WWCK (1570 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of ...

. It is owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

and it broadcasts a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. Its

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s are south of the Flint city limits and the AM

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is east of downtown Flint near the intersection of Dort Highway and

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

. WWCK carries

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

and men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. By day, WWCK is powered at 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. But because 1570 AM is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

clear channel frequency, WWCK must reduce power at night to 179 watts to avoid interference. Programming is also heard on

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W297CG at 107.3 MHz, using the same

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WWCK-FM WWCK-FM (105.5 MHz, "CK105.5") is a radio station in Flint, Michigan, broadcasting a Top 40 (CHR) format. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and has programmed its current format since 1989. Its studios are located south of the Flint city li ...

. The FM frequency is used to brand both stations as "K 107.3".

History

WMRP

The station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

the air on . As WMRP (Methodist Radio Parish) in the 1960s, it served as a broadcast ministry of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

, featuring MOR music with some

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk program ...

shows. The conservative owners of WMRP-AM and WMRP-FM 105.5 (unrelated to today's current WMRP-LP at 104.7) refused to allow any cigarette or alcohol advertising on the stations. The United Methodist Church decided to sell WMRP-AM/FM in 1971, and the stations were purchased that year by John W. Nogaj, who converted 105.5 to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

and later

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

as WWCK (the calls being a tribute to

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW has a news/ talk format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

WCZN, WLQB, WWMN

The new owner installed a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format on AM 1570 with the new

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 ass ...

WCZN ("Your Country Cousin"). The country format was replaced by

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as w ...

as "Solid Gold 16" in 1974. In 1975, following the sale of WWCK and WCZN to Reams Broadcasting, WWCK-FM went full-time album rock, and WCZN picked up the Top 40 format. This was followed by religious programming as WLQB (1976), a female-oriented talk/

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 ...

format as WWMN (1981), and

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

as WGMZ (picking up the calls and format that were dropped by 107.9 FM when it became

WCRZ WCRZ (107.9 FM, "Cars 108") is a commercial radio station in Flint, Michigan, broadcasting an adult contemporary format and switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. WCRZ is the top-rated heritage station in the market. It ...

in 1984).

WWCK

In 1986, AM 1570 became WWCK and began to simulcast WWCK-FM (which switched from AOR to a CHR format on January the 1st of 1989 following the sale of the stations from Reams Broadcasting to Majac of Michigan). Originally a daytime-only station on a Mexican clear channel, a treaty signed between the American and Mexican governments allowed the station to broadcast full-time at reduced power at night in 1986.

took control of WWCK-AM/FM in March 2000, and a year later, WWCK dropped its simulcast of the FM station in favor of

urban contemporary gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

music via ABC Radio's "Rejoice - Musical Soul Food" network. The Gospel format lasted four years.

Talk radio

On March 1, 2004, WWCK switched to a

talk radio 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 featu ...

format. This allowed Flint to once again have a talk station of its own following WFDF AM 910's move into the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

radio market as a

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programmi ...

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

. WWCK featured a roster of mainly syndicated

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

show hosts including

Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as '' Life, Liberty & Levin'' on Fox News. Levin worked in the admin ...

John Batchelor John Calvin Batchelor (born April 29, 1948) is an American author and host of ''Eye on the World'' on the CBS Audio Network. His flagship station is New York's 710 WOR. The show is a hard-news-analysis radio program on current events, world his ...

and ''

Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...

''. News, weather, sports, and traffic reports were provided by anchors from

WJRT-TV WJRT-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for northeastern Michigan. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on Lapeer Road in Flint, with offi ...

, state news from The Michigan News Network and national/international news from Westwood One News. Weekend programs and hosts included

Kim Komando Kimberly Ann Komando (born 1967) is the host of two daily radio shows and one weekend radio show about consumer technology. On her weekly call-in show, she provides advice about technology gadgets, websites, smartphone apps, and internet security. ...

Joe Pags Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host. Biography Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...

Bob Brinker Robert John Brinker (born circa 1941) is an American financial advisor and radio host. From 1986 to 2018, Brinker hosted the syndicated financial radio show ''Moneytalk''. He previously had a show on local New York radio on WMCA. Prior to that B ...

Leo LaPorte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...

, ''USA Financial Headquarters'', ''Free Talk Live'', and ''Mike Avery's Outdoor Magazine''.

Classic hits and "K 107.3"

On January 1, 2021, WWCK changed its format from talk to

, branded as "K107.3". It also carries

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and men's basketball games.Michigan State Spartans Football Radio affiliates
Michigan State Football official site

Previous logo

References

External links

* * {{Cumulus Media WCK (AM) Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in Michigan Cumulus Media radio stations