The high school football season schedule begins with the DFRC Kickoff Classic and concludes with the DIAA State Championship each year. In the summer, Fox Sports 1290, along with partner station WDOV simulcast the DFRC Blue-Gold All*Star Game benefiting Delawareans with intellectual disabilities.[4] Included in WWTX high school baseball coverage are the semifinal and championship games of the DIAA State Tournament. Matt Janus, the 2014 NSSA Delaware Sportscaster of the Year winner, handles play-by-play duties for Blue Hens Women's Basketball on 1290 AM. 2011 NSSA Delaware Sportswriter of the Year, Jon Buzby, and Marty Sheehan team up for high school sports broadcasts.
History
The station signed on the air in 1949.[5] Its original call sign was WTUX. It started out as a daytimer, powered at 500 watts and required to go off the air at sunset. It was owned by Port Frere Broadcasting with studios at 1496 Market Street in Wilmington.[failed verification]
In 1976, the Reynolds Family, who owned successful FM station WJBR, acquired WTUX, to combine with 99.5 MHz.[6] At first, WTUX continued its Middle of the Road (MOR) format, with adult popular music, news and sports. But a few years later, management decided to make 1290 AM a simulcast of WJBR-FM, with both stations playing beautiful music. They aired quarter-hour sweeps of mostly soft instrumental music, with some Broadway and Hollywoodshow tunes.
Over time, WJBR 1290 was given permission to increase its power to 2,500 watts and add nighttime service at 32 watts. In 1985, WJBR-AM-FM were sold to CRB Broadcasting, which later was acquired by Capstar Broadcasting. Capstar was later folded into Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to today's iHeartMedia. Meanwhile, WJBR-FM was sold to the NextMedia Group for $32.4 million.[7]
In 2003, WJBR changed its callsign to WWTX. It became a Fox Sports Radio network affiliate. In September 2014 WWTX rebranded as "Fox Sports 1290" after 11 years as "1290 The Ticket".
