WCOG (AM)

WCOG

City of license	Greensboro, North Carolina
Broadcast area	Piedmont Triad
Branding	Triad Sports Network
Frequency	1320 kHz
First air date	1947
Format	Sports radio
Power	5,000 watts
Class	B
Facility ID	74203
Transmitter coordinates	36°9′1.00″N 79°54′48.00″W / 36.1502778°N 79.9133333°W / 36.1502778; -79.9133333 (WCOG)
Callsign meaning	Wonderful City of Greensboro[1]
Former callsigns	WCOG (1947–1985) WGLD (1985–1994) WWWB (1994–1996) WTCK (1996–1999)[2]
Affiliations	ESPN Radio
Owner	Curtis Media Group (Crescent Media Group LLC)
Sister stations	WMFR, WPCM, WSJS, WSML, WYMY
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	triadsports.com

WCOG (1320 AM; "Triad Sports Network") is a radio station broadcasting a sports radio format. Licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Piedmont Triad area. The station is currently owned by Curtis Media Group and features programming from ESPN Radio.^[3] It is part of the "Triad Sports Network" along with WSML in Graham and WMFR in High Point, and operates out of studios in Winston-Salem.

History

WCOG went on the air in 1947.^[4] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the station had a top 40 format. Dusty Dunn, Bob Dayton, Scott Derringer and other DJs played a mix of music that might have included Led Zeppelin, Otis Redding, The Drifters and Janis Joplin.^[5]

While attending UNC-Chapel Hill Rick Dees worked for WCOG in 1969 and 1970 when the station was owned by Thoms Broadasting based in Asheville, NC. Dees left WCOG and worked at WTOB Winston-Salem, NC and WKIX Raleigh, NC when those stations were owned by Southern Broadcasting.^[6]

By 1981, WCOG was a country music station.^[4] In 1985, the station changed its call sign to WGLD,^[2] and its format to beautiful music.^{[citation needed]} A few years later, WGLD changed to satellite-delivered oldies;^[7] in 1989, this gave way to an adult standards format provided by the AM Only service. In 1994, the call letters changed to WWWB,^[2] and the format to talk radio; WWWB later simulcast WMFR. In 1996^{[citation needed]} the station changed again to WTCK,^[2] "The Ticket", and a sports talk format. The WMFR simulcast returned two years later, after WKEW dropped its talk format for Radio Disney.^[8]

In 1999, Truth Broadcasting changed the station to Christian talk and returned the WCOG letters.^[2] The new format included Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Charles Stanley and James Dobson.^[1] WTOB aired the same programming.^[9]

On October 2, 2000, WCOG began telling listeners to switch to WTRU.^[10] Late in 2000, the announcement came that Truth Broadcasting would move the Radio Disney affiliation from WKEW to WCOG.^[11]

The Walt Disney Company bought WCOG in 2005, which meant more community involvement and visibility for the station.^[12] Disney subsequently decided to sell its smaller-market Radio Disney stations, and took WCOG and five other stations off the air on January 22, 2010.^[13][14] A sale to Curtis Media Group was announced on March 9;^[15] upon taking over, Curtis relaunched the station July 15 with a return to sports talk.^[16]

Programming

WCOG primarily airs syndicated programming, both national programming from ESPN Radio (including Mike and Mike in the Morning, as well as its nighttime and weekend programs) and the regionally-syndicated showThe David Glenn Show (simulcast from WCMC-FM in Raleigh), and The Drive with Taylor Zarzour and Marc James (simulcast from WFNZ in Charlotte). It also carries Appalachian State Mountaineers football and basketball and High Point University Panthers basketball, as well as select additional local sports coverage.^[16]

Most of WCOG's programming is simulcast with WSML and WMFR; all three stations break away to carry certain programming as necessary.^[17]

References

External links

• Official website
• Former WCOG website as a Radio Disney station
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WCOG
• Radio-Locator Information on WCOG
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WCOG