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WTKS-FM
Real Radio 104.1
Broadcast areaGreater Orlando
Space Coast
Frequency104.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingReal Radio 104.1
Programming
FormatTalk
HD2: Classic Alternative
Ownership
Owner
History
Call sign meaning
W TalKS
Technical information
Facility ID53457
ClassC
ERP94,000 watts
HAAT487 meters
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.wtks.com

WTKS-FM 104.1 is a FM radio station playing the talk radio format. The station is licensed by the (U.S.) Federal Communications Commission to broadcast from Cocoa Beach, Florida, and serves mainly the Orlando and Central Florida areas.

Most of the programs are designed to appeal to young adults. The station suspends talk shows during weekends to play alternative, indie, and modern rock music. Over the past six years, parent Clear Channel Communications has picked shows from this station to be a part of XM Radio's Extreme XM channel 152.

Previous shows

  • Lex and Terry (tape delayed from Dallas) (weekday evenings 7pm to 11pm. Clear Channel moved Lex and Terry to WJRR 101.1[1]
  • The Hideout, replaced The Drew Show and lasted until November 2006 when due to budget cuts, it was dropped.
  • The Howard Stern Show, weekdays 6am to 11am(ish). Aired from 1994 to 2004. Syndicated from New York. Dropped this show in 2004.
  • The Phil Hendrie Show (weekday nights 11pm to 1am) A syndication rebroadcast.
  • The Bill Cross Show, weekday overnights 1 am to 6 am.
  • The Ed Tyll Show, weekday middays 11am to 4pm. Broadcast locally.
  • The Drew Show (formerly called The Drew Garabo Show), weekday evenings 7pm to 11pm. Broadcast locally and on XM Satellite Radio. Started its run weekday overnights 1 am to 6 am.
  • Real Groove on Fridays after The Drew Show. Local house DJs spun several sets.
  • The News Thing (later re-named News Thang), originally ran from 5am-6am, and as co-hosted by Drew Garabo and Carol Dedman. When The Drew Show moved to weekday evenings, Erik Dennison, host of the overnight talk show, Erik in the Dark, co-hosted. When Dedman became Assistant Program Director, Melissa Foxx was hired as her replacement. Foxx re-named the program the News Thang. Eventually the program expanded to an hour, beginning at 4am weekday mornings. Foxx was helped out by various interns.
  • Erik in the Dark, weekday overnights 1am - 4am. Same Erik as host of Sunday Night Vinyl.
  • LoveLine with Dr. Drew Pinsky and Adam Carolla, weekday evenings 11pm - 1am. Syndicated.
  • Love Phones with Jager and Dr. Judy, weekday evening 11pm - 1 am. Syndicated.
  • Passion Phones, weekday evenings 10pm - 12am. Various hosts over time including Wanda Roland, Susie "Cream Cheese" Cerrone (taking a brief break from her job with Metro Traffic) and Erin Sommers (later syndicated from Miami). Rich Kennedy produced Passion Phones with Erin Sommers which ended up being the #1 Arbitron rated program 12+ in it's hour-by-hour ratings (earning an 18 share).
  • G. Gordon Liddy, weekday middays.
  • Guy Kemp, weekday mornings.

History

104.1 FM began operations in 1962 as WRKT-FM with an automated Jazz format, the sister station to WRKT-AM 1300 (now WTIR).[2] The station was owned by C. Sweet Smith . In 1967, the station changed format to Progressive Rock with the new calls WKPE; the station was initially automated but eventually added more live announcers. WKPE reverted to the WRKT calls in 1977 with a Top 40 format as "Rocket 104," shifting its format to Adult Contemporary in 1980.

Guy Gannett purchased WRKT-FM in 1981 with the intent of upgrading the 30,000-watt station to 100,000 watts from a new tower near Bithlo and serve the Orlando market. The calls were changed that year to WSSP. A Beautiful Music format was planned, but WSSP initially adopted a Country format as "Brevard's Stereo Country 104." The country format was a temporary measure until the upgrade of the station's signal could be finalized.

The move to Bithlo was completed in 1985, and WSSP became Beautiful Music "WSSPer [Whisper] 104". For a number of years, "WSSPer" was one of the most popular radio stations in Orlando, often ranking as the #1 station 12+ in the market and posting shares as high as 17% in certain dayparts[3]. However, by 1992, the station's ratings were down, and WSSP switched to a Hot AC format as WZTU "U104.1" in the hopes of raising ratings and revenue. "U104.1" failed miserably. Later in 1992, Gannett sold its radio stations in Orlando and Miami to concentrate on its television properties. WZTU was acquired by Paxson Communications Corporation, headed by Lowell "Bud" Paxson[4]. Paxson switched WZTU to CHR as WHVE "One O' Four Point One, The Wave," but despite the programming expertise of Bill Pasha of WAPE-FM in Jacksonville, ratings and revenues did not increase; the station came in a dismal 14th place in its first ratings book. The plug was pulled on "The Wave" in August 1992 after only three months.

WHVE changed its calls to WWNZ-FM, simulcasting much of its programming from WWNZ-AM 740 with a few separate shows. Paxson sold WWNZ-FM to Press Broadcasting[5] in 1993. Press Broadcasting initiated the WTKS calls and the " Real Radio " moniker, which was talk shows during the week ( including Howard Stern for a few years ) and alternative rock on the weekend . The station was sold back to Paxson in 1996 and then came under the Clear Channel umbrella in 1997. On June 21, 2007, Clear Channel announced the request of transfer for their entire Orlando cluster into the Aloha Station Trust upon the consummation of the impending company buyout. In August 2008, the station that was actually transferred, and is also up for sale, is WTKS sister station WJRR[citation needed].

WTKS held an annual "Kicks for Guns" program in association with the Orlando Police Department where citizens could exchange guns, no questions asked, for shoes. The program made international headlines when the 2007 exchange netted a rocket launcher.[6]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Orlando Sentinel - WJRR changes up again - Lex & Terry in by
  2. ^ The designator WRKT has been reassigned to an FM station in another state
  3. ^ WSSP-FM 104.1 Cocoa Beach
  4. ^ who founded the Home Shopping Network and later PAX TV
  5. ^ who also owned WKCF 18 at the time as well
  6. ^ "Police get missile launcher during gun-shoe exchange". China Post. 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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