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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Carl V. Kolata
WTTN Radio
100 E Main
1955
09 30 A voice that became familiar to Watertown area radio listeners in the
early days of radio station WTTN has returned to the air-lanes. It is that of Willard James who has resumed
his duties at the station after a leave of absence which he spent in military
service. It should be pointed out that
hardly anyone here knows Willard James. But mention the name Bill James and just about
everyone here knows him or of him. His
voice is among the most familiar in Watertown, due to his radio broadcasts. It is a pleasing and friendly voice. In returning to Watertown recently Bill
brought with him his wife and they have become two of the city’s newest
residents, living at 411 South Third Street.
WDT
1958
12 20 Carl V. Kolata,
a city councilman, announced he will not be a candidate for re-election WDT
1960
10 16 A final decision approving WTTN's increase to 1,000 watts of AM power
has been announced by the Federal Communications Commission in Washington,
D.C. The increase will be part of an
expansion program now underway by Watertown Radio Inc., and will establish an
FM station at 104.7 megacycles. A target
date for starting both AM-FM operations at the station’s new transmitter site west
of the city of Oct. 15, was postponed because of delays in equipment
delivery. Current plans call for the
start of both services on or about Nov. 1.
The AM frequency will remain at 1580 Kc, and the FM frequency will be
104.7. WDT
AM broadcasting will be
conducted during daylight hours, as in the past, but FM broadcasting will be
simulcast during the day and then continue on FM only until late at night.
1961
08 27 FM broadcasting on WTTN, Watertown, will be initiated at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 30. Carl V. Kolata, president and
general manager of Watertown Radio, Inc., announced today that special
ceremonies lasting for approximately 15 minutes will mark the start of FM
broadcasting on 104.7 megacycles. The continuous programs will start
immediately after WTTN-AM leaves the air at 6 p.m. and continue until 10:30
p.m. WDT
1964
07 14 Carl V. Kolata, of Watertown, today filed
nomination papers with the secretary of state, to qualify as a Republican
candidate for Congress from the second congressional district . Kolata filed 2,000 signatures with the secretary of state’s
office this morning. Kolata
is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Dodge County and received the
endorsement of the 1964 second district GOP caucus and has been actively
campaigning, as the endorsed Republican candidate, since April. Until his nomination, Kolata
was general manager of radio station WTTN in Watertown. He is secretary of the State Broadcaster’s
Association and has been active in numerous civic and fraternal organizations. He is currently serving as a member of the
Watertown Fire and Police Commission. WDT
1965
07
06 Watertown Radio, Inc. has filed an application
with the Federal Communications Commission requesting permission to double the
effective radiated power of WTTN-FM. The
application was filed June 29, according to Carl V. Kolata,
station president and manager. WTTN-FM
currently broadcasts with 10,000 watts effective radiated power at 104.7
megacycles. The increase, if granted,
would double the output. The increase
would carry WTTN-FM’s signal well beyond Milwaukee to the east, Rockford to the
south, Oshkosh to the north and Spring Green to the west.
1969
09
06 Carl V. Kolata,
owner and general manager of radio station WTTN AM-FM, said today he was
considering another try for the state Senate. Kolata,
a Republican, was considering running for the seat vacated by the death last
week of state Sen. Frank Panzer, R-Brownsville.
Kolata lost to Panzer in the primary two years
ago. He also ran for Congress in the 2nd
District in the 1964 general election, but was beaten by Democratic incumbent
Robert Kastenmeier, 108,148 votes to 61,865.
12 18 MERCHANTS NATIONAL BUILDING IS SOLD TO WATERTOWN RADIO, INC.
Watertown Radio Inc. has purchased Merchants
National Bank building. The
announcement was made by Carl V. Kolata, general
manager of the station
WTTN will move its studios and offices to the
new location immediately after Merchants Bank relocates in its new location at
Fifth and Main Streets.
The purchase of the present Merchants Bank
building is the latest in a series of changes the local radio station is making
to meet the needs and desires the listening audience in the Watertown
area. WTTN recently became an affiliate
of the Mutual Broadcasting System and the Wisconsin Independent Network,
bringing more in depth coverage of state, national and international news along
with numerous feature programs.
Watertown Radio Inc. also became a member of the Radio Advertising
Bureau, providing assistance to clients in advertising and cooperative
coverage.
