WZSK

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WZSK is a News/Talk/Sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Everett, Pennsylvania, serving Bedford/Somerset/Cumberland area. WZSK is owned and operated by New Millennium Communications Group, Inc.

[edit] History

This station for many years was known as WSKE, first going on the air March 15, 1963 with the call letters WWDS. On July 1, 1967, this station was acquired by Radio Everett, Inc., a company headed by country music disc jockey (and former country music entertainer) Melvin Bakner, known to radio listeners as "Shorty King". Like many small market radio stations, this one was run very much as a family business. Bakner's wife Sandra (also using the last name "King") served as the station's general manager, while he himself programmed the station with a popular country music format and did on-air work for many years.

The Bakner's also had a son, Martin "Marty King" Bakner, who learned the business from his parents, beginning to work for the station while still a pre-teenager. Years later, he would assume the duties of programming and operation of the station from his father, becoming program director by the early 1980s.

[edit] WSKE-FM signs on

WSKE, despite a very powerful signal at a low dial position that dwarfed those of its two AM competitors in Bedford, had one disadvantage, and that was the fact that it was required by the FCC to substantially decrease its power at local sunset, and cease operations two hours later in order to protect 50,000 watt clear-channel WHO, operating on the same frequency in Des Moines, Iowa. It became clear that WSKE would need an FM signal to stay competitive with its AM competitors in Bedford, which, as daytimers themselves, would soon get limited nighttime power authorizations of their own.

That opportunity presented itself in 1986, when Radio Everett petitioned the FCC for an FM license. Permission was granted to broadcast at 104.3 mHz, with an output power of 3,000 watts. On March 15, 1988, the 25th anniversary of its AM sister's debut, the new WSKE signed on the air, allowing the stations to simulcast 100 percent, providing the advantage of local radio service after sunset, while the AM was able to provide a much larger reach during the day because of its substantial signal, and that there were still many vehicles on the road that were not equipped with FM radios to receive the station. Though the FM could operate 24 hours, the owners chose to sign off at midnight.

In the 1990s, in an effort to avoid listener confusion with its co-owned FM station WSKE-FM, Radio Everett Inc changed the AM station's call letters to WZSK but continued to refer to both stations by their nickname, "SK Country", and continued to offer the identical country music format until the radio stations were sold to New Millennium Communications.

[edit] Sale to New Millennium Broadcasting

In the late 1990s, Shorty King began to have health issues, and soon retired from radio. Late in 2000 Sandra was diagnosed with liver cancer and began an intensive chemotherapy treatment program with which her doctors had hopes of an eventual life-saving liver transplant. Because of the extensive health concerns of both Shorty and Sandra, the Bakner family decided to sell the radio stations, with hopes of finding a local owner. Sandra died on August 27, 2001. The stations were sold to the new owners in September 2001, almost one month after Sandra lost her battle with cancer. Shorty King died of complications from congestive heart failure in December 2003.

One of the first changes put into place was the separation of programming between the two stations. Because most cars by this time were equipped with FM radios, and there was no news/talk formatted station serving Bedford County, it was decided to spin WZSK-AM off into a completely separate news/talk format, along with the adoption of the moniker "SK Talk" and later "News-Talk 1040". WSKE remained a country station and retained its call letters.

[edit] WZSK Today

Despite initial plans to the contrary, the new owners decided to lay-off Martin "Marty King" Bakner not long after his family sold the stations. He is no longer employed in radio, although he occasionally narrates radio and television commercials throughout Pennsylvania.

WZSK continues to serve Bedford County and portions of western Maryland with its format of news, talk and sports. New Millennium is a locally-owned and operated company, unlike conglomerates that dominate the landscape today. The station continues its operations from its longtime studio location at 151 East First Avenue, not far from downtown Everett.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for WZSK
• Radio Locator Information on WZSK