WJTO
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| City | Bath, Maine |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Portland and vicinity |
| Branding | The Memories Station |
| Frequency | 730 kHz |
| Translator(s) | 98.3 W252BT (Freeport) |
| First air date | 1957 |
| Format | Adult standards/Oldies |
| Power | 1,000 watts daytime 6 watts nighttime |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 33287 |
| Callsign meaning | Where Jets Take Off |
| Former callsigns | WMMS (1957-1964) |
| Owner | Bob Bittner Broadcasting (Blue Jey Broadcasting Company) |
| Sister stations | WJIB, WJYE |
WJTO (730 AM) is an adult standards/oldies station licensed to Bath, Maine. WJTO is owned by Blue Jey Broadcasting Co. (Bob Bittner: 100% stockholder) and is a sister station to similarly-owned WJIB in Cambridge, Massachusetts and WJYE in Gardiner, Maine.
WJTO began broadcasting in September 1957 as WMMS ("Where Most of Maine is Served") under original owner Winslow T. Porter Sr. The callsign was changed in 1964 to WJTO for "Where Jets Take Off" — a reference to nearby Brunswick Naval Air Station.
In the 60's and 70's, WJTO, with studios located in downtown Bath, gave several Portland stations real competition. In 1971, the modern two-story building was constructed at the transmitter site (the current site owned by Bittner), and all was well until the late '70s when FM came into fashion. WJTO did have a powerful FM (WJTO-FM), which later became WIGY-FM and WKRH-FM; all three incarnations co-owned with WJTO. With listenership drifting to FM, the original AM station was getting less attention, drifting through several ownership changes until both stations went into bankruptcy around 1990. Off the air for 11 months, the FM was finally sold to a Rhode Island broadcaster (which still owns it, with call letters changed to WBCI).
Bob Bittner bought WJTO in March 1997, as the fourth station under his ownership. (In 1996-7, he sold two of his other stations, WNEB in Worcester, Massachusetts, and WKBR in Manchester, New Hampshire.) WJTO was a complete purchase: not just the station license, but also the equipment and real estate of 12 acres (49,000 m2), located on an ocean inlet. Later in 2003 and 2004, Bittner made two adjoining land and house purchases, creating a full residence 600' from the station, all situated on 220 acres (0.89 km2) in West Bath, Maine. Bittner uses the premises as a summer residence and keeps an extensive music collection for both stations at WJTO. On display at WJTO is much radio memorabilia, including many classic playlists from WABC (AM) during its "MusicRadio 77" days in the 1970s.
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