WWJ (AM)
WWJ (950 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to serve Detroit, Michigan, featuring an all-news format known as "Newsradio 950 WWJ". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station services Metro Detroit, is the market affiliate for CBS News Radio, and the flagship station for the Michigan Sports Network. Operating on a regional broadcast frequency, its studios are in the Panasonic Building in Southfield.
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Detroit |
| Frequency | 950 kHz |
| Branding | Newsradio 950 WWJ |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | All-news radio |
| Affiliations | CBS News Radio Detroit Pistons Michigan IMG Sports Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | August 20, 1920 |
Former call signs | 8MK (1920–21) WBL (1921–22) |
Call sign meaning | None. Assigned after requesting a call that could be easily understood. |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 9621 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°01′9″N 83°14′23″W |
| Repeater(s) | 97.1 WXYT-HD2 (Detroit) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
The transmitter site is near Newport. WWJ broadcasts full-time with 50,000 watts, using a five-tower directional antenna system during daytime hours, and its entire six-tower array at night. WWJ has the highest field strength — 7,980 mV/m at a distance of 1 km — in a single direction (nighttime pattern) of any U.S. AM station. With this powerful signal primarily sent to the north, the station can be heard in parts of northern Michigan during nighttime hours, including the Upper Peninsula and Mackinac areas, and much of southern Lower Michigan during the day.
WWJ is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD Radio format, and is simulcast on the HD-2 subchannel of sister station WXYT-FM.
On the air for over a century, WWJ began daily broadcasts as the "Detroit News Radiophone" on August 20, 1920, while it operated under an amateur radio license with the call sign "8MK". Over the years the station has claimed the titles of "America's Pioneer Broadcasting Station" and where "commercial radio broadcasting began."