WTIK
| City | Durham, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Durham |
| Branding | La Mega 1310 |
| Frequency | 1310 kHz |
| First air date | July 4, 1946 |
| Format | Regional Mexican |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 53105 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°1′30.00″N 78°54′8.00″W / 36.0250000°N 78.9022222°W |
| Callsign meaning | Where Tobacco Is King |
| Owner | TBLC Holdings, LLC (TBLC Durham Stations, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WRJD |
| Website | http://www.lameganc.com/ |
WTIK (1310 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Triangle area. The station is currently owned by Mahan Janbakhsh's TBLC Holdings, LLC, through licensee TBLC Durham Stations, LLC.
On June 10, 1946, under Harmon Duncan, Durham's second radio station, WDUK, began broadcasting at 1310 AM with 1,000 watts, and studios on Corcoran Street downtown, and its transmitter site on Leon Street in the Glendale Heights neighborhood. On July 4, 1946, James Floyd Fletcher, son of Capitol Broadcasting Company founder A.J. Fletcher, started the city's third radio station, WTIK, at 730 AM with studios downtown and an antenna on Ellis Road. In 1950, the stations merged and took the letters WTIK and the 1310 dial position.
In 1956, Fletcher and Duncan sold WTIK to the Welch family's W & W Broadcasting of Salisbury, North Carolina, as they had moved on to found Durham's first television station, WTVD, channel 11.
An ABC Radio affiliate, WTIK used several different formats including MOR, rock and roll, and later country, as one of the first stations in the state to embrace the format full-time.
In 1964 WTIK added a third tower and increased power to 5000 watts. Also during that time, a vandal cut a guy wire, causing the tower to fall.
In 1969, Buddy Poole, who had worked for Harry Welch Sr. at WSAT in Salisbury, moved to WTIK, another of Welch's stations. Poole's autograph party with Loretta Lynn and Faron Young attracted 3000 people. Poole became general manager in 1972 at age 26 and remained at WTIK for four more years.
In the Mid to late 1980's WTIK was managed by Harry Welch, Jr. Veteran Radio broadcaster Austin Rigsby was Sales manager. Other employees included the long time morning show host Charlie "Country Boy" Cook who was on the air for more than 45 years when he retired, Program Director John Williford, who later left the station to work for WPCM 101.1 in Burlington, NC under the name Jack Daniels. WTIK was a full time country music station and bragged to be the first full time country music format station in NC. First in Country, WTIK.
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Wikipedia