WTKK

Infobox Radio Station
name = WTKK


city = Boston, MA
area = Boston, MA
branding = 96.9 FM WTKK
slogan = "Boston's Talk Evolution"
airdate = 1948
frequency = 96.9 (MHz) HD Radio
96.9 HD-2 for All Irish Music
format = Talk radio
erp = 22,500 watts
haat = 224 meters
class = B
facility_id = 25050
owner = Greater Media
licensee = Greater Boston Radio, Inc.
webcast = [http://bdcast-greatermedia-wtkk-fm.wm.llnwd.net/bdcast_greatermedia_wtkk-fm Listen Live]
website = [http://www.wtkk.com/ www.wtkk.com]
callsign_meaning = Tal"'K

WTKK is a New England commercial talk radio station, first broadcast out of Boston on 96.9 FM beginning in 1999. It can be heard in Eastern Massachusetts, the northernmost area of Rhode Island, and southern New Hampshire and southern Maine. Stations on 96.7 in Rochester, NH and 96.9 in suburban Portland, ME limit WTKK's potential audience in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire. By transmitting from an office building in downtown Boston, its signal westward is dimished somewhat. Utilizing a feature recently added by www.fcc.gov, WTKK-FM's Height Above Average Terrain can be determined at several azimuth points from its antenna, and that value falls to its lowest point along 250 degrees, or WNW.

The station originated in 1945 as W1XHR (later WXHR), owned by Harvey Radio Laboratories. In 1967 WXHR was sold to the "Boston Globe" and became the beautiful music station WJIB (whose AM successor operates out of the old Harvey Radio Labs building in Cambridge). After several further ownership changes, it operated as smooth jazz station WCDJ from 1990 to 1993. After Greater Media bought the station, the station was converted to country as WBCS. The station became WKLB-FM in 1996 after the previous WKLB-FM was bought by Greater Media and consolidated with WBCS, with its frequency being converted to WROR-FM. Smooth jazz returned in 1997 as WSJZ after a format swap with what had been WOAZ (now WCRB); this was dropped in 1999 in favor of the current format.

The station is still owned and operated by Greater Media to this day, with studios in Dorchester along with other Greater Media properties.

WTKK's programming includes well-known personalities such as Michael Graham and Jay Severin. WTKK management attempted to add Boston Herald columnist and talk-show host Howie Carr to its lineup, but his long-time radio-station employer, Entercom-owned WRKO-AM, blocked that move by exercising a clause in Mr. Carr's contract allowing it to make a matching counter-offer.

Carr held out until November 16, 2007, after which point Carr returned to WRKO. On December 3, WTKK resumed broadcasting Imus in the Morning, which the station had carried until the April 12 firing of Don Imus for his comments about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team.

External links

* [http://www.wtkk.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.bostonradio.org/stations/25050.html Station History]
*FMQ|WTKK
*FML|WTKK
*FMARB|WTKK