| Broadcast area | Southeast Michigan |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1050kHz |
| Branding | The Big 1050 WTKA |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports |
| Network | Infinity Sports Network |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WLBY,WQKL,WWWW-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | April 26, 1945; 79 years ago (1945-04-26) (as WPAG) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "TalK" (previous format) or "Ticket" (previous branding), Ann Arbor |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 47116 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 10,000watts day 500 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°8′46″N83°39′36″W / 42.14611°N 83.66000°W /42.14611; -83.66000 |
| Repeater(s) | 102.9 WWWW-HD2 (Ann Arbor) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | thebig1050.com |
WTKA (1050AM) is acommercialradio station inAnn Arbor, Michigan, known as "The Big 1050 WTKA." It broadcasts asports radioformat and is owned byCumulus Media. Thestudios and offices are on Victors Way in Ann Arbor.
By day, WTKA is powered at 10,000watts, covering most of southeast Michigan. Because1050 AM is a Mexicanclear channel frequency reserved forXEG inMonterrey, WTKA reduces power to 500 watts at night to avoid interference. It uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array. Thetransmitter is on Stony Creek Road inYork Charter Township, Michigan.[2]
TheMichiganInsider.com's Sam Webb and WTKA Program Director Ira Weintraub host "The Michigan Insider" weekday mornings. The show features prominent sports guests, including sports writer John Bacon, Yahoo Sports contributor Eric Adelson, and frequent interviews with University of Michigan coaches John Beilein, Carol Hutchins, Erik Bakich and more. One of the most popular features on "The Michigan Insider" is "Recruiting Roundup" at 7:45am with the latest information on Michigan football and basketball recruiting. The segment is recorded and is available on the station's website.
In afternoondrive time, WTKA features 'The M-Zone' with Jamie Morris. The rest of the schedule mostly comes fromCBS Sports Radio. WTKA also carriesDetroit Red Wingshockey,Detroit Tigersbaseball andMichigan Wolverinescollege football,hockey andbasketball.
In the 1920s, there were three short-lived radio stations licensed to Ann Arbor: WMAX (1922), WQAJ (1923; owned by theAnn Arbor News) and WCBC (1924–25; owned by theUniversity of Michigan). In addition, WJBK (nowWLQV), licensed to nearbyYpsilanti, signed on in 1925. In 1940, WJBK was moved to Detroit, leavingWashtenaw County without a radio station untilWPAG first took to the air. Itsigned on the air on April 26, 1945; 79 years ago (1945-04-26).
WPAG's studios were located on the third floor of the Hutzel Building, at the corner of Main at Liberty Streets in Ann Arbor. (Currently, a digital service calledA3 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-timeUniversity of Michiganfootball broadcasterBob 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.
In the 1960s, WPAG was one of several stations in the Ann Arbor market featuringTop 40 musical fare. One of its most popular personalities was Dave Pringle, who later became a fixture on Detroit radio as "Dave Prince." (He adopted that name afterBillboard Magazine mistakenly referred to him as such in one issue, and Pringle decided he liked "Prince" better.) The station is also notable for being possibly the first to playBob Seger, who grew up in Michigan. In 1961, Seger convinced the station to play a demo of "The Lonely One," a song he had recorded with his group at the time, the Decibels.
By 1970, WPAG had transitioned to afull service format featuringMOR/adult contemporary music. It was anaffiliate of theABC Information Network. The station remained successful until the late 1970s, when a recession led to declining business and forced the laying off of several employees. An early 1980s change to anadult standards format garnered the station increased audience, but from advertiser-unfriendly older demographics. After a return to the station's longtime AC format proved unsuccessful, WPAG made a switch tocountry music after Christmas of 1985. The new "1050 Country", consulted by Ed Buchanan ofGrand Rapids' successfulWCUZ, was intended as a cosmopolitan variant of the country format for Ann Arbor and mixed in compatible soft rock titles by artists such as Bob Seger andCrosby, Stills and Nash, alongside current and classic country hits.
In December 1987, the station was purchased byTom Monaghan and had itscall sign changed toWPZA, a nod to Monaghan's thrivingDomino's Pizza business. Under Monaghan, the unsuccessful cosmopolitan country format was dumped for another stab at full-service adult contemporary. In late 1992, Monaghan (who later ownedAve Maria Radio, includingYpsilanti'sWDEO), sold WPZA to the MW Blue Partnership. Eventually, it went toCumulus Broadcasting and then toClear Channel Communications.
Clear Channel flipped the station toWTKA. In 1997, WTKA's daytime schedule featuring a variety of programming, ranging from local sports and financial talk shows, a farm report, thenationally syndicatedJoy Browne advice show, theAlan Colmes talk show, and theOne-on-One Sports Network.[3]
In 1999, WTKA began using the brand name "The Ticket" and revamped its program lineup to be primarily sports programming, withESPN Radio outside of local shows and the farm report.[4][5] WTKA is once again 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 "Sports Talk 1050 AM", the official voice of theUniversity of Michigan sports in Ann Arbor. It is not, however, theflagship station. That status belongs toWWJ 950 in Detroit. Sports Talk 1050 AM carries U-Mcollege football,basketball, andhockey as well asDetroit Red Wings hockey andDetroit Tigers baseball. The Tigers are a holdover from the WPZA era, as Monaghan also owned the Tigers at that time.
On April 23, 2007 WTKA fired formerUniversity of Michigan hockey playerDave 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 directorBill Martin pressured the station to fire him, but a lawsuit against Martin on this claim was dismissed for lack of evidence.[6]
On August 26, 2024, WTKA rebranded as "The Big 1050 WTKA".