acquired by Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia. Clear Channel flipped the station's format to talk radio. The Federal Communications Commission assigned the station the WTKS call letters on January 25, 2002.^[1]

On March 28, 2011, Clear Channel purchased an FM translator for WTKS, allowing the station to be heard on 97.7 FM as well as 1290 AM.^[9]

FM translator

References

External links

• FCC History Cards for WTKS
• AM 1290 WTKS official website
• WTKS in the FCC AM station database
• WTKS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database