| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Louisville metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 1080kHz |
| Branding | Talkradio 1080 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WAMZ,WHAS,WKRD,WNRW,WQMF,WSDF,WTFX-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | November 1948; 77 years ago (1948-11) |
Former call signs |
|
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 55497 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 38°18′29.00″N85°49′45.00″W / 38.3080556°N 85.8291667°W /38.3080556; -85.8291667 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | talkradio1080 |
WKJK (1080AM) is acommercial radio station broadcasting atalk radioformat inLouisville, Kentucky. It is owned byiHeartMedia and serves North-CentralKentucky and South-CentralIndiana. It features programming from iHeart subsidiaryPremiere Networks as well asCompass Media Networks.[2] The station's studios are in the Louisville neighborhood ofWatterson Park.
By day, WKJK is powered at 10,000 watts. Because1080 AM is aclear-channel frequency, WKJK must reduce power at night to 1,000 watts to protect theClass A stations on 1080 kHz,KRLDDallas andWTICHartford, Connecticut. It uses adirectional antenna off East Daisy Lane inNew Albany, Indiana.[3]
The stationsigned on the air in November 1948.[4] Its originalcall sign was WKLO. The studios were in the Henry Clay Hotel.[5]
WKLO was one of Louisville's favoriteTop 40 stations in the 1960s and 70s. It was owned byDayton-based Great Trails Broadcasting, which also owned several other Top 40 outlets, all of them in Ohio includingWING,WIZE,WCOL (AM),WCOL-FM andWGTZ. WKLO provided competition to Louisville's main Top 40 station, WAKY (790 AM, nowWKRD). In 1979, WKLO began sharing its Top 40 format withsister station WKJJ (99.7 FM). Because co-owned AM and FM stations could not fullysimulcast the same programming at the same time, WKLO became a "shadowcast" delayed broadcast of WKJJ-FM (nowWDJX).
In 1980, it became WCII. It tried several formats, includingcountry music,oldies andChristian music. It returned to a simulcast of its FM sister and its Top 40 format in September 1988 (though it would briefly break away for anall-news format).
On June 24, 1991, the station flipped toChristian talk and teaching after it was leased out to different operators. Six months later, on January 13, 1992, it again flipped back to a simulcast of its FM sister. In April 1992, a fire at the base of one of the towers briefly took the station off the air.[6]
The station was assigned thecall letters WWSN on May 15, 1993. It was part of a warehousing move to put the call letters on107.7 FM after it signed on later in the year. By August, the AM occasionally split from the simulcast to air somealternative rock programming. Several months later, on October 15, 1993, the station changed its call sign to WDJX.[7] In September 1994, it ended the simulcast and returned to all-news as "The News Resource", WRES. During this time, the station airedAP Radio News andNBC Talknet programs.[8]
In July 1995, WRES flipped toclassic country as "The Hawk", WHKW.[9] The format was moved from98.9 FM. It later became "KJ 1080", WKJK. On June 7, 1997, the station flipped toadult standards for a couple of years.
In 1999, WKJK flipped to atalk radio format.[10] With sister station 840 WHAS airing mostly local talk shows, WKJK became the Louisville home for iHeart's nationally syndicated shows, includingSean Hannity andGlenn Beck.
iHeartMedia owns two talk stations in Louisville.WHAS840 AM airs mostly local talk shows while WKJK's lineup is largelynationally syndicated programs. The schedule includesThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal,The Glenn Beck Radio Program,The Ramsey Show withDave Ramsey,The Sean Hannity Show (both of which are broadcast on a delay),The Joe Pags Show,The Jesse Kelly Show,Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb andDr. Asa Andrew on Call.
Weekends feature shows on money, gardening, travel and computers, including syndicated programs:The Kim Komando Show,In the Garden with Ron Wilson,Armstrong & Getty,Rudy Maxa World Travel andAt Home with Gary Sullivan. As asister station of 840WHAS, WKJK is a secondary home forUniversity of Kentucky sports, includingwomen's basketball andbaseball games, and forRacing Louisville FC women's soccer games.[11] Most hours begin with an update fromFox News Radio.