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WTMJ (AM)

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Coordinates:42°42′28.07″N88°3′57.3″W/ 42.7077972°N 88.065917°W/42.7077972; -88.065917
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WTMJ
Broadcast areaGreater Milwaukee
Frequency620kHz
Branding620 WTMJ
Programming
FormatNews/talk
NetworkABC News Radio
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WGKB,WKTI
History
First air date
May 15, 1922;102 years ago(1922-05-15)(as WCAY)
Former call signs
  • WCAY (1922–1925)
  • WKAF (1925–1927)
Former frequencies
  • 833 kHz (1922–1923)
  • 833 & 485 kHz (1923)
  • 1150 kHz (1923–1924)
  • 1130 kHz (1924–1925)
  • 1150 kHz (1925–1927)
  • 1020 kHz (1927–1928)
Call signmeaning
The Milwaukee Journal
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID74096
ClassB
Power
  • 50,000wattsday
  • 10,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
42°42′28.07″N88°3′57.3″W/ 42.7077972°N 88.065917°W/42.7077972; -88.065917
Translator(s)103.3W277CV (Milwaukee)
Repeater(s)94.5WKTI-HD2(Milwaukee)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewtmj.com

WTMJ(620kHz) is acommercialAMradio stationinMilwaukee, Wisconsin.Owned byGood Karma Brands,the station has anews/talkradio format.Itssign-ondates back to 1922 and for most of its history it was owned byThe Milwaukee Journalnewspaper. On weekdays, it airs news blocks duringdrive time,local talk shows in middays, sports in the evening and syndicated shows in late nights. It is theflagship stationforMilwaukee BrewersbaseballandMilwaukee Bucksbasketball.

By day, it transmits 50,000watts,the maximum for AM radio stations in the United States. At night, to avoid interference to other stations, it reduces power to 10,000 watts.[2]In addition, it broadcasts on 250-wattFM translatorW277CV at 103.3MHz.

History[edit]

WCAY and WKAF[edit]

The station was first licensed, with the sequentially assigned call letters WCAY, on May 15, 1922. It was owned by the Kesselman O'Driscoll Company, a music house located at 517-519 Grand Avenue (now Wisconsin Avenue) in Milwaukee. It was initially authorized to broadcast on the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz).[3][4]On May 24, 1923, WCAY was reassigned to 1150 kHz.[5][4]The next year ownership was transferred to the Milwaukee Civic Broadcasting Association.[6]

The station license was briefly allowed to lapse in 1925,[7]but it was quickly relicensed as WKAF to the WKAF Broadcasting Co., located at 130 Second Street.[8]The station was now jointly owned by Kesselman-O'Driscoll Co., the Hotel Antlers (the studio location), and station engineer H. L. Ford. WKAF's first regular broadcast was held on October 20, 1925.[9]

WTMJ[edit]

On April 20, 1927, WKAF was purchased byThe Milwaukee Journalfor $16,350. TheJournalchanged the call sign to WTMJ on May 10 to reflect the newspaper's name.[10][11][12]Station facilities were upgraded, including the building of a new transmitter site inBrookfield,west of Milwaukee. The new WTMJ also affiliated with theNBC Red Network.[13]

TheJournalalready had extensive experience with radio broadcasting. On May 1, 1922, it had sponsored the debut program on WAAK, Milwaukee's first radio station, which was owned by the local division of theGimbel'sdepartment storechain.[14]On January 24, 1925, the newspaper entered into an agreement as a joint, and dominant, partner in the operation of Marquette University's station, WHAD, which limited the university's programming to just one and one-half hour on Friday evenings. The newspaper's operations at WHAD ended on August 15, 1927, with the university returning to full responsibility for the station.[15]WTMJ aired afull serviceformat featuring a mixture of music, news, talk and local personalities along with sports play-by-play, as well as dramas, comedies and other programs from NBC.

