WATJ (defunct)

WATJ (1560 AM) – branded SportsRadio 1560AM – was a commercial daytime-only radio station licensed to Chardon, Ohio, serving parts of Greater Cleveland. The station broadcast license expired on October 1, 2004.

History

Origins of WBKC

What ended up becoming WATJ first went on the air on June 16, 1962 as WGLD, a mere 500-watt daytimer. WGLD fell silent around 1965. Al Kipp, who was the general manager of WELW in Willoughby at the time, was hired by a new group to put the station back on the air. They built studios and a four-tower directional array on Aquilla Road east of route 44 in Chardon, boosting power to 1000 watts with a very tight directional pattern, the largest lobe of the signal beamed up into populous Lake County.

At one time, WBKC even had a satellite studio at the Great Lakes Mall. Al Kipp did much of the field engineering work for the construction permit. The call letters WBKC stood for this: the B was for Oliver Bolton, Congresswoman Frances Bolton's son, and one of the owners. The K stood for Albert King, owner of the Chardon-based King Trucking Company, another owner. The C stood for Chardon.