WWCO
| SimulcastsWRYMNew Britain | |
|---|---|
| |
| Broadcast area | Hartford metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 1240kHz |
| Branding | Viva Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | Spanishcontemporary-tropical-reggaeton |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Trignition Media, LLC |
| WCUM,WRYM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1946[1] |
Call signmeaning | Waterbury, Connecticut |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 40678 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000wattsunlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°33′59.35″N73°3′21.39″W/ 41.5664861°N 73.0559417°W |
| Translator(s) | 106.3W292FI (Waterbury) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WWCO(1240kHz;"Viva Radio" ) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toWaterbury, Connecticut,and owned by David Webster's Trignition Media LLC. WWCO is asimulcastof itssister stationinNew Britain,WRYM(840 AM); the stations' programming is also heard onWCUM(1450 AM) inBridgeport.[3][4]WWCO, WRYM, and WCUM all air aSpanishcontemporary hitradio format,includingtropical musicandreggaeton.
WWCO transmits with 1,000wattsnon-directional.Thetransmitteris on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury, near theNaugatuck River.[5]Programming is also heard on 200-wattFM translatorW292FIon 106.3MHzin Waterbury.[6]
History
[edit]Top 40 hits
[edit]WWCOsigned onthe air in 1946. It was originally powered at 250 watts. It was anetwork affiliateof theMutual Broadcasting Systemwith studios in the Mattatuck Historical Society Building at 119 West Main Street. As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WWCO had a format that was mostlypop music.
By the 1960s, WWCO was the first station in Waterbury to playrock and rollrecords and had aTop 40format. 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 and"Wildman Steve" Gallon.Davis and WWCO were featured in an article in the April 25, 1955, edition ofLifemagazine.
During the 1960s and the 1970s, WWCO was owned by TV entertainerMerv Griffinand operated as "1240 Super Music C-O". In 1967, WWCO added an FM station, WWCO-FM 104.1 (nowWMRQ-FM). On-air personalities during this era included Tom Collins, later known asJoe Cipriano,the voice of theFoxnetwork,CBSandNBC.
Adult contemporary and oldies
[edit]The station evolved from Top 40 to anadult contemporaryformat (called "All-Star Music WWCO" ) at about the same time asWKCI(KC-101) switched fromeasy listeningtoadult top 40as "KC-101". WKCI's switch to the new format may have hastened WWCO's departure from Top 40. Some WWCO personalities left to take jobs at KC-101.
In 1984, WWCO was sold to Westport resident Sam Brownstein and abandoned the "All-Star" format. It switched to 1950s and 1960soldiesunder the direction of program director Mike Dowling.
Urban nights
[edit]The station found success with a night–timeurban contemporaryformat called "Nightflight" which it used from 1984 to 1989. Ricky "J" was one of theDJs.Later[when?]financial issues caused WWCO to terminate some of its personalities and to carry Unistar's "Niche 29" adultalbum rock(AOR) format.
WWCO was sold to Winthrop Broadcasting, whose relatives owned Waterbury'sWQQW(1590 AM; nowsilent). WWCO relocated from its longtime location on the Straits Turnpike in Middlebury to a new studio in Waterbury. By 1990, WWCO again returned to its old Top 40 format, again as "1240 Super Music 'C-O". Steve Skipp returned for a short tenure as program director, after which Wally Mann succeeded him and continued in that position as the station switched back to anoldiesformat.
General manager Tom Coffey and formerWWYZsalesman Rob Johnson formed Mattatuck Communications and purchased the station. The studios moved to a new location.[when?]While most AM stations had already abandoned contemporary music, WWCO, and its on-air talent, continued into the early 1990s.
Buckley Broadcasting and Connoisseur Media
[edit]WWCO was then[when?]sold to Connecticut-basedBuckley Broadcasting,the parent ofWDRCinHartford.WWCO moved to WDRC's studios inBloomfieldand began broadcasting the same programming as WDRC. WDRC'stalk radioformat was known as "The Talk of Connecticut". It also included AM stations inMeridenandTorrington.
On March 5, 2014, Buckley Broadcasting announced that it would sell its Connecticut radio stations, including WWCO, toConnoisseur Media.[7]The sale was consummated on July 7, 2014 at a price of $7,922,035.
Trignition Media
[edit]WWCO was not included in the 2018 sale of WDRC and the other "Talk of Connecticut" stations to Red Wolf Broadcasting,[8]which was completed on March 29, 2018.[9]Instead, the station was sold to Trignition Media, owner ofWRYMinNew Britain,for $260,000.[10]
In February 2018, WWCO left the "Talk of Connecticut" network and began simulcasting WRYM's "Viva" tropical format.[11]Trignition Media's purchase of the station was completed on February 22, 2019.[12]Both stations acquired translators so their programming could be heard on the FM band.
FM translator
[edit]| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP(W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W292FI | 106.3 FM | Waterbury, Connecticut | 200742 | 250 | 0m(0ft) | D | 41°31′4.3″N73°1′7.3″W/ 41.517861°N 73.018694°W | LMS |
References
[edit]
- ^Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009(PDF).2009. p. D-126.RetrievedFebruary 10,2019.
- ^"Facility Technical Data for WWCO".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"WWCO Facility Record".United StatesFederal Communications Commission,audio division.
- ^"WWCO Station Information Profile".Arbitron.
- ^Radio-Locator /WWCO
- ^Radio-Locator /W292FI
- ^Fillo, Maryellen (March 5, 2014)."Buckley Sells WDRC And CT Stations To Connoisseur".Hartford Courant.Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2014.RetrievedMarch 5,2014.
- ^"Connoisseur Sells Hartford's WDRC, 3 Others to Red Wolf".Inside Radio.January 16, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 9,2019.
- ^Cooper, Joe (March 30, 2018)."Red Wolf completes purchase of five CT radio stations".Hartford Business Journal.RetrievedFebruary 9,2019.
- ^"Connoisseur Sells Last 'Talk Of Connecticut' Signal".Inside Radio.January 18, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 10,2019.
- ^Venta, Lance (February 13, 2018)."Viva Expands In Connecticut".RadioInsight.RetrievedFebruary 10,2019.
- ^"Consummation Notice".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedApril 25,2019.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 40678 (WWCO)in theFCCLicensing and Management System
- WWCOinNielsen Audio's AM station database