WITK

WITK (1550 AM) is a radio station licensed to Pittston, Pennsylvania, and serving Wilkes-Barre and Scranton in Northeast Pennsylvania. The station airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by the Wilkins Communications Network, with the license held by Steel City Radio, Inc.

WITK

Pittston, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Wilkes-Barre - Scranton
Frequency	1550 kHz
Branding	Life Talk 94.7 and 1550
Programming
Format	Christian talk and teaching
Ownership
Owner	Wilkins Communications Network (Steel City Radio, Inc.)
Sister stations	KLNG, WLMR, WSKY (AM), WFAM, WBXR, WELP, KCNW, WWNL, WBRI, KXKS, WYYC, WIJD, WNVY, WVTJ, WCPC
History
First air date	June 21, 1953; 72 years ago (1953-06-21) as 1540 WPTS
Former call signs	WKQV, WARD, WPTS
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	70868
Class	B
Power	10,000 watts day 500 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	41°20′47″N 75°47′05″W
Translator	94.7 W234CY (Pittston)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	WITK 1550 Listen Live WITK 94.7 Listen Live
Website	WITK 1550 Online WITK 94.7 Online

By day, WITK is powered at 10,000 watts. But 1550 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A CBEF in Windsor, Ontario. So at night, WITK must reduce its power to 500 watts to avoid interference. Programming is also heard on FM translator W234CY at 94.7 MHz.

History

The station signed on the air on June 21, 1953. Its call sign was WPTS, owned by the Midway Broadcasting Company.^[2] WPTS was a daytimer, required to leave the air at night. In the 1980s, the station was authorized to move one notch up the dial to 1550 AM. That allowed it to increase its daytime power to 10,000 watts and add nighttime service at 500 watts.^[3]

The station was sold in 2007 by Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro.^[4][5] Steel City Radio, Inc. is part of the Wilkins Communications Network, Inc. of Spartanburg, South Carolina, whose owners, Robert and Luann Wilkins, own 15 other stations in cities such as WWNL (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), WYYC (York, Pennsylvania), KCNW (Kansas City, Missouri), WELP (Greenville, South Carolina), WBRI (Indianapolis, Indiana), and WBXR (Huntsville, Alabama).^[6]

Former logo