WTMJ made its debut broadcast on July 25, 1927.[16][12]That day's broadcast featured music by the WTMJ Orchestra and included aremote broadcastfeaturing Bill Carlsen's orchestra. (Carlsen was later hired by WTMJ and went on to becomeWisconsin's most widely known radio and television weather forecaster.) On September 11, 1927, WTMJ was assigned to 1020 kHz.[10]WTMJ also began broadcastingUniversity of Wisconsin Badgers footballgames that year.[17]

AM 620[edit]

On November 11, 1928, as part of a major nationwide allocation under the provisions of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40,WTMJ was reassigned to its current frequency of 620 kHz. In November 1929, WTMJ broadcast aGreen Bay Packersgame for the first time.[13][18]

WTMJ was indirectly involved with the installation of the first directional antenna by a radio station in the United States. In 1929 a joint operation in Clearwater, Florida, WFLA-WSUN, was also assigned to 620 kHz.[19]WTMJ immediately complained that at the initial power allocation the Florida stations were causing significant interference to WTMJ's coverage, especially at night. WFLA-WSUN turned to the engineering community to determine whether a then-theoretical concept of a directional antenna could be installed to reduce the Florida station's signal toward Milwaukee. This led to the successful development in 1932 of the first modern AM directional antenna system.[20](WFLA moved to 970 kHz in 1941, withWSUNtaking its place in Tampa, followed by the current-dayWDAE)

1952 advertisement for WTMJ[21]

Radio City studios[edit]

Radio City, the home of WTMJ radio from 1942 until 2022; the building remains in use by WTMJ-TV.

In 1942, a new facility,The Milwaukee Journal's Radio City, opened for WTMJ and its FM sister station, W55M (later WMFM andWTMJ-FM), in addition to the yet-to-come WTMJ-TV. An article in the trade magazineBroadcastingreported that the building was the "first ever designed to house all three types of broadcasting".[22]

A 1944 survey byThe Milwaukee Journalfound WTMJ to be the most popular radio station in Milwaukee, especially for local morning showTop of the Morningand NBC radio'sThe Hour of Charmin evenings. WTMJ had gross advertising revenue of over $1.2 million.[23] Gordon Hinkley began a near three-decade career with WTMJ in 1951, starting as a staff announcer and host of the Sunday morningbeautiful musicshowInvitation to Beauty.[24]

Beginning in 1961, WTMJ promoted Hinkley to host its morning drive programTop O' the Morningand call-in talk showAsk Your Neighbor.[24]Top O' the Morningwas the highest rated morning show in Milwaukee for five straight Arbitron surveys from summer 1977 to summer 1978.[25]Hinkley hostedTop O' the Morninguntil 1984.[24]

Sports[edit]

In1971,WTMJ began broadcastingMilwaukee Brewersgames.WEMPbroadcast the inaugural Brewers season the previous year. WTMJ temporarily lost the Brewers to rivalWISNin 1981 and 1982.[26]

Having been the most popular station in localArbitronratings, WTMJ tiedTop 40stationWKTIin the top ratings spot in by spring 1990.[27]

Switch to news/talk[edit]

By the summer of 1990, most of the music shows had been discontinued. WTMJ began to be listed as a news/talk station in theArbitron ratings.[28] In 1993, WTMJ hired two new talk show hosts, liberalJay Marvinand conservativeCharlie Sykes.[29][30]Sykes joined WTMJ from rival WISN.[30]Marvin left forWLSin Chicago after seven months.[29]

Also in 1993, WTMJ lost the production rights to Wisconsin Badgers sports broadcasts because an employee submitted the bid for the rights minutes after the deadline had passed. Though the station no longer originated the network, it continued to be the network flagship underLearfieldCommunications, the new rightsholders.[17][31]

Power increase[edit]

WTMJ was granted permission in 1995 to upgrade to 50,000 watts days and 10,000 watts nights from a newdirectional antenna.It uses a six-tower array,located inUnion Grove,south of Milwaukee.[32]

In November 1997, WTMJ switched its national news provider fromCBStoABC.WTMJ returned to CBS on October 1, 2001.[33]

WTMJ logo from 2001 to 2013.

In 2002, Sykes and fellow WTMJ host Jeff Wagner led a campaign to recallMilwaukee County ExecutiveTom Ament,who was embroiled in scandal for abusing the county pension system; Ament controversially retired at the end of February 2002, rather than resign.[34][35]

In 2013, WTMJ made changes to its programming and management. In March, Journal Communications fired program director Joe Scialfa, who had been with the station for 14 years beginning as producer for the Charlie Sykes show.[36]That November, WTMJ elected not to renew its contract with the University of Wisconsin, thus ending over eight decades of broadcasting Wisconsin Badgers sports by 2014.WOKYandWRITbecame the new Milwaukee affiliates for the Wisconsin sports network effective in the 2014–15 season.[31][37]

Changes in ownership[edit]

Journal Communications and theE. W. Scripps Companyannounced on July 30, 2014, that the two companies would merge to create a new broadcast company under the E.W. Scripps Company name that will own the two companies' broadcast properties, including WTMJ, WTMJ-TV, and WKTI-FM. The deal separated the WTMJ stations from theJournal Sentinelafter nine decades, as the two companies' newspapers were spun off into a separate company under theJournal Media Groupname (that company merged withGannettitself in April 2016).

