page_title: WTAM
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: WTAM / History / WTAM (1923–1956) / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: WTAM, Cleveland, Ohio, original transmitter site. Original caption: "WTAM, RUN FROM STORAGE BATTERIES: This 1,000-watt broadcasting station, built and operated by the Willard Storage Battery Company, has recently opened up in Cleveland, Ohio. It sends on a wavelength of 390 meters [770 kHz]."
context_page_description: WTAM – branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., WTAM is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range. WTAM serves as the Cleveland affiliate for ABC News Radio, The Glenn Beck Program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, and Coast to Coast AM; the AM flagship station for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Indians radio networks; and the home of radio personalities Geraldo Rivera and Mike Trivisonno. The WTAM studios are located in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, while the station transmitter resides in nearby Brecksville. Besides its main analog transmission, WTAM simulcasts over low-power analog Cleveland translator W295DE, and streams online via iHeartRadio. WTAM is Northeast Ohio's primary entry point station in the Emergency Alert System.
  The station first carried the WTAM call letters from 1923 to 1956; assigned sequentially by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the letters were later treated as a backronym for "Where The Artisans Meet."
context_section_description: WTAM began broadcast operations on September 26, 1923. It was one of several stations that started between 1922 and 1923 with a call sign assigned sequentially by the Commerce Department with "W" as the first letter and "A" as the third. It was originally owned by S.E. Lawrence and Theodore Willard, in the name of the Willard Storage Battery Company. Initially the station only offered three hours of nightly programming, but soon expanded its on-air lineup. Studios were located in the Willard factory on Taft Avenue at East 131st Street. By June 30, 1924, WTAM was broadcasting with 1,000 watts and sharing the 770 kHz frequency with WJAX.
  WJAX had signed on earlier in 1922, owned by the Union Trust Co. In 1924 it was known as the "Wave from Lake Erie." The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company purchased WJAX in 1925 and changed to the callsign to WEAR. Finally, Willard Battery purchased WEAR to have control of shared frequency allocation.
  WTAM was the first radio station to broadcast coverage of a political convention when it covered the 1924 Republican National Convention at Cleveland's Public Auditorium from June 10–12, 1924. The station's power increased to 2,500 watts in 1925 and to 3,500 watts in 1926, as the studios moved to the Union Trust Building (now The 925 Building). By June 30, 1927, WTAM and WEAR broadcast on 750 kHz with WTAM broadcasting with 3,500 watts. The January 31, 1928 Radio Service Bulletin of the Commerce Department listed WTAM broadcasting with 3,500 watts at night and 5,000 watts during the day.
caption: Original WTAM transmitter site (1923)[3]
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)"}