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Broadcast area | Toledo, Ohio |
---|---|
Frequency | 1230 kHz |
Branding | Fox Sports 1230 The Gambler |
Programming | |
Format | Sports |
Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio Toledo Mud Hens Toledo Walleye VSiN |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WCKY-FM, WIOT, WRVF, WSPD, WVKS | |
History | |
First air date | April 10, 1938 (as WTOL) |
Former call signs | WTOL (1938–1965) |
Call sign meaning | W C-WA (after the St. Lawrence Seaway) |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 19627 |
Class | C |
Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | thegamblertoledo.iheart.com |
WCWA (1230 AM) is a radio station licensed to and serving Toledo, Ohio, airing a sports format. Owned by iHeartMedia, it is the Toledo affiliate for Fox Sports Radio, and the city's second-oldest radio station.
The station signed on in 1938 as WTOL, 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 Radio) shortly thereafter. Programming on WTOL, until the mid-1960s, was a full-service format 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. The station started broadcasting 24 hours a day in 1962 with the new format "Demand Radio 123". The tight format wore out in less than two years. In 1964 WTOL became a personality driven full service facility, and played popular music. For many years, WTOL was a family of three broadcast stations which included TV-11 and FM-104.7.
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 German merchant ship (the MS Karl Trautwein) which gave up the call sign for a modest payment. The easy listening format continued. In 1969, Station Manager Garry Miller persuaded Former WCWA DJ Jim Felton to leave CKLW in Detroit and return to program the station. The new format included PAMS jingles, and a slightly more Top 40 approach, while still avoiding the "harder rock'. The playlist contained the biggest variety of music available, and gained a much larger audience, even topping the ratings of local station WSPD, which remains as a news/talk station, and Detroit stations like WJR and CKLW. WCWA then went through many format changes in the early 1970s, causing it to be jokingly known as "which way radio".
In the early 1980s, WCWA Manager, Dan Dudley, took the station in another direction with help from consultant Jim Felton, who was working at CFTR in Toronto at the time. They mixed the oldies with country music cross-over songs. The Urban Cowboy craze was in its heyday, and the fit worked very well. They also brought veteran newsman Don Edwards in to run the news department. Mornings were handled by John Mack Brown, a controversial host, who was counterbalanced by the impressive image of Don Edwards. Deejays were Larry Fletcher, Jay Richards, Larry Weseman and radio legend Don King who hosted Sports Talk every evening. The format did extremely well for about two years, but the "cowboy" fad faded, and WCWA with program director Mike Sheppard, took on another format change, "Nostalgia". The "Music of Your Life" format was making ratings headway across the country as baby boomers began to feel their age. WCWA kept this format in both live and satellite delivered versions until 2002.
The last live version of WCWA in the nostalgia format originated from the Fort Industry Square studios, (designed and maintained by the infamous Denny Moon) from 1997 until 2002. The staff included the legendary Bob Martz, program director Jim Felton, Suzanne Carroll, Bill Charles, Michael Drew (Mike) Shaw, and Dennis Williams. The ratings increased with the live programming, but sales and management claimed they couldn't sell advertising time easily on a station which catered to "old people".
After two decades playing nostalgia/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. The format change away from music also brought much heated protest within the community, specifically from an organization known as CORRAL.
WCWA is owned by iHeartMedia, and is part of that company's Toledo cluster. WCWA (and its predecessor WTOL) was owned by Frazier Reams for many years prior to radio deregulation in 1996. Other stations in the 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.
On March 1, 2021, WCWA rebranded as "Fox Sports 1230 The Gambler", adding programming from the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), following in the footsteps of iHeart Fox Sports sister stations in Cleveland, Youngstown, and Philadelphia. [1]
WCWA is the flagship station for Toledo Mud Hens baseball, with all regular season games, playoffs and the Triple-A All-Star Game broadcast. Jim Weber is the play-by-play voice of the Mud Hens, having called the team's games since the mid-1970s. Matt Melzak joins when home and not working his Walleye job at the same time as the Mud Hens game.
WCWA is also the flagship of the Toledo Walleye, which played its inaugural season in 2009-2010. Matt Melzak is the play-by-play announcer for the Walleye. WCWA also carries University of Toledo women's basketball, with Jim Heller calling the plays courtside.
Since 1969, 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 could be received in hybrid digital all the way to the Michigan border.
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.
CKLW is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW is owned by Bell Media and has a news/talk radio format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts in middays and evenings, plus Coast to Coast AM with George Noory overnight. Evening newscasts are simulcast from CHWI-DT Channel 16 CTV Windsor.
WGPR is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan, broadcasting an urban contemporary radio format. Owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, its studios and offices are on East Jefferson Avenue on Detroit's lower eastside.
