WATZ (AM)

WATZ

City of license	Alpena, Michigan
Broadcast area	[1]
Branding	NewsTalk AM 1450
Slogan	The Talk of Alpena
Frequency	1450 kHz
First air date	November 1946
Format	News-Talk
Power	1,000 watts
Class	C
Facility ID	71109
Transmitter coordinates	45°3′58.00″N 83°29′6.00″W / 45.0661111°N 83.4850000°W / 45.0661111; -83.4850000
Owner	Midwestern Broadcasting Company (WATZ Radio, Inc.)
Sister stations	WATZ-FM, WBCM, WCCW, WCCW-FM, WCZW, WJZQ, WRGZ, WTCM, WTCM-FM
Website	watz.com

WATZ (1450 AM, "WATZ AM 1450") is a radio station broadcasting an News-Talk format. The station is licensed to the city of Alpena, Michigan, it serves the Alpena metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1946 and has maintained the WATZ call sign since it signed on. The station is currently owned by Midwestern Broadcasting Company.

History [edit]

WATZ AM signed on the air in November, 1946 as a full-service local radio station and was, for many years, the only broadcaster in Alpena. In the late 1960s, WATZ-FM signed on as an adult contemporary station at 93.5 FM. By this time, the format of WATZ-AM was primarily country. In 1988, the format of WATZ-FM was changed to country and the signal moved to 99.3 so the station could boost its power from 3,000 to 50,000 watts. For the next several years, WATZ-FM and WATZ-AM simulcasted the same programming. In the mid-90s, WATZ-AM was broken off from WATZ-FM and given its current news/talk format.

WATZ remains locally owned and operated by the same company that founded it in 1946.

Sources [edit]

• Michiguide.com - WATZ History

External links [edit]

• Official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WATZ
• Radio-Locator Information on WATZ
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WATZ