Both WTMJ Radio and WTMJ-TV eventually partnered with theMilwaukee Business Journalafter the sale for business coverage). The transaction was completed on April 1, 2015; E.W. Scripps will also continue to originate the Packers and Brewers radio networks.[38]

Sykes hosted his final show on WTMJ on December 19, 2016, nearly a month after theelectionofDonald Trumpas U.S. president.[39]In an essay forThe New York Times,Sykes said: "The conservative media is broken and the conservative movement deeply compromised."[40]

FM translator[edit]

On February 22, 2018, WTMJ begansimulcastingon amonauralFM translator, W277CV at 103.3 MHz. It has its transmitter on the WTMJ-TV/WKTI tower.[41]

The transmitter, formerly individually licensed to Frank Glass McCoy and leased to Scripps (who owns the physical tower and transmitter assets) and operated by Good Karma Brands, was formerly licensed toWaukegan, Illinois,and translated Kenosha public radio stationWGTDbefore the move of the translator to Milwaukee.[42][43]McCoy sold the translator license to Auslator, LLC in May 2019.

Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP(W) Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
W277CV 103.3 FM Milwaukee, Wisconsin 156555 250 D 43°5′29″N87°54′7.3″W/ 43.09139°N 87.902028°W/43.09139; -87.902028(W277CV) LMS

Additionally, the station is simulcast at 88.5 FM within the campus ofAmerican Family Field,allowing fans attending Brewers games to listen to the radio play-by-play of the game without thebroadcast delaypresented both by the satellite delay to WTMJ's studios, and for regulatory reasons.[44]

Good Karma Brands[edit]

On July 27, 2018, as part of its exit from radio, Scripps announced the sale of WTMJ and WKTI toGood Karma Brands.The stations became part of a cluster withESPN RadioaffiliateWAUK.[45]Morgan Murphy Mediaand other local groups have made investments in Good Karma Brands to back the purchase.[46]Good Karma took control of WTMJ and WKTI on November 1, 2018, thus separating the AM station from its TV cousin for the first time.[47]Shortly after, WTMJ'sHD Radiotransmitter was taken out of service as the station had since established an FM translator.

After trailing other stations, including iHeartMedia news/talk station WISN, for the first three months of 2021, WTMJ returned to the top of Milwaukee radio ratings in April 2021.[48]On October 27, 2021, the Green Bay Packers announced that it would end its longtime association with WTMJ at the end ofthe season,withWRNWtaking over the rights in 2022; production of the broadcasts had been transferred from WTMJ to the team in 2018.[49]WTMJ's final Packers broadcast was theNFC Divisionalgame, a 13–10 loss to theSan Francisco 49erson January 22, 2022.[50]

On September 28, 2022, WTMJ, WKTI and WGKB departed Radio City for new showcase studios based inThe Avenue MKE,within the Third Street Market Hall, two blocks from where it first broadcast as WCAY only a few months after the license's centennial.[51]

Programming[edit]

With hourly news updates fromABC News Radio,WTMJ airs news programming in morning and afternoon drive times. During the midday, the station airs live, local talk shows with Jeff Wagner and Steve Scaffidi. In the evenings, WTMJ has a three-hour sports talk showWTMJ Nightsfollowed bynationally syndicatedprograms in late night hours includingThe Ramsey Show,Rich Valdés America at Night,Our American Stories with Lee HabeebandThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.[52][53]

During weekends the station airs a mixture of local how-to programming, talk shows, local sports talk programs, sports play-by-play and national talk shows, for instanceThe Truth About Your Future with Ric EdelmanandCompass Media Networks'This Weekend with Gordon Deal,in addition to ABC News'Perspectivenews magazine, theCBS News Weekend Roundup,and CBS's podcastThe Takeout with Major Garrett.[52]

WTMJ has broadcast theMilwaukee Bucksbasketballteam andMilwaukee Brewersbaseballteam for most of their histories.[18]From 1929 to 2021, WTMJ served as the flagship radio station for theGreen Bay Packersfootball team.

