WTKA
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| WTKA | |
 |
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| City of license | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | [1] (Daytime) [2] (Nighttime) |
| Branding | Sports Talk 1050 WTKA |
| Slogan | The Leaders and Best |
| Frequency | 1050 (kHz) |
| First air date | 1945 |
| Format | Sports |
| Power | 10,000 watts (Daytime) 500 watts (Nighttime) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 47116 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Callsign meaning | The Ticket |
| Former callsigns | WPZA (12/87-2/93) WPAG (1945-12/87) |
| Owner | Cumulus Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WLBY, WQKL, WWWW-FM |
| Website | http://www.wtka.com/ |
WTKA is radio station located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that broadcasts on 1050 AM. Day power is 10 kW, night power is 5 kW. The station covers most of southeast Michigan.
First on-air as WPAG in 1945, the station was the first licensed to Washtenaw County, with studios on the third floor of the Hutzel Building, at the corner of Main at Liberty Streets in Ann Arbor. (Currently, a digital service called A3 Radio netcasts from the old WPAG studios.) Owned by brothers Paul and Art Greene, the call letters WPAG were selected to reflect their names. (For many years there was a ladies lingerie and apparel store down on the Hutzel Building's first floor, which caused long-time University of Michigan football broadcaster Bob Ufer to joke that WPAG really stood for "Women's Panties And Girdles".) WPAG also briefly operated a television outlet, WPAG-TV on channel 20 in the 1950s.
Meanwhile, the radio station went through a series of formats. WPAG played Top 40 music for much of the 1960s, then transitioned to a full-service format featuring MOR music in 1968. By 1982, WPAG was an adult standards station featuring Satellite Music Network's Stardust format, then changed to country music a short time later.
In December 1987, WTKA was purchased by Tom Monaghan and had its calls changed to WPZA -- a nod to Monaghan's thriving Domino's Pizza business. In late 1992, Monaghan (who now owns Ave Maria Radio, including Ypsilanti's WDEO), sold WPZA to the MW Blue Partnership; eventually, it went to Cumulus Broadcasting and then to Clear Channel Communications, who flipped the station to all-sports WTKA ("The Ticket").
WTKA is now owned by Cumulus Broadcasting due in part to a multi-station swap between Cumulus and Clear Channel that involved stations in Michigan And Ohio.
Today, WTKA bills itself as the "The Ticket: The Leaders And Best", home of University of Michigan sports. The Ticket carries U of M football, basketball and hockey as well as Detroit Tigers baseball games (a holdover from the WPZA era, as Monaghan also owned the Tigers at that time) plus some Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons games.
Go Blue Wolverine magazine editor Sam Webb and Andy Evans host "The Michigan Insider" weekday mornings from 6-10am. The show features many prominent guests, including sports writers John Bacon and Bob Paige, ESPN The Magazine Senior Writer Eric Adelson, and frequent interviews with University of Michigan coaches Rich Rodriguez, John Beilein, Carol Hutchins, Rich Maloney and more.
Webb also appears Sunday mornings from 9-10 on "The GoBlueWolerine Hour". The 10-12 spot is then filled by award winning Author John U. Bacon and Jamie Morris. Morris, aka J-Mo, is a former University of Michigan tailback. He played under legandary coach Bo Schembechler is the 1980's, becoming Michigan's all-time leading rusher in the process. Now, he ranks third on the all-time list, leading many Michigan fans to chant "Number Three" at the sight of his mere presence.
During Michigan Hockey Season, Andy Evans hosts "The Red Berenson Show" with legendary Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson. The show airs Tuesday nights from the Creekside Bar and Grill in Ann Arbor.
Luke Dewulf provides weekday traffic and sports reports in the afternoons, and occasionly sits in on "The Michigan Insider". The station also features The Colin Cowheard show, the Mike Tirico show, and The Huge Show with Bill Simonson.
On April 23, 2007 WTKA fired former University of Michigan hockey player Dave Shand from the station. Shand served as the co-host for the morning show titled "In the Locker Room with Dave Shand." The station gave no reason for the firing. Shand claims University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin pressured the station to fire him. Others say Shand was a liability on the air.[citation needed]
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