WDSM

WDSM (710 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Superior, Wisconsin, serving the Duluth-Superior area of Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. WDSM is owned and operated by Midwest Communications and broadcasts a sports radio format. The radio studios and offices for WDSM, KDAL, KDAL-FM, KDKE, WDUL and KTCO are at 11 East Superior Street, Suite 380, in downtown Duluth.

WDSM
Broadcast areaDuluth-Superior
Frequency710 kHz
Branding710 The Game
Programming
FormatSports
AffiliationsCBS Sports Radio
Ownership
Owner
KDAL, KDAL-FM, KDKE, KTCO, WDUL
History
First air date
October 1939 (1939-10)
Call sign meaning
Duluth-Superior Mutual (original network)
Technical information
Facility ID71356
ClassB
Power10,000 watts (day)
5,000 watts (night)
Links
Websitewdsm710.com

By day, WDSM transmits with 10,000 watts non-directional. Because 710 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for WOR New York City and KIRO Seattle, WDSM reduces power to 5,000 watts and uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array at night to avoid interference.[1]

Programming

WDSM airs a sports format branded as The Game with daytime programming originating from WRNW in Milwaukee. The station airs CBS Sports Radio nights and weekends. Some play by play sports events also air on WDSM when there are conflicts on KDAL.

In 2022, Midwest Communications merged the former news-talk format heard on WDSM into sister station KDAL.[2] Local talk shows hosted by Neill Atkins and Brad Bennett can now be heard on KDAL, in addition to some of the syndicated programs previously heard on WDSM.

History

WDSM signed on the air in October 1939 (1939-10). The requested call sign was W Duluth Superior Mutual, referring to the station's network affiliation with the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS). WDSM provided Mutual programming throughout the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota as well as the Duluth-Superior market. It carried Mutual's dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Television."

In the early 1940s, WDSM was a 100-watt station and broadcast on 1200 kilocycles.[3] The studios were in the Board of Trade Building in Superior. Robert Ridder purchased WDSM in 1948, and became its president.[4][5]

WDSM switched network affiliations with WEBC (560 AM) in 1955. WEBC became the Mutual affiliate and WDSM began carrying NBC Radio programming and news. This was a direct result of WDSM's commitment to television and its founding of WDSM-TV on March 1, 1954, as an NBC affiliate (now KDLH-TV). WDSM stayed with NBC Radio until the early 1990s. The station aired a country format during the 1980s, and then sports radio during the 1990s. Around 2000, WDSM switched to a talk radio format. It carried The Rush Limbaugh Show in middays as the cornerstone of its talk programming.

On February 7, 2022, WDSM changed their format from talk to sports, branded as "710 The Game".[6]

References
  1. Radio-Locator.com/WDSM
  2. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/219682/midwest-shuffles-am-programming-in-duluth/
  3. Information from Broadcasting Yearbook 1941 page 174
  4. "Media mogul was owner of hockey team". Tribune Democrat. Johnstown, Pennsylvania. June 26, 2000. p. 21.icon of an open green padlock
  5. "Bob Ridder". Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  6. Midwest Shuffles AM Programming In Duluth Radioinsight - February 9, 2022

46°39′13″N 92°08′50″W

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