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Broadcast area | Memphis metropolitan area |
Frequency | 1340 kHz |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | Gospel music |
Ownership | |
Owner | WLOK Radio, Inc. |
History | |
First air date | July 29, 1946 |
Former call signs | WHHM (1946–1964) |
Call sign meaning | Station was owned by the OK Group from 1964 to 1968, replacing the former WLOK at 1480 AM (1956–1964) |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 24214 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts (unlimited) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°7′1.8″N 90°0′58.4″W / 35.117167°N 90.016222°W |
Translator(s) | 104.9 W285FI (Memphis) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | wlok |
WLOK (1340 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee, carrying a gospel music format. Owned by the Gilliam family doing business as WLOK Radio, Inc., the station serves the Memphis metropolitan area. WLOK's studios are located in Downtown Memphis and the transmitter resides in Memphis's Glenview Historic District. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WLOK is relayed over low-power Memphis translator W285FI (104.9 FM) and is available online.
WLOK operates on the fifth-oldest radio license in Memphis, which dates to 1946 as WHHM. One of the city's first personality-oriented stations, WHHM remained on the air through December 1962, when it was taken off the air in financial dire straits and amid a disputed sale. It remained silent for more than a year before it was sold out of bankruptcy to the OK Group, which had operated Black-oriented WLOK at 1480 kHz from 1956 to 1964. WLOK and its programming moved to 1340 kHz on the former WHHM license in 1964, allowing it to broadcast with more power and at night for the first time. In 1977, the station became the first Black-owned radio station in Memphis under Gilliam Communications ownership, adopting its present gospel format in 1985.