WTIK
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Broadcast area | Durham,Chapel Hill,Raleigh |
Frequency | 1310kHz |
Branding | La Ke Buena 1310 |
Programming | |
Format | Regional Mexican |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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History | |
First air date | July 4, 1946 |
Call signmeaning | "Where Tobacco Is King" |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 53105 |
Class | B |
Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 36°1′30.52″N78°54′7.03″W/ 36.0251444°N 78.9019528°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WTIK(1310AM) is aradio stationbroadcasting aRegional Mexicanformat. Licensed toDurham, North Carolina,United States, the station serves the Triangle area. The station is currently owned by Claudino Bonerges, Ashley Padilla Ayala, Brian Padilla, and Alexis Padilla, through licensee A&B Media LLC.[2][3]
History
[edit]On June 10, 1946, under Harmon Duncan, Durham's second radio station, WDUK, began broadcasting at 1310AMwith 1,000watts,and studios on Corcoran Street downtown, and its transmitter site on Leon Street in the Glendale Heights neighborhood. On July 4, 1946, James Floyd Fletcher, son ofCapitol Broadcasting Companyfounder A.J. Fletcher, started the city's third radio station, WTIK, at 730 AM with studios downtown and an antenna on Ellis Road. In 1950, the stations merged and took the letters WTIK and the 1310 frequency.
In 1956, Fletcher and Duncan sold WTIK to the Welch family's W & W Broadcasting ofSalisbury, North Carolina,as they had moved on to found Durham's first television station, WTVD, channel 11.
AnABC Radioaffiliate, WTIK used several different formats includingMOR,rock and roll,[4]and latercountry,as one of the first stations in the state to embrace the format full-time.[5]
In 1964, WTIK added a third tower and increased power to 5,000 watts. Also during that time, a vandal cut a guy wire, causing the tower to fall.[4]
In 1969, Buddy Poole, who had worked for Harry Welch Sr. atWSATin Salisbury, moved to WTIK, another of Welch's stations. Poole's autograph party withLoretta LynnandFaron Youngattracted 3000 people. Poole became general manager in 1972 at age 26 and remained at WTIK for four more years.[5]
In the mid-to-late 1980s, WTIK was managed by Harry Welch, Jr.,-son of the W&W Broadcasting owner, Charles Welch, and veteran broadcaster Austin Rigsbee was Sales manager. Other employees included the long time morning show host Charlie "Country Boy" Cook who was on the air for more than 45 years when he retired, Program Director John Williford, who later left the station to work for WPCM, 101.1 FM, in Burlington, North Carolina, under the name Jack Daniels. Robert “Bucky” Miller was a beloved station DJ for years, who met numerous country stars during his tenure. WTIK was a full-time country music station with the positioning statement, 'North Carolina's First in Country, WTIK'.
In the fall of 1987, several short scenes for the movie "Bull Durham" were filmed in the WTIK broadcast studio. Producers reportedly had chosen the WTIK studio for the antiquated 1950s-era mi xing board at that time still in use featuring knobs instead of more modern slider controls. The scenes feature actor Garland Bunting as a radio announcer broadcasting the Bulls' away games.
In 1993, with increasing country music competition on the FM dial, WTIK switched to the satellite-deliveredSports Entertainment Networkand became the Triangle's first sports station. W & W was in the process of selling the station when it signed off in late 1993, only to return a year later under the ownership of Baker Media withcontemporary Christian musicduring the day and positivecountry musicat night.[4]
In 1997, "La Que Buena"(The Great One) added a second Spanish-language alternative to Durham radio.[6]In 2004, "Mi Gente"(My People) became the first of two new names for WTIK;"La Rumba"followed in the summer of the same year. The station was owned byBlacksburg, Virginia-basedBaker Communicationsuntil 2004, when the station was sold toDavidson Media Group.[4]
In 2005, plans were announced for Spanish broadcaster Que Pasa to lease WTIK's air time for a contemporary Latin format to complement the regional Mexican moving from former sister stationWDRU,1030 AM, toWLLQ,WRTGandWGSB.In the summer of 2005, the contemporary format debuted as "Que Pasa Mixx".[7]On April 1, 2006, WTIK's black gospel programming moved to new sister station,WRJD,1410 AM, allowing WTIK to air 24-hour Spanish language programming.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bf/WTIK_LaMega1310_logo.png)
On July 13, 2015, both WTIK and WRJD were sold to TBLC Media as part of a twelve-station deal with Davidson Media, which included stations in Charlotte, Greensboro, Richmond, Spartanburg, and Kansas City.[8]The sale, at a purchase price of $3.5 million, was consummated on November 5, 2015.
From late 2011 until December 2014, WTIK was also heard in southeastern North Carolina viaWZKB,94.3 FM, in Wallace.
Effective May 6, 2021, TBLC Media sold WTIK and WRJD to Stuart Epperson's Truth Broadcasting Corporation for $200,000. Effective November 5, 2021, Truth Broadcasting sold WTIK to A&B Media LLC for $10,000.
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for WTIK".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"WTIK Facility Record".United StatesFederal Communications Commission,audio division.
- ^"WTIK Station Information Profile".Arbitron.
- ^abcd"Raleigh-Durham Radio Waves".
- ^ab"Poole celebrates 50 years in radio, is grand marshal of Faith parade".Salisbury Post.July 3, 2014.RetrievedJuly 3,2014.
- ^La Raza Chicago, Inc – Mira quién habla…
- ^Triad radio stations getting new kind of Spanish format – The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:
- ^Venta, Lance (July 14, 2015)."Davidson Media Sells 12".RadioInsight.RetrievedJuly 19,2015.
External links
[edit]- Facility details for Facility ID 53105 (WTIK)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
- WTIKinNielsen Audio's AM station database