Remodeling of the first floor of the
Merchants building to meet the needs of a broadcasting facility will begin
shortly after the bank vacates the building.
The move of office, technical and transmitting equipment will be carried
out over a period of days but daily programming of WTTN AM-FM will not be
interrupted. The stations are not expected to be off the air during the move.
Kolata said the
move will provide Watertown Radio Inc. with needed additional space for
expanded programming and staff. He added the new location will give the station
better visibility in the community and easier access to the public.
The marquis in front of the building will
continue to be available for promotion of community events as well as local
programs aired on WTTN.
Kolata also stated
that in the near future, WTTN-FM, will go to stereo programming and offer
separate programming from WTTN-AM.
The president and general manager of the
station noted the operation has come a long way from the early 1950's when live
bands performed regularly from WTTN's large studio on the third floor of
Wisconsin National Bank and both an engineer and announcer handled the
programming schedule. Today, the
positions are combined with a separate engineering staff to handle major
technical work.
Watertown Radio Inc. was formed in 1950 as an
AM station. WTTN-FM went on the air in 1960. Studios and offices of WTTN have
been located on the third floor of the Wisconsin National Building since it
began operations.
Office space in the building will continue to
be available in the building for small concerns and private individuals.
The Watertown Chamber of Commerce
will move to the new Merchants Bank facility.
1982
07 16 Radio stations WTTN-AM and WTTN-FM have
been sold to Select Communications, Inc., of Sussex, according to Carl V. Kolata, president of Watertown Radio, Inc. The change, the first major one in the 32
year history of the business, is expected to be finalized shortly. Takeover by Select, Inc. is expected sometime
in September, subject to Federal Communications Commission approval. John Timm, one of the principals representing
Select Communications, is expected to relocate in Watertown as general manager of
the two stations. He is currently
serving in a similar capacity with radio station WEZW in Milwaukee. He has a broad range of experience in radio
as a broadcaster, salesman, sales manager and general manager of radio stations
in Texas, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
WTTN-AM and WTTN-FM
moved its broadcasting studios and offices to 100 Main Street in 1979 after 29
years on the third floor of the former Wisconsin
National Bank building [Main, W, 102-106], now known as the Valley Bank
building [?], 104 West Main Street. WDT
11 05 Purchased from Carl and Marcella Kolata
1990
05
20 Watertown’s “hometown
station,” WTTN AM 1580, is celebrating its 40th year of broadcasting this week
with on-air visits with former staff members, several of which have gone on to
prominent national careers. The
celebration got under way Tuesday, with original owner and former Watertown
Mayor Carl Kolata doing a morning radio show with current
Mayor David Lenz. “Carl even got into a
little of his ‘old timer’ schtick,” said station manager Jim Zache of Kolata’s broadcast. “It was a very popular Saturday
morning show that Carl did in broken German.
It featured two hours of polka requests, birthday and anniversary
announcements. For many people it
was a high point of their week.” WDT
1991
08
16 Listeners of Watertown’s AM
radio station rose to the sounds of country music this morning, as WTTN-AM
changed its music format, effective 6 a.m.
In addition to the new genre of music, the station plans to commit itself
to local news and sports coverage, according to new general manager Don Sabatke. Sabatke, who recently managed a 10,000-watt AM station in
Cape Coral, Fla., for five years, took over operation of the station on Aug. 1,
manager of the station, but he was replaced as part of recent staff changes. WDT
1992
03
10 Watertown radio station
WTTN-AM plans to broadcast from a studio in Oconomowoc for at least one hour a
day, starting on March 16. The radio station, located at 1580 on the AM dial,
plans to broadcast from the Olde Theatre Mall in downtown Oconomowoc from 1 to
2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The station will use a remote feed from
Oconomowoc to the Watertown transmitter for the daily hour, which will feature
news from Oconomowoc. Advertisers will be encouraged to read their commercials
live during this time. WDT
02
15 A rural Burlington dairy
farmer is seeking purchase of WTTN, 1580, in Watertown, and says he will
continue the station’s present format.
Charles P. Mills, a former advertising agent, said he is pursuing the
transfer of the station’s license from WTTN, Inc. to his Watertown Radio,
Inc. Mills applied for the transfer on
Jan. 31 and said he expects consent of the license transfer from the Federal
Communications Commission within 45 days.
