WATZ (1450 AM, "WATZ AM 1450") was a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting a

News-Talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. The station was licensed to the city of Alpena,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, serving the Alpena area. It first began broadcasting in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

and maintained the WATZ

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

since it signed on. The station was owned by Midwestern Broadcasting Company.

History

WATZ 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 Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

station at 93.5 FM. By this time, the format of WATZ 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 simulcasted the same programming. In the mid-'90s, WATZ was broken off from WATZ-FM and given its

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. WATZ remained locally owned and operated by the same company that founded it in 1946. On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 the engineers shut off the WATZ AM 1450 radio transmitter.Last Transmission WATZ AM Radio
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YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Midwestern Broadcasting surrendered WATZ's license to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) on July 7, 2014; the FCC cancelled the license the same day. WATZ's format and programming were moved to Midwestern Broadcasting's newly licensed

WZTK WZTK (105.7 FM) is an American radio station stunting with a Christmas music format. The station is licensed to the city of Alpena, Michigan. The station is currently owned by Midwestern Broadcasting Company. History WZTK was issued its broad ...

References

Michiguide.com - WATZ History

External links

{{ESPN Michigan ATZ (AM) News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Michigan Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Michigan ATZ