WMCW

WMCW
City Harvard, IL
Broadcast area currently dark
Frequency 1600 kHz
First air date 1955
Power 500 watts daytime
18 watts night
Class D
Facility ID 43241
Callsign meaning Milk Capital of the World, town[1]

WMCW (1600 AM) was a radio station licensed to Harvard, Illinois, USA. The station began broadcasting in 1955 and was originally owned by Esther Blodgett.[2] The station was the first commercial radio station licensed in McHenry County, Illinois, and the first station in Illinois owned and operated by a woman.[2] Esther Blodgett continued to own the station until 1979.[3] During the 1990s it carried an Adult Contemporary format with Casey Kasem's American Top-20 on the weekends. The station also had a large amount of local news coverage. In 1999, the station was sold to WPW Broadcasting.[4] The station aired a news talk format before switching to Adult Standards in early 2003,[4] with the slogan "Your Music, Your Lifestyle, Your Station".[5] In 2004 Kovas Communications bought the station. It continued to locally serve the Harvard area until it switched to Health Radio Network programming in 2005. In 2008 Kovas Communications surrendered WMCW's license, and later the licenses of 1580 WKKD and 1600 WCGO to allow sister station 1590 WONX (now WCGO) to increase power to 7 kW.[6]

References

  1. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  2. 1 2 Top of the state, top of the dial Haupt, Holly. The Harvard Main Line. May 3, 2012. Accessed January 3, 2014
  3. Esther Blodgett, 85, Founder Of Radio Station Heise, Kenan. Chicago Tribune. October 01, 1987. Accessed January 3, 2014
  4. 1 2 Lose a pet? Tractor to sell? Chicago Tribune. March 02, 2003. Accessed January 3, 2013
  5. WMCW 1600 AM wmcw.com. Internet Archive. January 3, 2003
  6. Media Briefing for Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Thirteen WNET. May 7th, 2008. Accessed January 2, 2014
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