WWCA
| |
---|---|
Affiliations | Relevant Radio |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WKBM, WNTD | |
History | |
First air date | December 7, 1949 |
Call sign meaning | Working With the Calumet Area" |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 41332 |
Class | B |
Power | 1,000 watts |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | relevantradio |
WWCA (1270
WWCA is powered at 1,000
History
Early years
WWCA first
President and founder Dee O. Coe established the station and operated from studios that had housed WIND before that station moved to
Thorne, though a resident of
1960s and 70s
WWCA experienced its peak in popularity during the 1960s and 1970s, with its community commitment and the popularity of its on-air personalities. Residents of Gary,
cities and towns depended on WWCA for local news and sports coverage. Area residents tuned to WWCA for live on-the-scene coverage of breaking news events as well as weekly live coverage of high school sports. Broadcasts of basketball tournaments involved most of the on-air personalities broadcasting from multiple locations throughout northwestern Indiana.Popular daytime programs included Tom Higgins’ morning program, "Sound-Off with Ted Thorne" at noon and Matt Hart in afternoon drive time. Morning news was delivered by Morris Wayne. Thorne and Doug Kullerstrand handled midday news chores. Play-by-play coverage of high school sports was the work of sports director Frank Sauline.
WWCA's nighttime audience belonged to
Also licensed to Gary, WWCA's primary local radio competitor during the 1960s and 70s was
In the late 1960s, WWCA air personalities joined the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (now SAG-AFTRA). Relationships between station management and personnel remained strained from that time forward. In the years that followed some individuals responsible for unionizing the staff were released from their jobs. A fire set in the early 1970s in the office of News Director Thorne was thought to be in retribution for the firings. The fire was contained in Thorne's office and little damage was done.
Popular personalities
Another WWCA personalities to leave for Chicago and eventually network air work was
During the 1980s, DJ Vivian Carter joined the staff hosting a Saturday morning program. Carter was better known in the area as "the hostess with the mostest" when she hosted a daily program for WJOB radio in
1980s and 90s
In the mid-1980s general manager Joe Hass developed leukemia. He died from soon after its diagnosis. Owner Dee Coe also developed the same disease shortly thereafter and the station was sold. Coe had already put the station on the sale block before he died. When Haas died Coe named Haas' secretary, Sylvia Burns, General Manager, a position she kept until the new owners took over. (Burns was no relation to stockholders of the same name.)Coe's death came relatively soon after Haas died. Coe's son, Ken Coe, who managed the family's LaPorte station, WLOI, took over the reins at WWCA for a short time before the station was sold.
WWCA's
2000s
In 2003, Willis Broadcasting Corp. sold the station to
It signed back on with Starboard Network's Relevant Radio Catholic talk and teaching format on November 26, 2003.[5] It later switched to Relevant Radio's Spanish-language programming. Relevant Radio also owns two English-language Catholic sister stations in the Chicago area: WNTD 950 AM and WKBM 930 AM.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WWCA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WWCA-AM 1270 kHz - Gary, IN". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ^ "W268DI-FM 101.5 MHz - Gary, IN". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable, Broadcasting Yearbook 1951 page 137
- ^ Starboard Network™ will significantly expand its Chicago market presence by taking two major steps at the end of this month and the beginning of December. CatholicCitizens.org. November 18, 2003. Accessed December 28, 2013
External links
- WWCA in the FCC AM station database
- WWCA in Nielsen Audio's AM station database