WTOD (FM)
WTOD (106.5 FM) – branded 106.5 The Ticket – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Delta, Ohio, covering the Toledo metropolitan area. Owned by the Mainstay Station Trust and operated by Cumulus Media, the station is the market affiliate for ESPN Radio and the Detroit Pistons radio and Ohio State Sports Networks. The WTOD studios are located in Toledo, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Whitehouse. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WTOD broadcasts over a single HD Radio channel, and is available online.
 | |
| City | Delta, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Toledo metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 106.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 106.5 The Ticket |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio Ohio State Sports Network Detroit Pistons |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mainstay Station Trust (Cumulus Licensing LLC) |
| Operator | Cumulus Media |
| Sister stations | WKKO, WRQN, WMIM, WQQO, WXKR, WQQO-HD2/W264AK |
| History | |
| First air date | August 1, 1994 |
| Former call signs | WUIA (1990) WMHE (1990–1994) WBUZ (1994–2000) WRWK (2000–2009) WLQR-FM (2009–2016) |
| Call sign meaning | Taken from the former WTOD (1560 AM), now WWYC |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 67275 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 4,800 watts |
| HAAT | 111.9 meters (367 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°30′50.5″N 83°51′00.2″W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen live Listen live (via iHeartRadio) |
| Website | 1065theticket |
History
The construction permit for this station was first issued in 1990 to Dickey Broadcasting, The first assigned call letters were WUIA and then WMHE, neither were ever used.
Dickey Broadcasting (which would slowly evolve into Cumulus Broadcasting) did not put the station on the air. This was due to confusion surrounding whether doing so would compromise FCC regulations. At the time, the FCC Rules prohibited a Broadcaster from having more than one AM and one FM property in the same market. Dickey Broadcasting already owned WWWM-FM (now WQQO) and WWWM 1470(now defunct).
The license was sold for $149,920 in August 1993 to Toledo Radio, Inc. 106.5 Signed on in the fall of 1994, taking the call letters WBUZ. The Buzz was a Hybrid format of Harder edged Alternative rock and Album orientated (AOR) rock. The station quickly became Popular and in June 1996, Added The Howard Stern Show.
Despite the station's popularity, many on the east side of Toledo complained about poor radio reception. So in August 1998, WJZE's Classic rock format was dropped for a full-time Simulcast of The Buzz. The station now referred to itself as Buzz 106.5 and 97.3. "Double the buzz 106.5 west 97.3 east" was one of the station's slogans.
The station was sold to Cumulus Broadcasting in early 1999. Once Cumulus took control, Over a Weekend in late February 1999, The station Stunted with an odd mixture of different music and sounds. After the Howard Stern show on Monday, February 22, 1999, The station was re-launched as Rock 106 Toledo's Pure Rock. The Howard Stern Show was dropped in early 2000. On August 1, 2000 the WJZE simulcast was dropped in favor of a classic hits format, thus ending the LMA with RASP Broadcasting. The call letters were changed from WBUZ to WRWK.
Rock 106 never caught on with Toledo radio listeners, With low ratings along with being beaten by 88.7 CIMX-FM (89x) out of Windsor Ontario. In November 2001, The owners decided it was time for a change.
In November 2001, after stunting for a couple days with Swans Splashdown by J.J Perrey & Gershon Kingsley and Lonesome Road by Dean Elliot & His Big Band, The format was changed to Alternative Rock as 106.5 The Zone. The first song on The Zone was "I'll Be Here Awhile" by 311.
In June 2009, The Zone's 71⁄2–year run came to an end. The Station's format changed to Sports talk, simulcasting 1470 The Ticket (now defunct). The stations were re-branded as 106.5 The Ticket, only mentioning 1470 at the top of the hour. In August 2012, the simulcast with 1470 ended when that station took on a conservative talk radio format. On January 2, 2013 WLQR-FM became an affiliate of CBS Sports Radio, then switched back to ESPN Radio in early 2016. The callsign was changed to WTOD in September 2016.
On March 27, 2018, WTOD-FM was placed into the Cumulus Reorganization Divestiture Trust for a future sale.[1]
External links
- WTOD in the FCC's FM station database
- WTOD on Radio-Locator
- WTOD in Nielsen Audio's FM station database