Studios and transmitter[edit]

For eighty years, WTMJ was based at 720 EastCapitol Drivein Milwaukee, in anArt Decofacility known as "Radio City" in tribute to theNew York complex of the same name.

WTMJ and WKTI are the two primary entry points in southeastern Wisconsin for the state'sEmergency Alert System(EAS) alerts.[54]WTMJ's transmitter site is in Union Grove.

As of February 22, 2018, WTMJ'sHD Radiosimulcast on WKTI-HD2 (launched after Scripps' assumption of ownership) is broadcast within the core Milwaukee metro region bytranslatorW277CV (103.3 FM), which is licensed to Milwaukee and transmits from the WTMJ-TV/WKTI tower just north of Radio City.

WTMJ broadcasts with 50,000 watts during daytime hours, and 10,000 watts during nighttime from a six-tower site in Union Grove, south of Milwaukee. Its daytime signal can be heard in much of eastern Wisconsin and as far away as Chicago.[17]Four towers are used during the day, providing city-grade coverage to most of eastern Wisconsin (includingMadisonand Green Bay) and northern Illinois, with most of the Chicago area getting at least a grade B signal. At night, power is fed to all six towers in a directional pattern, concentrating the signal in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Chicago.

The station also regularly rates outside the Milwaukee market, doing so inSheboygandespite that city being within its own radio market.[55]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WTMJ".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^Radio-Locator.com/WTMJ
  3. ^"New Stations",Radio Service Bulletin,June 1, 1922, page 3.
  4. ^ab"History Cards for WTMJ".Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  5. ^"Alterations and corrections",Radio Service Bulletin,June 1, 1923, page 11.
  6. ^"Alterations and corrections",Radio Service Bulletin,September 2, 1924, page 5.
  7. ^"Strike out all particulars",Radio Service Bulletin,August 1, 1925, page 7.
  8. ^"New Stations",Radio Service Bulletin,September 1, 1925, page 3.
  9. ^"WKAF Takes Place on Air" by BCL,Milwaukee Journal,October 21, 1925, page 15.
  10. ^abThe Journal Company vs. Federal Radio Commission,5163,151-155 (D.C. Cir. 1930).
  11. ^"Revised List of Radio Stations and Wavelengths".The Washington Times.May 24, 1927. p. 14.RetrievedFebruary 13,2022– viaLibrary of Congress.
  12. ^ab"Newsradio 620 WTMJ's storied history".WTMJ. Archived fromthe originalon April 4, 2005.RetrievedFebruary 12,2022.
  13. ^ab"Our History and Heritage".Journal Communications. Archived fromthe originalon June 11, 2002.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  14. ^"Radio Tunes to Be Sent From Gimbels",Milwaukee Journal,May 1, 1922, page 1. WAAK was deleted on December 1, 1923.
  15. ^Marquette University entry,Education's Own Stations,S. E. Frost, Jr., 1937, pages 193-196. WHAD was deleted on May 29, 1934.
  16. ^"Journal's Radio Roots Go Back 20 Years; WTMJ History Told",Milwaukee Journal,August 23, 1942, page 6 (wisconsinhistory.org)
  17. ^abc"He's back! Mike Ditka!".Chicago Tribune.August 17, 1993. Archived fromthe originalon June 3, 2021.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  18. ^ab"Packers Radio Network".Green Bay Packers.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  19. ^"Alterations and corrections",Radio Service Bulletin,November 30, 1929, page 10.
  20. ^"The Development of the Directional AM Broadcast Antenna"by John F. Schneider, 2019 (theradiohistorian.org)
  21. ^WTMJ(advertisement),Broadcasting,September 15, 1952, page 17.
  22. ^"Fifth Anniversary"(PDF).Broadcasting. September 1, 1947.RetrievedOctober 7,2014.
  23. ^"Management, P.S. & Prestige Sells".The Billboard.56(34): 6, 11. August 19, 1944.RetrievedJune 8,2021– via Google Books.
  24. ^abc"Gordon Hinkley".Wisconsin Broadcasting Museum. January 8, 2014.RetrievedJune 17,2021.
  25. ^"Billboard Arbitron DJ rating performance".Billboard.Vol. 91, no. 14. April 7, 1979. p. 40.RetrievedJune 17,2021– via Google Books.
