| City of license | Columbus, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Columbus, Ohio |
| Branding | 92.3 WCOL |
| Slogan | Continuous Country Favorites |
| Frequency | 92.3 (MHz) (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | November 15, 1990 |
| Format | Country |
| Power | 22,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | W-Columbus |
| Owner | Citicasters Licenses, Inc |
| Website | WCOL |
WCOL-FM (92.3 FM) is a country music radio station in Columbus, Ohio owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its brand identifier is Continuous Country Favorites, 92.3 WCOL. The call sign represents the city of license (W-Columbus). The country format has been in place since February 14, 1994, when it transitioned from an oldies format (sometimes known as "Cool 92").
WCOL-FM first came on the air in 1948. In the early 1970s, it carried religious programming in the daytime and rock music in the evening. During the 1970s, WCOL-FM was known as "Stereo Rock 92" and largely played album-oriented rock. From the late 1970s and through the 1980s, the station used the WXGT call letters and played rock-oriented Top 40 as "92X". During this period, then-locally famous Suzy Waud anchored evening broadcasting. When the country format was ushered in, the station stunted over the course of several days by broadcasting a computerized numeric countdown.
92X FM (WXGT) launched the careers of several major market disc jockeys during the 1980s, ncluding Smokin' Joe Dawson (later at B96 in Chicago), Gary Spears (also later at B96 and also at KIIS-FM in Los Angeles), and Doug Ritterling, whose on-air name was Doug Ritter and who later went to KITS, Live 105 in San Francisco. WXGT dominated the Contemporary Hits Radio format in Columbus, Ohio during most of the decade.
The WCOL call sign had also been used on an AM band station, which was the area's primary Top 40 station in the 1960s and early 1970s and was branded as "The New WCOL" and "Super 'COL" It briefly returned to its Top 40 roots in the early 1990s simulcasting "Cool 92" and in automated form as "Real Oldies 1230" from 2003 to 2004. That station is now known as WYTS and is a combination conservative/sports talk radio station.
WCOL is one of four Country music outlets in Columbus, the most of any radio market in Ohio, as it faces competition with WHOK-FM, WCLT-FM, and WNKK for Country music listenership in Columbus. However, WCOL is the only Country station in Columbus that covers the entire metropolitan area with a full powered signal.
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