Clear Channel donated the 5-kW 1310 kHz license to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council as part of its ownership diversity initiative. The station, on air since 1946, ended broadcasting right at the end of 2012 and the facilities in Taylor, MI will be dismantled, reports the News-Herald.
The last of the six remaining towers were taken down 1/12 at the station’s broadcast site.
See the video here:
The station, best known as Keener 13 or WKNR, was a Top-40 powerhouse during the 1960s and ’70s, competing with CKLW across the river in Canada, before undergoing changes in format, calls and ownership.
Most recently known as Detroit’s Progressive Talk, the station housed left-leaning political talk. MMTC’s plans for the station have yet to be announced.
See the News-Herald story here
RBR-TVBR observation: Clear Channel may actually do pretty well on the move, as eventually the acreage of the transmitter site will be sold. The license/station will likely co-locate with another AM site in the market. On the flip side of the coin, it’s yet another sign that signals on the AM radio band continue to vanish. This station had full-market coverage of the metro area, so we assume MMTC will be instrumental in getting a new signal up soon. It may mean retiring an existing, weaker signal (i.e. Gospel WDRJ, 1440 @ 1-kW) and moving it up the dial.
