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| Broadcast area | Central Florida;Greater Orlando |
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| Frequency | 104.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Real Radio 104.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format |
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| Subchannels |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WFLF,WJRR,WMGF,WRSO,WRUM,WXXL,WYGM | |
| History | |
First air date | May 6, 1962; 63 years ago (1962-05-06) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Talks" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53457 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000watts |
| HAAT | 487 meters (1,598 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 28°34′52″N81°04′31″W / 28.581111°N 81.075333°W /28.581111; -81.075333 |
| Translator | HD2: 104.5 W283AN (Altamonte Springs) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | |
WTKS-FM (104.1MHz) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toCocoa Beach, Florida, and servingCentral Florida andGreater Orlando. It broadcasts a hybridhot talk andalternative rockradio format. The station is owned and operated byiHeartMedia, Inc., withstudios and offices is inMaitland, Florida).
WTKS-FM has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000watts, the maximum permitted fornon-grandfathered FM stations. Thetransmitter tower is off Fort Christmas Road inBithlo, Florida.[2] WTKS-FM broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. The HD2digital subchannel carries amainstream urban format known as "104.5 The Beat", which feedsFM translatorW283AN at 104.5 MHz.
On weekdays, WTKS-FM broadcastshot talk shows, aimed at a more youthful audience than would usually listen to conventionaltalk radio shows. Weekdays begin with "Monsters in the Morning", followed by "The News Junkie", "The Jim Colbert Show", "A Corporate Time with Tom & Dan" and "Real Laughs". From 10 p.m. to early morning, WTKS-FM switches toalternative rock. Weekends also feature alternative rock, with some specialty shows on Sunday mornings and evenings.
Parent company iHeartMedia had picked some shows from WTKS-FM as part ofXM Radio'sExtreme XM channel 152. That service was discontinued in 2008.
The station firstsigned on the air on May 6, 1962. WRKT-FM originally had anautomatedbeautiful music format, and was the sister station to WRKT (1300 AM, nowWKQK). The station was owned by C. Sweet Smith. It played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumentalcover versions of popular songs, as well asBroadway andHollywood show tunes.
In 1967, the station changed formats toprogressive rock with the newcall sign WKPE. The station was initially automated, but eventually added live announcers.[3] WKPE reverted to the WRKT call letters in 1977 with aTop 40 format as "Rocket 104", then shifting its format toadult contemporary in 1980.
Guy Gannett purchased WRKT-FM in 1981 with the intent of upgrading the 30,000-watt station to 100,000 watts from a new tower nearBithlo. The more powerful relocated tower would allow the station to serve the lucrative Orlandoradio market. The call letters were changed that year to WSSP. Abeautiful music format was planned, but WSSP initially adopted acountry music format asBrevard's Stereo Country 104. The country format was a temporary measure until the upgrade of the station's signal could be finalized.[4]
The move to Bithlo was completed in 1985, and WSSP becamebeautiful musicWSSPer 104 ("whisper"). For a number of years, "WSSPer" was one of the most popular radio stations in Orlando, often ranking as the #1 station in theArbitron ratings and posting shares as high as 17% in certain dayparts.[5][6] However, by the early 1990s, the station's ratings were down, and after stunting with a robotic countdown, WSSP switched to ahot AC format as WZTU,U104.1, on May 3, 1991, in the hopes of raising ratings and revenue.[7][8][9] "U104.1" failed miserably. Later that year, Gannett sold its radio stations in Orlando and Miami to concentrate on its television properties. WZTU was acquired by Paxson Communications Corporation, headed byLowell "Bud" Paxson (founder of theHome Shopping Network and laterPAX TV). After stunting with yet another robotic countdown, Paxson switched WZTU toCHR as WHVE "One Hundred-Four One, The Wave", at 7:45 a.m. on May 29,[10][11] but despite the programming expertise of Bill Pasha ofWAPE-FM in Jacksonville, ratings and revenues did not increase; the station came in 14th place in its first ratings book.[12] "The Wave" format was dropped on August 17, 1992, after only just three months.
WHVE then changed its calls to WWNZ-FM, and began simulcastingWWNZ's talk format, though it would air a few separate shows.[13] Paxson sold WWNZ-FM to Press Broadcasting, which also ownedWKCF, in 1993.[14][15][16] In May of that year, Press Broadcasting initiated the WTKS calls and the "Real Radio" format, which was talk shows during the week (includingHoward Stern from May 1994 through February 2004[17]) andalternative rock on the weekend.[18][19] Real Radio was created by Sabo Media CEO Walter Sabo for Press Broadcasting. The station was sold back to Paxson in 1996 and then came under the umbrella of Clear Channel Communications (nowiHeartMedia) in 1997. On June 21, 2007, Clear Channel announced the request of transfer for their entire Orlando cluster into theAloha Station Trust upon the consummation of the impending company buyout.[20]
WTKS held an annual "Kicks for Guns" program in association with theOrlando Police Department where citizens could exchange guns,no questions asked, for shoes. The program made international headlines when the 2007 exchange managed to net a surface-to-airrocket launcher.[21]
WTKS-FM HD2 originally aired a simulcast oftalk radio 540WFLF, and the HD3 subchannel aired a simulcast ofsports radio 740WYGM. WTKS stopped simulcasting WYGM on the HD3 subchannel on May 6, 2012, with the WYGM simulcast moving toWJRR-HD2, resulting in the demise of "Channel X". On February 12, 2014, the WFLF simulcast moved from W283AN 104.5 to W273CA 102.5 (displacingsmooth jazz), and WTKS-HD2 flipped to its current urban format as "The Beat", filling the void after long-time urban stationWJHM flipped toTop 40 the previous day.[22]
SBK Live originally aired from 7:00pm to 11:00pm Monday through Friday. After the show was cancelled Soul Brother Kevin moved back as a member ofThe Monsters in the Morning show.[citation needed]
The Buckethead Show with Buckethead (Jason Bailey). It originally aired from 11:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Friday. After the show was cancelled on June 26, 2013, Bailey went toCBS Radio'sWZGC-FM inAtlanta to co-hostThe Morning Grind with Randy Cross and Kristen Ledlow.[23]
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W283AN | 104.5 FM | Altamonte Springs, Florida | 149386 | 221 | 153 m (502 ft) | D | 28°36′23″N81°27′24.3″W / 28.60639°N 81.456750°W /28.60639; -81.456750 (W283AN) | LMS |