WSEO
Coordinates: 39°27′38.00″N 82°13′9.00″W / 39.4605556°N 82.2191667°W
 | |
| City of license | Nelsonville, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Branding | True Country |
| Frequency | 107.7 MHz |
| Format | New Country |
| ERP | 3,000 watts |
| HAAT | 100.0 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 48258 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°27′38.00″N 82°13′9.00″W / 39.4605556°N 82.2191667°W |
| Callsign meaning | South East Ohio[1] |
| Former callsigns |
WSNV (1989-1990) WAIS-FM (1990-1990) |
| Affiliations |
Jones Radio Network Ohio State IMG Sports Network |
| Owner | Nelsonville TV Cable |
WSEO (107.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a New Country format. Licensed to Nelsonville, Ohio, USA. The station is currently owned by Nelsonville TV Cable and features programming from Jones Radio Network.[2][3]
History
The station went on the air as WSNV on 1989-09-29. On 1990-01-22, the station changed its call sign to WAIS-FM, on 1990-07-23 to the current WSEO. The station first began broadcasting from studios above its parent company's cable studios in downtown Nelsonville until the early 1990s when its owner built a new cinder-block, windowless station on U.S. Route 33 near the Hocking River, housing WSEO and its sister AM station, WAIS. The station was designed to be very secure, with auto-locking, reinforced doors, partially due to its rural setting and overnight unattended operation. The building still has a band of red, white and blue stripes encircling it, with the roof in recent years painted red, white and blue.
The studios were a first of their kind in Ohio in 1993, using an entirely digital production environment for commercial, music and news production. When the station's format was flipped to Contemporary Country in '93, it was programmed with TM Century mix CDs and used TM Century's "Star Spangled Country" jingle package. In 1995, WSEO and WAIS both achieved a #1 ranking in Athens County, Ohio according to Arbitron. A combination of tweaking of music, community information, high school sports broadcasting and tight programming likely led to the ratings.
Its local community service area is unique in that Athens, Ohio is not well-served by a commercial television station, leaving residents to depend on radio for most news. WSEO faced tough competition, due mostly to its weak 3,000-watt signal and an established FM powerhouse two counties away, toward Columbus. Whether or not the top ranking was a fluke, the station retained a majority of its audience, but began to fall slowly until the early 2000s, when major cuts were made because of poor profitability and health problems of its owner and founder.[4]
References
- ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
- ↑ "WSEO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ "WSEO Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
- ↑ "WSEO Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WSEO
- Radio-Locator information on WSEO
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WSEO