WCWA

WCWA

City of license	Toledo, Ohio
Broadcast area	Toledo, Ohio
Branding	Fox Sports Radio 1230 WCWA
Frequency	1230 kHz
First air date	April 10, 1938
Format	Sports
ERP	1,000 watts
Class	C
Facility ID	19627
Callsign meaning	W C-WA (after the St. Lawrence Seaway)
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	1230foxsports.com

WCWA is a radio station licensed to and serving Toledo, Ohio. It is the second-oldest radio station in Toledo, and during AM radio's heyday it was a close second in popularity to WSPD-AM for many years.

History

The station signed on in 1938 as WTOL-AM, founded by former Toledo prosecutor Frazier Reams (whose family would continue to own the station all the way until 1996). Originally licensed for daytime operations only, WTOL was granted authority for around-the-clock operations in 1939 and affiliated with NBC's Blue network (later to become ABC) shortly thereafter. Programming on WTOL until the mid-1960s was a typical full-service hodgepodge of news, information, sports, ABC network programs and various types of music, including pop, country, jazz, and, by the early 1960s, some rock and roll. For many years, WTOL was a family of three broadcast stations which included TV-11 and FM-104.7. Channel 11 remains WTOL to this day and is the most popular television station in Toledo.

The call letters were changed in 1965, when the two radio stations split from Channel 11. The call sign "WCWA," or "seaway," was meant to pay tribute to the St. Lawrence Seaway, of which Toledo is a major port (and the seaway itself a major boon to the city's economy. The call sign was originally assigned to a merchant ship who gave up to call for a modest payment). By that time, the station had dropped all rock and roll music from rotation and moved into a MOR/adult contemporary music format. In 1982, "Seaway" switched to an adult standards format in response to ratings having fallen to an all-time low; the move paid off with increased ratings, and in 1985 WCWA was named MOR/Nostalgia station of the year by Billboard magazine.

After two decades playing standards, WCWA changed format to talk radio in November 2002. The station's ratings subsequently crashed, and the current sports-talk format was adopted in May 2004; although this change also did nothing to help the station's ratings. Along with abysmal ratings, the format change away from music brought much heated protest within the community, specifically from an organization known as CORRAL.

WCWA today

WCWA is owned by Clear Channel Communications, and is part of that company's Toledo cluster. WCWA (and its predecessor WTOL-AM) was owned by Frazier Reams for many years prior to radio deregulation in 1996. Other stations in the Clear Channel Toledo cluster are: WSPD 1370 AM, WVKS 92.5 FM (KISS FM), WRVF 101.5 FM (The River), WCKY-FM 103.7 FM, and WIOT 104.7 FM.

WCWA transmits at a power of 1,000 watts, from studios located atop the Fort Industry Square building on Summit Street in downtown Toledo. The station's advertising offices are located at Superior and Lafayette. The transmitter is located near the intersection of Hawley & Whittier Streets and can be easily seen from the Anthony Wayne Trail. WCWA also streams its signal and available on the IHeartRadio app

WCWA is the Toledo affiliate of Fox Sports Radio and The Jim Rome Show.

Play by play

WCWA is the flagship station for Toledo Mud Hens baseball, with all regular season games, playoffs and the Triple-A All-Star Game broadcast. The Cleveland Indians' weekday (and a few weekend) games are heard on WCWA, with all weeknight and other weekend games on its news-talk sister, WSPD.

WCWA is also the flagship of the Toledo Walleye ECHL hockey club, which played its inaugural season in 2009-2010. WCWA also carries University of Toledo women's basketball (with Rich Hoffer as the "Voice of the Lady Rockets"). There is also a big commitment to local high school football on the station, as WCWA broadcasts Toledo Central Catholic High School football games. They also carry two local sports talk shows in The Odd Couple Sports Show and B Chap sports.

Signal strength

Since 1967, the station engineer at WCWA and WIOT (named Chief Engineer in 1974) has been the legendary Dennis Moon. WCWA was known for having a clearer, fuller sound than most AM stations that offered music programming. This has been attributed by many who have worked there to Moon's decades-long devotion to WCWA's audio quality. The "Moon-unit" updated WCWA to digital HD Radio (IBOC) in the summer of 2007. With just 7 watts of digital power, the station can be received in hybrid digital all the way to the Michigan border.

Specialty shows

WCWA has also featured a large schedule of ethnic and religious programming for most of its history. This includes shows devoted entirely to Polish, German, Mexican, and Irish music, as well as immensely popular Polka, Jazz, and Gospel programs. In addition to these specialty music programs, WCWA is also the home of several spoken-word religious shows covering many different faiths. Some of these religious shows have been on WCWA since its inception. All or most of these programs survived the format switch, and can mainly be heard on weekends.

Former on-air staff

• Terry (Gottschalk) Shaw
• Bill Charles
• Bill Stewart
• Rich Hoffer
• Dennis Williams
• Bill Thomas (Niederman)
• Michael Drew Shaw
• Bob Martz
• Bob Kelley
• Lou Hebert
• Dennis Staples
• Bob Malik
• Larry Weseman
• Jay Richards
• Larry Fletcher
• Cliff Jeffries
• Suzanne Carroll
• Duane Stacker
• Don Edwards - longtime newscaster
• Gary Siegel
• Bruce Wild
• Jim Cayce
• Jim Carney
• Tom Waniewski
• Don King (Saturday Morning LIVE)(The Scoreboard Show)
• David Domanski (Saturday Morning LIVE)
• Joe Zalewski (Polka Spotlight Show)
• Bob Earl Jr. (Polka Spotlight Show)
• Janet Gawle (Melodies of Poland)(STILL ON THE AIR)
• Denny Kutylowski (Melodies of Poland)
• Lyn Casye
• Pete Petersen (German/American Hour)(Retired after 33 years - August, 2011)
• Kate Preston
• Fr. Raphael Biernacki (Melodies of Poland)(Orthodox Hour)
• John Connelly (Echoes of Ireland) (STILL ON THE AIR)
• Sylvester Duran
• Mike Morrin
• Sir Bernard J. Quayle
• Mike Cook
• Lee Fowler
• Bob Brown
• Paul W. Smith - later at KYW-AM Philadelphia and WJR Detroit.
• Jim "Uncle Felty" Felton also at WLYV and CKLW and WKLO and CFTR
• Charley Frederick
• Bill Gill

External links

• WCWA's official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WCWA
• Radio-Locator Information on WCWA
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WCWA