WYTS

WYTS (1230 AM) is a radio station in Columbus, Ohio owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. They are the Columbus affiliate for Fox Sports Radio, along with being Columbus' affiliate for The Jim Rome Show. WYTS is also the Columbus radio home of the Cincinnati Reds. Its studios are located in West Columbus and the transmitter site is southwest of downtown.

WYTS is the sixth-oldest continuously running radio station in the state of Ohio, and is best known for its Top 40 format in the 1960s and 1970s under the heritage WCOL calls. In the time period between 1998 and today, the station has undergone five different format changes with as many different call signs.

History

Early years

WMAN

WYTS began in 1922 as WMAN, an offshoot of the Broad Street Baptist Church in downtown Columbus. The station's studios and transmitter were located within the church, and broadcast hours were only a few hours each Sunday as audio simulcasts of church services. Church member W. E. Heskett became the license holder of WMAN in conjunction with the church on December 1924 and had purchased the station outright by 1927. Hours of operation expanded gradually beyond Sunday services, and WMAN's studios were relocated to the Seneca Hotel.