Mills said this is his first bid to purchase a radio station. Mills worked for over 20 years in Chicago
with the Leo Burnett Company, one of the largest ad agencies in the world. WDT
1993
03 06 FORMER
MERCHANTS BANK RESTORATION
The owner of Watertown’s radio station says he hopes to restore
the former Merchants Bank to its original
appearance. Renovation has been
temporarily halted to the building at First and Main that currently houses WTTN-AM, but owner Chuck Mills says repairs will
begin again once warmer temperatures return to the area. Mills said he’d like to see the building
restored to its Victorian look prior to 1961, about the time Merchants Bank
changed the appearance of the building by adding yellow reflective panels and a
stone look over the bricks of the original building. Mills said the bricks in the building are in
poor disrepair, partially due to the renovation done by Merchants, and total
restoration could be difficult.
1999
07
18 WTTN AM 1580 BEING SOLD
WTTN AM 1580 radio station
is in the process of being sold to a broadcasting company that also owns
stations in Beaver Dam. Charles P. Mills
of Cleveland is selling the local station which he has owned for seven years. The buyer is Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC,
which owns WXRO and WBEV in Beaver Dam and WTLX in Columbus. The application to transfer the license is
pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission and is expected
within the next few months. The format
of the local station will not change as a result of the sale, said Craig Karmazin of Good Karma Broadcasting. Steve Gehrmann will
remain as WTTN general manager and the staff and format will remain. WDT
2001
06
27 MOVE TO 615 E. MAIN ST
WTTN is leaving its 100 E.
Main St. site, the station’s home of 18 years, and moving into an office
building down the street. Good Karma
Broadcasting, LLC, the company that owns WTTN AM 1580 radio station, will lease
space at the Watertown Professional Building, 615 E. Main St., said Rick Armon,
operations director at Good Karma in Beaver Dam. Construction of the studio and sales office
at the new site will begin in the next two weeks, Armon said. The station will move in Aug. 1, he
said. WDT
2005
11
06 SHIFT WATERTOWN LICENSE TO COLUMBUS
Craig Karmazin,
of Good Karma Broadcasting and owner of WTTN-AM (1580), applied with the
Federal Communications Commission to shift the Watertown license of WTTN to
Columbus. Karmazin’s
company applied to the FCC to change the city of license of WTLX-FM (100.5) to
be licensed to Madison. To be able to
change the Columbus station’s license to Madison, Karmazin
said the company must have another station licensed to Columbus. In getting approval from the FCC to shift the
Columbus station to Madison, the Watertown station’s licensing would change to
Columbus. WDT
2013
03 14 WTTN LEASED TO TALK RADIO
STATION
Watertown’s former radio station WTTN-AM, has been
leased to Resistance Radio Network, an independent news talk radio
station. WTTN 1580 AM is a 5,000-watt,
AM daytime licensed station. WTTN-AM
began broadcasting as a daytime-only station licensed to Watertown in
1950. Power was later increased to 1,000
watts, and a 4-watt nighttime service was added in the late 1980s.
With the city of license change and transmitter site
move, WTTN began broadcasting using a directional antenna system from Columbus
co-owned WTTN-FM which signed on in 1961, was originally located at 104.7 FM,
and moved to 94.1 in 1972. 94.1 is now
owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting, and uses the call sign WJJO, with
studios in Madison.
Cross References:
Kolata, Carl, 1958, "An
Old-Fashioned American Christmas" movie
Kolata, Carl, Mrs, 1954, Watertown's Centennial Tea
Sept. 10, 1989: Radio station WTFX-FM, formerly WMLW, has returned to the airwaves with a new Madison studio location and a drastically different format. The 50,000-watt station, located at frequency 94.1 on the FM dial, began broadcasting Friday afternoon after spending several weeks off-the-air to make technical and programming changes. Joyner Communications Inc., based in Cary, N.C., moved the FM offices from downtown Watertown to a West Beltline location in Madison. A new transmitter and 525-foot tower have been erected in Deerfield, located roughly between Madison and Watertown. Mike Varney, general manager and vice president of WTFX-FM, said the new tower location will allow the station to reach a larger audience in southern Wisconsin while continuing to serve the Watertown area.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin