City | Flint, Michigan |
---|---|
Broadcast area |
[1] (Daytime) [2] (Nighttime) |
Branding | Sports XTRA 1330 |
Slogan | Mid Michigan's Biggest Athletic Supporter |
Frequency | 1330 kHz |
First air date | October 1, 1947 |
Format | Sports |
Power | 5,000 watts (Daytime) 1,000 watts (Nighttime) |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 15768 |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°58′24″N 83°39′2″W / 42.97333°N 83.65056°W |
Former callsigns | WDLZ (5/22/89-8/31/90) WTRX (1/13/60-5/22/89) WBBC (10/1/47-1/13/60) |
Affiliations |
ESPN Radio Detroit Lions Detroit Tigers Detroit Red Wings Michigan Wolverines Flint Firebirds |
Owner |
Cumulus Media (Radio License Holding CBC, LLC) |
Sister stations | WDZZ, WFBE, WWCK, WWCK-FM |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wtrxsports.com |
WTRX (1330 AM, "Sports XTRA 1330") is an American radio station broadcasting a sports radio format in Flint, Michigan. It is the home of the Flint Firebirds, and the Flint affiliate for the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, Michigan Wolverines, and ESPN Radio. Its studios are located south of the Flint city limits in Mundy Township and its transmitter is south of Flint in Burton.
The station began broadcasting October 13, 1947, under the WBBC call sign. It was owned by Booth Radio Stations, Incorporated and was a Mutual affiliate. It was a popular Top 40 station in the 1960s and early 1970s, going by the name "Trix." Around 1975, WTRX migrated from Top 40 to adult contemporary and continued with that format until 1989, when it became an affiliate of Satellite Music Network's Z-Rock format as WDLZ. The station subsequently failed, largely due to the downward spiral in the local economy and the migration of many AM stations in the area to non-music formats. The station was also the Flint-area home of American Top 40 until 1986, the year eventual sister station WIOG, which had been the Tri-Cities AT40 affiliate at the time, moved to its present frequency of 102.5 and took over AT40 affiliation for the Flint area.
After a period of silence after WDLZ went off the air in 1990, WTRX came back on the air with its legendary call sign restored, but with no original programming. WTRX spent the first few years simulcasting Bay City station WMAX (AM)'s all-sports format until it established its own all-sports programming. The station became what it is today in 1996.