WILK (AM)


WILK is a commercial AM radio station in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Entercom Communications and airs a talk radio format. WILK is one of four simulcast radio stations in Northeast Pennsylvania that call themselves WILK Newsradio, along with 103.1 WILK-FM in Avoca, 1300 WODS in West Hazleton and 910 WAAF in Scranton. Studios and offices are on Route 315 in Pittston. WILK's transmitter is off WVSA Drive in Wilkes-Barre.
WILK Newsradio has a weekday schedule with mostly local hosts, except for the early afternoon when the station carries Rush Limbaugh. At night, the station airs nationally syndicated shows including Michael Savage, Beyond Reality, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and America in The Morning. Weekends feature shows on money, health, computers and science. Syndicated hosts include Kim Komando, Clark Howard and Dr. Michio Kaku. Some hours on weekends are paid brokered programming. Most hours begin with world and national news from ABC News Radio.
The station also carries play-by-play sports including Penn State football and basketball, as well as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins minor league hockey.

History

On February 13, 1947, WILK first signed on the air. The first studios were located at 88 North Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. The station's original broadcast frequency was 1450 kHz, operating at 250 watts during its early years. In 1951 WSCR in Scranton moved from 1000 kHz to 1320, making it possible for WILK to move to AM 980 with a three tower array, increasing its power to 5000 watts non-directional by day and 1000 watts directional at night. It was an ABC radio network affiliate.
On February 6, 1954, the station signed on a television station, WILK-TV Channel 34. Because WILK had been a long-time ABC Radio affiliate, WILK-TV took ABC Television affiliation. That station merged with Scranton's WARM-TV to form WNEP-TV on Channel 16.
From the 1990s until 2005, WILK was the originating station for the WILK Radio Network. However, that distinction now belongs to FM sister station WILK-FM.