WTVN
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WTVN is a full-service AM radio station in Columbus, Ohio located at 610kHz. It has news, talk, and sports programs. The station operates as "NewsRadio 610 WTVN". It is the dominant AM station in the Columbus market and is consistently rated either #1 or #2 (to WNCI's #1) by Arbitron. The call letters WTVN are reported to stand for T)he V)oice of N)ews.
Although WTVN only uses 5kW of power during the day, the station can be heard as far away as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Cleveland. At night, the signal is much more limited and can be difficult to receive even within Columbus. There were plans to improve WTVN's signal by adding a new antenna array and increasing power to 50kW, but these plans fell through when zoning problems could not be resolved. Ultimately, WTVN tried to claim the right to build new towers as a "public utility" but lost in court on May 12 2002.
WTVN is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications.
At one time, when WTVN still aired music programming, the station broadcast using C-QUAM AM Stereo. The stereo equipment was installed in 1988 but it wasn't until 1992 that the station operated in full stereo. Analog stereo transmissions ended many years ago. WTVN began broadcasting in HD-Radio in June 2005.
The former WTVN-TV now operates as WSYX. The former WTVN-FM now operates as WLVQ. Neither is owned by Clear Channel.
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History
WTVN originally started as WBAV 640 on April 29, 1922. The call letters were later changed to WAIU, which stood for A)merican I)nsurance U)nion. The call letters were again changed, this time to WHKC. Shortly thereafter, WHKC (still at 640 kHz) swapped frequencies with an Akron station operating at 610 kHz, forming 610 WHKC. The station adopted its current call letters in the early 1950s.
Trivia
American Insurance Union owned the AIU Building (now the LeVeque Tower) in Columbus, which at the time was the tallest building in the city. Various radio facilities were located at the top of the skyscraper. American Insurance Union later became part of Nationwide Insurance, owner of Nationwide Communications, and parent company of WNCI.
Programming
Current weekday programming on WTVN includes:
- Coast to Coast AM
- The Bob Connors Show
- The Glenn Beck Program
- Rush Limbaugh (since December 1993 when Limbaugh moved from WCOL (AM))
- The John Corby Show
- Joel Riley
- The Steve "Boom Boom" Cannon late-night radio rampage
WTVN aired Dr. Laura beginning in 1994, but she was replaced with Glenn Beck shortly after 9/11. Sterling Scheissler hosted the show following John Corby until October 2004, at which time his contract ended and was not renewed.
External link
- Official website (http://www.wtvn.com)