WIMA (AM)
| City | Lima, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Branding | NewsRadio 1150 WIMA |
| Slogan | Lima's News, Weather, & Sports |
| Frequency | 1150 kHz |
| First air date | 1935 |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 37498 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°40′47.00″N 84°6′34.00″W / 40.6797222°N 84.1094444°W |
| Callsign meaning | Lima |
| Affiliations |
Cincinnati Bengals Radio Network Fox News Radio Premiere Radio Networks ABC Radio Ohio State IMG Sports Network |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.) |
| Website | 1150 WIMA |
WIMA "The Talk Station" is a commercial AM broadcasting station operating at 1150 kHz in Lima, Ohio owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. which also operates FM sister stations WIMT, WLWD, WZRX-FM and WMLX from its studio and office location on West Market Street. Its transmitter is located on McClain Road in Fort Shawnee. It is Lima's first and oldest commercial radio station. The call letters, when spoken like a word rhymes with the city of Lima, which is pronounced with a long "i" sound, unlike the capital city of Peru.
Originally WBLY (at 1240 on the AM dial) which aired traditional middle of the road programming in the early 1930s then switching the call letters to WLOK in the early 1940s. Veteran broadcaster Hugh Downs started at WLOK while a student at Bluffton University in nearby Bluffton, Ohio. Long time Lima broadcast legend Easter Straker was program director for many years in addition to hosting "Easter's Parade" a live mid-day program on WIMA and on Channel 35.'"Easter's Parade" was a midday show similar to the popular Ruth Lyons show out of Cincinnati. Talk and topics were aimed at the women, mothers and children that were the early watchers of the 1950s. Straker would discuss national, state and local issues with the Lima woman in mind.She instituted the "Teddy Bear Fund" with the local hospitals. This was to provide funds for Teddy Bears to every child admitted to Lima hospitals. One way to raise funds was to invite children to come down to the studio to be interviewed by Easter while sitting in her "birthday chair." While they were being questioned she would ask if they brought any tax stamps for the Teddy Bear.The tax stamps were then used to buy Teddy bears for sick children. In return children were offered the chance to help themselves to pennies in a giant glass jar. The handful of pennies to a young person was a thrill. The TV show continued until 1984, and the radio show until 1991, ending a few months before Straker's death in April 1992 from colon cancer at age 73.
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