  26. ^Dudek, Duane (October 11, 2011)."Brewers, WTMJ radio a winning combination".Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon October 12, 2011.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  27. ^Zahn, Michael (April 29, 1990)."WKTI catches WTMJ in race for top station".The Milwaukee Journal.p. 17.RetrievedJune 3,2021– via NewsBank.
  28. ^"12+ Summer '90 Arbitron Results"(PDF).Radio & Records:45. October 12, 1990.RetrievedJune 16,2021.
  29. ^abKening, Dan (November 9, 1993)."Meet Jay Marvin, WLS' late-night, left-wing talk host".Chicago Tribune.Archived fromthe originalon June 17, 2021.RetrievedJune 16,2021.
  30. ^abChandler, Kurt (July 2000)."Charlie's bully pulpit".Milwaukee Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon November 6, 2016.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  31. ^abDudek, Duane (November 22, 2013)."After 86 years, WTMJ-AM to end Wisconsin Badgers broadcasts".Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon December 2, 2013.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  32. ^"FCCdata.org - powered by REC".
  33. ^"WTMJ-AM to become CBS affiliate".Milwaukee Business Journal.August 13, 2001. Archived fromthe originalon April 19, 2003.RetrievedFebruary 12,2022.
  34. ^Kissinger, Meg (February 9, 2002)."Radio hosts take center stage in recall drive".Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon August 3, 2002.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  35. ^Borowski, Greg J.; Johnson, Mike (February 22, 2002)."Ament quits".Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon September 14, 2002.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  36. ^Dudek, Duane (March 19, 2013)."WTMJ-AM plans to stay the course after firing program director".Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon May 21, 2013.RetrievedJune 23,2021.
  37. ^Kirchen, Rich (December 2, 2013)."Wisconsin Badgers games move to AM 920, Oldies 95.7".Milwaukee Business Journal.Archived fromthe originalon December 7, 2013.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  38. ^"E.W. Scripps, Journal Merging Broadcast Ops".TVNewsCheck.July 30, 2014.RetrievedJuly 31,2014.
  39. ^Glauber, Bill (December 19, 2016)."Paul Ryan thanks Charlie Sykes for lifting conservative ideas".Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon December 20, 2016.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  40. ^Sykes, Charles J. (December 15, 2016)."Charlie Sykes on Where the Right Went Wrong".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon December 22, 2016.RetrievedMay 30,2021.
  41. ^Venta, Lance (February 23, 2018)."WTMJ Launches FM Signal".RadioInsight.RetrievedMay 6,2018.
  42. ^Ellis, Jon (July 25, 2017)."Broadcasting News-July 2017".Northpine.com.RetrievedMay 6,2018.
  43. ^"WTMJ's FM Expansion Plans Threatened By Translator Dispute".July 24, 2017.RetrievedMay 6,2018.
  44. ^"American Family Field Fan Guidelines".Milwaukee Brewers, Major League Baseball.RetrievedSeptember 17,2022.
  45. ^"Good Karma Pays Off For Craig Karmazin".Radio & Television Business Report.July 27, 2018.RetrievedJuly 27,2018.
  46. ^"Morgan Murphy Media Invests In Good Karma Brands' WTMJ-WKTI/Milwaukee Purchase".All Access.RetrievedSeptember 28,2018.
  47. ^"Scripps Completes Two More Pieces Of Radio Division Sale".Inside Radio.November 2, 2018.RetrievedNovember 2,2018.
  48. ^"Nielsen Audio Ratings".Archived fromthe originalon June 1, 2021.
  49. ^Kirchen, Rich."Green Bay Packers switch Milwaukee radio home from WTMJ-AM to iHeartMedia sports station".Milwaukee Business Journal.RetrievedOctober 27,2021.
  50. ^Spaulding, Mike (January 22, 2022)."Packers playoff run ends after one game; fall to 49ers 13-10".620 WTMJ.RetrievedJanuary 23,2022.
  51. ^Albers, Andrea (September 28, 2022)."WTMJ Radio leaving Capitol Drive location after 80 years".WTMJ-TV.RetrievedSeptember 29,2022.
  52. ^ab"Schedule".620 WTMJ.RetrievedJune 3,2021.
  53. ^"WTMJ Nights".
  54. ^"Wisconsin EAS Plan"(September 2015)
  55. ^Ratings, Industry Directory and Program Supplier Guide(PDF).Vol. 1 [Special Supplement]. Radio & Records. 2005. p. 103.

External links[edit]

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