WDTK

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WDTK, known on the air as NewsTalk 1400, is a conservative-oriented news/talk radio station broadcasting at 1400 kHz on the AM dial in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by Salem Communications, one of the nation's largest owners of Christian-oriented radio stations.

WDTK is the Detroit outlet for such syndicated conservative talkers as Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Michael Savage, and Michael Medved.

The station began in November 1925 at 1170 kHz as WMBC. The calls stood for the station's original owners, the Michigan Broadcast Company. WMBC's frequency changed to 1230 in 1927 and to 1420 in 1930. WMBC was an early outlet for religious programming and gospel music in Detroit, but was probably most famous as the home of conservative radio commentator Jerry Buckley, who was shot dead in the lobby of the LaSalle Hotel in 1930 after successfully campaigning for a mayoral recall election in which then-mayor Charles Bowles lost.

WMBC's call letters were changed to WJLB in 1939 after the station was acquired by John Lord Booth (who renamed the station for himself), and in 1941 the station settled on its current home of 1400 kHz. Being a small independent station, WJLB relied on brokered programming to pay the bills, much of which was ethnic in nature, including many programs targeted toward Detroit's African-American community. One of WJLB's most popular programs during its early years was the Interracial Goodwill Hour, a jazz and R&B show hosted by later Cleveland radio legend Bill Randle.

By the 1960s, WJLB had competition for Detroit's black audience in the form of 1440 AM WCHB and later 107.5 FM WGPR, and WJLB evolved into a chiefly R&B/soul music station, using the slogan "Tiger Radio" for a time in the late 1960s. Perhaps WJLB's most well-known personality in the 1960s and 1970s was Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg, one of the first successful female air personalities in Detroit, best known for her trademark line, "I betcha!" In the early 1970s, Steinberg led the WJLB air staff in protesting the fact that the station employed no African-Americans outside of the air personalities.

In 1980, in response to the growing popularity of FM radio, WJLB-AM 1400 switched call signs and formats with its ethnic sister station, WMZK-FM 97.9. WJLB-FM was updated to the then-new urban contemporary format and has been a top-rated station in Detroit since. However, WJLB-FM dropped Steinberg's show, and Martha Jean the Queen found herself without a radio home until 1982, when a Steinberg-led group called TXZ Corporation purchased WMZK-AM 1400 and changed the calls to WQBH (the calls stood for Queen Broadcasts Here). WQBH took on a full-service format of R&B and gospel music and African-American-oriented talk which would continue for over two decades. With backing from Michigan National Bank, Steinberg took full ownership of WQBH (as "Queen's Broadcasting Corporation") in 1997. After Steinberg's death in January 2000, ownership of the station reverted to a consortium of her three daughters and the Order of the Fisherman Ministry. WQBH continued to air broadcasts of Steinberg's past programs after her death.

In March 2004, Salem Communications announced that it would be acquiring WQBH from the Steinberg family for $4.75 million. The sale was finalized in May, and in September, Salem changed WQBH's calls to WDTK and installed the current conservative news/talk format.

With a 1,000-watt signal that does not reach far beyond the immediate city of Detroit, WDTK is a weak competitor to 50,000-watt WJR, but does have a small but loyal audience.

[edit] Weekday Schedule

(As of April 2007)

6-9 a.m.: Morning In America with Bill Bennett
9 a.m.-noon: Laura Ingraham
Noon-3 p.m.: Dennis Prager
3-6 p.m.: Michael Medved
6-9 p.m.: Dennis Miller
9-10 p.m.: Tatum Eason (local show)
10 p.m.-1 a.m.: Michael Savage
1-3 a.m.: Hugh Hewitt

[edit] Further reading

"You're Gonna Like It... I Bet'cha!", chapter on Martha Jean "The Queen" Steinberg from Rockin' Down the Dial: A History of Detroit Radio from Jack the Bellboy to the Big 8, by David Carson (University of Michigan Press). Details Steinberg's early career in Detroit at WCHB-AM and WJLB-AM.