WDTK
Broadcast area | Metro Detroit |
---|---|
Frequency | 1400 kHz |
Branding | FM 101.5 & AM 1400 The Patriot |
Programming | |
Format | Conservative talk radio |
Network | Townhall Radio News |
Affiliations | Salem Radio Network Premiere Networks Wayne State University Sports |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WLQV | |
History | |
First air date | November 1925 |
Former call signs | WMBC (1925–39) WJLB (1939–80) WMZK (1980–82) WQBH (1982–2004) |
Call sign meaning | "Detroit talk" |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 68641 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°24′22″N 83°06′44″W / 42.40611°N 83.11222°W |
Translator(s) | 101.5 W268CN (Detroit) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | www |
WDTK (1400
.WDTK transmits with 1,000
Programming
Most of WDTK's weekday schedule is from the co-owned Salem Radio Network's line up of talk shows: Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Charlie Kirk, Sebastian Gorka and Brandon Tatum. A local hour of talk is heard at 6pm, hosted by Darryl Wood. WDTK also carries The Sean Hannity Show from Premiere Networks.
On weekends, WDTK features shows on money, health, the outdoors and travel. Syndicated weekend hosts include Gordon Deal, Eric Metaxas and Rudy Maxa. Wayne State University football and basketball games are also broadcast on WDTK. Most hours begin with an update from Townhall Radio News.
History
WMBC
The station began in November 1925 at 1170 kHz as WMBC. The call sign stood for the station's original owners, the Michigan Broadcast Company. WMBC's frequency changed to 1230 in 1927 and to 1420 in 1930. WMBC was an early outlet for religious programming and gospel music in Detroit.
It was also the home of conservative radio commentator Jerry Buckley, who was shot dead in the lobby of the LaSalle Hotel in 1930 after successfully campaigning for a mayoral recall election in which then-mayor Charles Bowles lost.
WJLB
WMBC's call letters were changed to WJLB in 1939 after the station was acquired by John Lord Booth (who renamed the station for himself). In 1941, with the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the station moved to its current home of 1400 kHz. Being a small independent station, WJLB relied on brokered programming to pay the bills.
Many of the paid shows were ethnic. This included many programs targeted toward Detroit's
By the 1960s, WJLB had competition for Detroit's black audience in the form of 1440 AM
WMZK and WQBH
In 1980, in response to the growing popularity of
Martha Jean the Queen found herself without a radio home until 1982, when a Steinberg-led group, the TXZ Corporation, purchased WMZJ 1400 AM. The call letters were switched to WQBH (standing for the Queen Broadcasts Here). WQBH took on a
WDTK
In March 2004, Salem Communications announced that it would be acquiring WQBH from the Steinberg family for $4.75 million. The sale was finalized in May, and in September, Salem changed WQBH's call sign to WDTK, which stands for Detroit TalK. It flipped the station to the current conservative talk format, using Salem Radio Network syndicated shows.
In late July 2012, WDTK added an FM translator. W224CC broadcast on 92.7 FM, signing on at 99 watts of power.
In the Fall of 2014 the Patriot began covering the "Detroit Catholic High School League Game of the Week." Jeremy Otto and Sean Baligian called the action. In 2015, the station added an afternoon drive time show hosted by Brendan Johnson. Darryl Wood later replaced Johnson.
On November 18, 2016, WDTK stopped broadcasting on its FM translator at 92.7 FM. It switched to a new translator in Oak Park, W268CN, on 101.5 FM. The former translator on 92.7 remains on the air, but was repurposed as a repeater for sister station WLQV. The translator on 101.5 is on the same frequency as Toledo station WRVF. The two station's signals overlap in some suburbs south of Detroit.
Further reading
- "You're Gonna Like It... I Bet'cha!", chapter on Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg from Rockin' Down the Dial: A History of Detroit Radio from Jack the Bellboy to the Big 8, by David Carson (University of Michigan Press). Details Steinberg's early career in Detroit at WCHB-AM and WJLB-AM.
See also
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WDTK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WDTK
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/W268CN
- ^ Sidney Fine, Violence in the Model City: The Cavanagh Administration, Race Reliations, and the Detroit Riot of 1967 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989), p. 184
External links
- FCC History Cards for WDTK
- WDTK in the FCC AM station database
- WDTK in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- W268CN in the FCC FM station database
- W268CN at FCCdata.org