WWCO

WWCO
City Waterbury, Connecticut
Broadcast area Hartford, Connecticut
Branding AM 1240
Slogan The Talk of Connecticut
Frequency 1240 kHz
Format News Talk Information
Power 1,000 watts unlimited
Class C
Facility ID 40678
Transmitter coordinates 41°33′59″N 73°3′23″W / 41.56639°N 73.05639°W / 41.56639; -73.05639
Callsign meaning Waterbury, COnnecticut
Affiliations Fox News Radio, Talk Radio Network, Westwood One
Owner Connoisseur Media
(Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations WMMW, WSNG, WDRC
Website Official website

WWCO (1240 AM) is a radio station licensed in Waterbury, Connecticut, broadcasting a talk radio format. WWCO is part of a four station simulcast, along with 1470 WMMW, Meriden, 610 WSNG, Torrington and the home base, 1360 WDRC (AM), Hartford. The four stations use the slogan "The Talk of Connecticut" featuring a local morning show and syndicated programs the rest of the day, including Dave Ramsey and Michael Savage. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC and features programming from Fox News Radio, Talk Radio Network and Westwood One.[1][2] The station provides a blend of issue-oriented talk, news and information. It also broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games.

History

WWCO first went on the air in 1946 with a 250-watt signal. It was a Mutual Network affiliate with studios in the Mattatuck Historical Society Building at 119 West Main Street. In the 1950s their format was mostly pop music and they were the first station in Waterbury to play rock and roll records.

On-air personalities during this era included Bob "Records" Crager, Les Davis, Joe Mulhall (later known as Ken Griffin in Hartford and Los Angeles), Bob Rouge, "Wildman Steve" Gallon and Davis and WWCO were featured in an article in the April 25, 1995, edition of Life.

During the 1960s and the 1970s WWCO was owned by Merv Griffin and operated as "1240 Super Music C-O", a Top 40 station. On-air personalities during this era included Tom Collins, later known as Joe Cipriano, the voice of the Fox network, CBS and NBC.

The station evolved from Top 40 to an adult contemporary format (called "All-Star Music WWCO") at about the same time as WKCI switched to an adult contemporary top 40 as "KC-101." Many believe that WKCI's switch to the new format hastened WWCO's departure from top 40 with some WWCO personalities leaving to take jobs at KC-101. Around 1984 WWCO abandoned the "All-Star" format returning to its "Super Music C-O" format under the direction of Program Director Steve Skipp. Owned at the time by Westport resident Sam Brownstein's "Greater Radio" the station continued to alternate between top 40 and adult contemporary formats.

The station found success with a night–time Urban Contemporary format called "Nightflight" which it used from 1984 to 1989 with Ricky "J". He brought the highest ratings ever to the station. From an 0.3 share to an incredible 13.4 from 7pm -12 midnite. Later financial issues caused WWCO to terminate some of its personalities and to carry Unistar's "Niche 29" Adult Oriented Rock (AOR) format.

Having been sold to Winthrop Broadcasting, whose relatives owned Waterbury's WQQW (1590 AM), WWCO relocated from its longtime location on the Straits Turnpike in Middlebury to a brand new studio in Waterbury. By 1990 WWCO again returned to its Top 40 format as "1240 Super Music 'C-O." Steve Skipp returned for a short tenure as Program Director although Wally Mann succeeded him and continued in that position as the station switched to an oldies format.

General Manager Tom Coffey and former WWYZ salesman Rob Johnson formed Mattatuck Communications and purchased the station moving it to a new location. While most AM stations had already abandoned contemporary music WWCO, and its on-air talent, continued into the early 1990s with an adult contemporary format. WWCO was then sold to Buckley Broadcasting (parent of WDRC in Hartford) and moved to WDRC's studios in Bloomfield. It now broadcasts the same programming as WDRC. On March 5, 2014, Buckley Broadcasting announced that it would sell its Connecticut radio stations, including WWCO, to Connoisseur Media.[3] The sale was consummated on July 7, 2014 at a price of $7,922,035.

References

  1. ↑ "WWCO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ "WWCO Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. ↑ Fillo, Maryellen (March 5, 2014). "Buckley Sells WDRC And CT Stations To Connoisseur". Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
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