WSAM
| City | Saginaw, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Tri-Cities |
| Branding | 1400 AM & 104 FM The Bay |
| Slogan | Continuous Soft Rock |
| Frequency | 1400 kHz |
| First air date | Cir. 1960 |
| Format | Soft Adult Contemporary |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 65930 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°25′0″N 83°55′5″W / 43.41667°N 83.91806°W |
| Callsign meaning | SAginaw, Michigan |
| Owner | MacDonald Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WKCQ, WMJO, WSAG |
| Website | thebay104fm.com |
WSAM (1400 AM) is a radio station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan and broadcasting at 1400 kHz with 1,000 watts of power. The station is simulcasted with FM sister station WSAG-FM at 104.1 mHz and are collectively known as The Bay, in reference to their close proximity to the Saginaw Bay.
WSAM was one of the first broadcasters in the Tri-Cities, predated only by WBCM in Bay City (which signed on in 1925). The original licensee was the Saginaw Broadcasting Company, owned by Milton Greenebaum. A construction permit for WSAM was issued by the Federal Communications Commission in March 1940. The original frequency of WSAM was 1200kHz with 100 watts of power. In June 1940, a license to cover was granted, moving WSAM up the dial to 1230 kHz which allowed for extended hours of nighttime operation, provided that co-channel WMPC in Lapeer signed off for the night. WSAM's studio and transmitter were originally located at Bay Road and Weiss Street on Saginaw's West side. The tower has been removed but the building still stands as part of an auto service garage.
In 1942, WSAM moved to its current frequency of 1400kHz with 250 watts of power. In 1949, WSAM moved to its current transmitter site on Whittier Street on Saginaw's East Side. The station's over 300 foot tall self-supporting tower is a local eastside Saginaw landmark, and was originally constructed for both the radio station and television station WNEM. The TV station later abandoned their plans to broadcast from the MacDonald tower and moved to Indiantown. WSAM was one of the first to invest in Frequency Modulation as it added an FM antenna to its AM tower that same year. In 1955, WSAM was bought by Michigan broadcasting mogul Fred Knorr, who was program director at WHLS in Port Huron before buying WKMH in Detroit. Knorr would later own the Detroit Tigers with partner John Fetzer. Following Knorr's death, the Saginaw Broadcasting Company was sold to Kenneth H. MacDonald of Ann Arbor in 1962.
...
Wikipedia