WTRC (AM)

WTRC (1340 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Elkhart, Indiana, and serving the South Bend metropolitan area. It is owned by Federated Media. The station airs a soft oldies and adult standards radio format provided by Westwood One's "America's Best Music" syndicated service, and is a Fox News Radio affiliate.

On the air since 1922, WTRC is one of Indiana's oldest radio stations. It has a power of 1,000 watts, and uses a non-directional antenna. The transmitter site is on Indiana Road near the Elkhart River in Elkhart.

WTRC is also heard on a 250 watt FM translator, W270DK on 101.9 MHz.

History

WJAK

WTRC's self-reported histories commonly list its start date as November 18, 1931, when the station made its first broadcast in Elkhart."WJAK Goes on Air Wednesday", ''South Bend Tribune'', November 17, 1931, page 3. However, government records report that station actually began broadcasting nine years earlier.

On December 1, 1921 the U.S. Department of Commerce, which regulated radio at this time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619 kHz) for market and weather reports. On July 28, 1922, a broadcasting station license, with the call letters WJAK, was issued to the White Radio Laboratory (C. L. White) in Stockdale, Ohio, for operation on the 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength. The station's call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs.

In 1923 the station was briefly deleted, then relicensed to Reverend Clifford L. White of the Church of Christ in Greentown, Indiana, now on 1180 kHz. In early 1926 the station moved to 1531 Washington Street in Kokomo, Indiana, and was owned by J. A. Keutz, who was also the owner and publisher of the ''Kokomo Tribune''. The debut Kokomo broadcast, of a local basketball game, was made on February 5, 1926."Publisher of Tribune Introduced Radio Broadcasting In Kokomo 24 Years Ago", ''Kokomo Tribune'', October 30, 1950, Part III, page 10.

On November 11, 1928, with the implementation of the recently formed Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WJAK was assigned to 1310 kHz with 50 watts, on a timesharing basis with WLBC in Muncie, Indiana. WJAK moved to Marion, Indiana in February 1929, after being sold to the Marion Broadcasting Company.

In 1931 the station's license was assigned to The Truth Publishing Company, Inc., co-owned with ''The Elkhart Truth'' newspaper, and the station moved to Elkhart, Indiana, where it has remained to this day. The debut broadcast at the new location, still as WJAK, was made on November 18, 1931, from the top of the Hotel Elkhart.

WTRC

On September 2, 1932, the call letters were changed to WTRC, standing for Truth Radio Corporation.

Due to the distance between Elkhart and Muncie, the requirement to share time with WLBC during daylight hours was eliminated. WTRC's daytime power was increased to 100 watts in 1933. In 1936, daytime power was increased to 250 watts and its nighttime power to 100 watts, and the nighttime timesharing requirement with WLBC was ended, allowing WTRC unlimited hours of operation. In 1939, nighttime power was increased to 250 watts. In March 1941, most stations on 1310 kHz, including WTRC, were moved to 1340 kHz, due to the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement. Through the 1940s, WTRC was Elkhart's only radio station, carrying the programming of the NBC Radio Network.

In early 1945 Truth Publishing filed an application for a companion FM station, which began operating as WTRC-FM in 1948, originally at 100.7 MHz. That station today is co-owned WBYT.

In 1961, WTRC's daytime power was increased to 1,000 watts.

Middle of the Road and Full Service

WTRC aired a middle of the road (MOR) format in the 1970s and 1980s."Directory of AM and FM Stations in the U.S.: Indiana: Elkhart"
''Broadcasting Yearbook'' (1974 edition), p. B-70. Retrieved April 26, 2019."Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada: Indiana: Elkhart"
''Broadcasting Yearbook'' (1979 edition), p. C-72. Retrieved April 26, 2019."Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada: Indiana: Elkhart"
''Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook'' (1982 edition), p. C-78. Retrieved April 26, 2019."Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada: Indiana: Elkhart"
''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook'' (1989 edition), p. B-100. Retrieved April 27, 2019. In the early 1970s, the station aired a MOR format during the day and a rock format at night. By the early 1990s, the station was airing a full service-adult contemporary format."Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada: Indiana: Elkhart"
''The Broadcasting Yearbook'' (1991 edition), p. B-110. Retrieved April 27, 2019."Directory of Radio Stations in the U.S.: Indiana: Elkhart"
''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook'' (1993 edition), p. B-119. Retrieved April 27, 2019. In 1994, it shifted to an all talk format. In 1996, the station adopted an adult standards format. It was branded "The Heartbeat of Elkhart" during this period.

In 2000, the station switched to a full service format, airing news-talk programming during the day and Soft Adult Contemporary music at night. By the end of 2002 talk programming had replaced all music on the station. WTRC was branded "News Radio 1340" during this period. Hosts included Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and The Dolans.

Oldies and Talk

In August 2009, WTRC switched to an oldies format as "Hippie Radio 1340".

In 2010, the station switched back to a talk radio format, as part of a simulcast with 95.3 WTRC-FM, and was branded "Michiana's News Channel". The station carried syndicated hosts such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Jason Lewis, and Lars Larson, as well as a local morning show. On May 5, 2014, WTRC reduced its fulltime simulcast of WTRC-FM, focusing on Elkhart through a partnership with sister newspaper ''The Elkhart Truth'', featuring a separate morning show. However, the two stations continued to jointly broadcast most other programming.

Standards and Soft Adult Contemporary

On February 17, 2017, WTRC fully ended its WTRC-FM simulcast, and changed its format to adult standards, branded as "Frank 1340", honoring popular 1940s, '50s and '60s singer Frank Sinatra.Zimmey, Jon.
New music format premieres on WTRC-1340 AM
, WTRC-FM. February 17, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019. WTRC-FM continued its talk programming.

In 2020, WTRC rebranded as "The Hart of Elkhart". The word "heart" was intentionally misspelled, to match the city's name, elkHART. It dropped its reference to Sinatra, who now only had a few songs on the playlist. The station refocused its era to the 1960s, '70s and '80s, playing mostly Soft Oldies.

Translator

In December 2018, WTRC began simulcasting on FM translator station W270DK 101.9 MHz.

References

External links

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FCC History Cards for WTRC
(covering 1922–1979 as WJAK / WTRC)
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{{South Bend Radio

TRC
Radio stations established in 1922
Radio stations licensed before 1923 and still broadcasting
1922 establishments in the United States
Adult standards radio stations in the United States