WCRO
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| WCRO | |
| City of license | Johnstown, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1230 kHZ (AM) |
| Format | Music of Your Life |
| Power | 1000 watts (unlimited) |
| Callsign meaning | "Something to CROw About!" (former slogan; no longer used) |
| Owner | Greater Johnstown School District |
| Website | Music of Your Life web site |
WCRO is an American radio station, operating at 1230 AM in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The station programs a nostalgia format provided by the Music of Your Life network, and is owned by the Greater Johnstown School District. WCRO broadcasts at the federally-assigned frequency of 1230 kHz, with a full-time power of 1,000 watts.
[edit] History
WCRO has the distinction of retaining the same calls letters since first going on the air in September 1947, and that it has never had a sister FM station co-located with it.
WCRO's heritage has been built largely on its sameness. Namely, its same call letters, dial position, power output, and even its same studio location at 616 Main Street in downtown Johnstown for almost 50 years until its sale to its present owner. Its transmitter tower sits just below Cover Hill, overlooking downtown Johnstown.
Despite having enjoyed a long prosperous period amid more powerful competitors, WCRO had gone into a decline in the mid-80's, largely because of the collapse of Johnstown's lucrative coal and steel industries, resulting in a domino effect to the local retail economy. At around this time, its full-time airstaff was laid off and replaced with ABC/SMN's "Starstation" adult contemporary format (known today as "Hits and Favorites") also used by neighboring stations WCCS and WOKW. Though the reduced operating costs did help the station's fortunes somewhat, a sale from then-owner Tschudy Communications was inevitable to keep the station from falling into bankruptcy.
WCRO was sold in 1991 from longtime owner Earl Judy (Tschudy Communications) to J. Richard Lee, who formed the Eagle Radio Network, making WCRO its flagship station. Lee had purchased two other AM stations north of Johnstown that had recently gone dark and their studios vacated and assets liquidated through bankruptcy proceedings. Because those stations, WNCC and WRDD, no longer had separate studio buildings or facilities of their own other than their tower sites, they became repeaters for WCRO.
Eagle Radio operated with a format of time-brokered Christian Talk and teaching, and had been successful for about four years, until the FCC approved a series of applications for FM translators and power increases for Christian-formatted competitors on that band. Faced with the prospect of being squeezed out of business by their FM counterparts, Eagle Radio put all three stations up for sale in the mid-90's.
WNCC and WRDD were sold to Vernal Enterprises of Indiana, Pennsylvania, which owned WTYM and low-powered television station WLLS-LP. A new facility for both WNCC and WRDD was built in WNCC's city of license in Northern Cambria and full-service local programming resumed on those stations.
Vernal Enterprises declined an offer to purchase WCRO, which was then sold to the Greater Johnstown School District in 1997. The station then moved out of its dilapidated building on Main Street and onto the high school campus, with all new digital, state-of-the-art equipment.
[edit] WCRO Today
Not long after WCRO's sale to Greater Johnstown School District, the station adopted Jones' Radio Network's Music of Your Life format, with local breaks being done by a student airstaff.
Shortly after the turn of the 21st Century, the district hired legendary Pittsburgh on-air personality Ed Sherlock as WCRO station manager. Sherlock, who had owned half of Sherlock-Hart Broadcasting (and eventually bought out partner Neil Hart), had sold his WAMQ-AM (now WWGE) in Loretto and WBXQ in Altoona to new owners (though WBXQ has retained the name Sherlock Broadcasting). Having sold airtime in the Johnstown and Altoona radio markets, Sherlock was able to bring his sales experience to WCRO and raise money through the sale of commercials to offset the school district's costs of operating the station. Sherlock was let go by the station in the Fall of 2007.
[edit] External links
- Music of your life web site
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WCRO
- Radio Locator information on WCRO
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WCRO
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