WLEC
Cleveland Cavaliers AudioVerse Cleveland Guardians Radio Network Ohio State Sports Network Westwood One | |
Ownership | |
---|---|
Owner | BAS Broadcasting |
History | |
First air date | December 7, 1947 |
Call sign meaning | founding owners Lake Erie Corporation |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 19705 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°26′28″N 82°41′14″W / 41.44111°N 82.68722°W |
Translator(s) | 93.5 W228EN (Sandusky) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | www |
WLEC (1450
WLEC is the local affiliate of
In addition, WLEC is the home for weekly local high school football and basketball broadcasts.[4]
History
WLEC began broadcasting December 7, 1947, as a
WLEC and WLEC-FM (the latter was established a year prior) were purchased by former Cleveland Mayor Ray T. Miller's Cleveland Broadcasting Incorporated in January 1960;[9] Miller founded both WERE (1300 AM) and WERE-FM (98.5) in Cleveland, and also owned WERC (1260 AM) in Erie, Pennsylvania, later purchasing KFAC (1330 AM) and KFAC (92.3 FM) in Los Angeles.[10]
After Ray T. Miller's death in 1966,[11] Cleveland Broadcasting Incorporated was acquired by Atlantic States Industries (ASI) for a combined $9 million in May 1968.[12] Due to ASI already owning five AM stations and one FM station, and because of an interim policy/proposed rule by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that prohibited the purchase of an AM and FM station in the same market—the "one-to-a-customer" policy—the FCC ordered the divestiture of WERE-FM, along with WLEC and WLEC-FM, to a third party. While General Cinema Corporation purchased WERE-FM after a prior divestiture attempt failed,[13] WLEC and WLEC-FM were initially sold to RadiOhio that December,[14][15] but that sale was also dismissed.[16]
Both WLEC and WLEC-FM were ultimately retained by the sellers and spun off to a limited partnership, Lake Erie Broadcasting.[17][18] Cleveland Broadcasting president Richard H. Miller became WLEC's general manager, then purchased both stations outright in August 1971, under the Miller Broadcasting name.
In July 1986 the station was sold by Miller Broadcasting, headed by Richard H. Miller of Cleveland, to Erie Broadcasting Co., owned by Cleveland's Jim Embrescia. After a brief period in the hands of Signal One Communications from October 1987 to May 1990, it passed, along with
On April 30, 1997, it was announced that Jacor Communications, Inc. agreed to buy WLEC and WCPZ from Erie Broadcasting II, Inc. for $7.65 million.[19] The sale was approved and the license transferred on June 25. In May 1999, Clear Channel Communications completed its $6.5 billion purchase of Jacor and its 454 stations, including WLEC.
WLEC itself maintained a
On November 16, 2006, WLEC, WCPZ and WMJK were formally announced for sale as part of Clear Channel's divestiture of almost 450 small and middle-market radio properties in the U.S. The cluster was sold on January 15, 2008, to
Following Citadel Media's ending the Timeless format in February 2010, WLEC adopted the "Lounge" format from Dial Global Local (formerly part of the
WLEC changed the music portion of its format from Adult Standards/Soft AC to Oldies in July 2020. Music programming now comes from Local Radio Networks' "Super Hits" service.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLEC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "BAS Broadcasting - Ohio Radio Stations for Marketing and Advertising". Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Cavs on WLEC - WLEC.com
- ^ High School football on WLEC - WLEC.com
- ^ "WLEC Sandusky Debuts As 250-w Mutual Outlet" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 22, 1947. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ Ouriel, Andy (2016-10-20). "1948: Indians last World Series title, WLEC's first Tribe game". Sandusky Register. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ "WLEC Extends Cleveland Indians Coverage Through 2020 | WLEC". Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ "Standard Net Begins Origination at WJW". The Billboard. 1948-12-04. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "Changing hands: ANNOUNCED" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 25, 1960. p. 56. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "KFAC-AM-FM bought by Miller group" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 20, 1962. p. 66. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "Ray T. Miller Sr. Is Dead at 73". The Plain Dealer. July 14, 1966. pp. 1, 8.
- ^ "Closed Circuit: Group transfer" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 27, 2019. p. 5. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "WERE -FM being spun off to General Cinema arm" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 11, 1970. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "Action in the trading market: $13-million worth of properties sold; biggest is Tucson AM-TV to 'Detroit News'" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 2, 1968. p. 40. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "ASI adds a Calif. UHF, awaits OK of radio buy" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 15, 1969. p. 82. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ FCC History Cards for WLEC
- ^ "For the Record: Ownership Transfers, Final Actions" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 10, 1969. p. 96. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "A tax break on WERE-FM sale" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 14, 1970. p. 71. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "Jacor buys two more Ohio stations". Cincinnati Business Courier. April 30, 1997. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ WLEC format switch - Sandusky Register.com
External links
- Official website
- WLEC in the FCC AM station database
- WLEC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WLEC
- FM translator