WTVN

WTVN (610 kHz.) is a News/Talk AM radio station located in Columbus, Ohio, USA. WTVN is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and shares studio facilities with sister stations WXZX, WCOL-FM, WNCI, WODC, and WYTS in West Columbus. WTVN's transmitter site is located in Obetz, Ohio.

History

WTVN originally started as WBAV, operating as a daytime station at 640 kHz on April 29, 1922. The call letters were later changed to WAIU, which stood for the station's parent company, American Insurance Union.

WAIU was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, being one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927. The call letters were again changed in the late 1930s, this time to WHKC (to go with those of then commonly owned station WHK in Cleveland).

In the middle-1940s, WHKC (still at 640 kHz) obtained the frequency of WCLE, 610 kHz in Cleveland, which operated daytime only, forming 610 WHKC. A directional antenna system was installed near Columbus. This allowed WHKC to go to a full-time operation which occurred in February 1945 with an effective radiated power of 1,000 watts. The station's power later was upgraded to 5,000 watts day and night in 1949. The 640 frequency was then assigned to new arrival WHKK in Akron (which corresponded with Akron station WJW moving to Cleveland). Operation on 640 kHz was limited to Los Angeles sunset because of the superior propagation at low AM frequencies, and the presence of clear-channel KFI in Los Angeles.