WCVX is a radio station licensed to Florence, Kentucky in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. WCVX is owned by the Christian Broadcasting System and it carries a Christian radio format. Its studios and offices are on West Seventh Street in Cincinnati and its transmitter is off Fowler Creek Road in Florence. WCVX broadcasts with a directional antenna with 5,000 watts in the daytime but at night it reduces power to 990 watts to protect KSL in Salt Lake City, the Class A Clear-channel station on 1160 kHz. WYLL in Chicago, Illinois is the only other full-time 50,000-watt station on 1160 AM, although it is a Class B station.
WIOT is a commercial radio station licensed to Toledo, Ohio, and features a mainstream rock format. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., WIOT serves both Northwest Ohio and Monroe County, Michigan, as an affiliate of The Bob & Tom Show and The House of Hair with Dee Snider. WIOT's studios are located in Downtown Toledo while the transmitter resides in the Toledo suburb of Oregon. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WIOT broadcasts over two HD Radio channels and is available online via iHeartRadio.
The following is a list of media in Toledo, Ohio, which includes local cable and broadcast television stations, radio stations, and newspapers which are received by people living in the Toledo, Ohio, region. Not included are radio and television stations from Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, which reach most of the city and surrounding area.
CIDR-FM is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, targeting the Detroit–Windsor metropolitan area, with fringe reception into Toledo and Cedar Point/Sandusky in Ohio. It is owned and operated by Bell Media and airs a Top 40/CHR format. The studios and offices are located on Ouellette Avenue in Windsor.
Denny Schaffer is a radio talk show host based in Toledo, Ohio. He left WQQO to host The 5:30 Club on 93.5 WRQN. He previously hosted a morning show on WWWM-FM, WRNO-FM and an evening show on WGKA 920 in Atlanta from 9 - 11 pm which WGKA moved to 8- 10 pm a few months before Denny was offered a gig in New Orleans.
WQQO is a commercial radio station licensed to Sylvania, Ohio, carrying a hot adult contemporary format known as "Q105". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Toledo metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northwest Ohio. WQQO's studio is located near UTMC on Arlington near Byrne road. The transmitter is located in Toledo's Scott Park neighborhood. Besides a standard analog transmission, WQQO broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online; WQQO-HD2 carries a sports talk format branded as "ESPN 100.7 The Ticket", which is relayed over low-power analog translator W264AK.
WTVG is a television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Dorr Street in Toledo, and its transmitter is located on Stadium Road in Oregon, Ohio.
WSPD is a commercial radio station licensed to Toledo, Ohio. It broadcasts a news/talk format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are located in downtown Toledo at Superior and Lafayette Streets.
WTOL is a television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc., which provides certain services to Fox affiliate WUPW under a joint sales agreement (JSA) with American Spirit Media. The two stations share studios on North Summit Street in downtown Toledo; WTOL's transmitter is located on Cedar Point Road in Oregon, Ohio.
WDFN is a commercial AM radio station in Detroit, Michigan. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts an all-news radio format under iHeartRadio's Black Information Network (BIN), targeting Detroit's African-American community. Its studios and offices are on Halsted Road in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills.
WRVF is a commercial radio station in Toledo, Ohio, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to all-Christmas music for much of November and December. WRVF carries the syndicated Delilah music and call-in show in the evening. The radio studios and offices are at Superior and Lafayette in Downtown Toledo.
WDTW is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Dearborn, Michigan, and serving the Detroit metropolitan area. Owned by Pedro Zamora, the station broadcasts a Spanish-language radio format branded as La Z 1310. It features Regional Mexican, Spanish-language Contemporary Hits and Mexican Pop. The studios and offices are on Goddard Road in Taylor, Michigan.
WVKS also known as 92.5 KISS-FM is an iHeartMedia-owned station serving Toledo, Ohio with a top 40 (CHR) format; it is the most popular Toledo station in this format.
WFXN is a sports formatted AM radio station licensed to Moline, Illinois. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. with studios located in Davenport, Iowa. The station is known as "Fox Sports 1230".
WLQR was a commercial radio station that was licensed to Toledo, Ohio at 1470 AM, and broadcast from 1954 to 2016. The station broadcast with a power output of 1,000 watts. It had a different signal pattern during the day than it did at night, using a directional antenna. The transmitter and four towers were located on Pickle Road, east of Toledo, in Oregon, Ohio. The studios at the transmitter site are no longer in use, since the WLQR/WTOD studios have been moved to the Cumulus Toledo-Cluster facility in South Toledo.
WIOE is a commercial oldies radio station licensed to serve Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owned by Brian Walsh, the station services the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Area and much of surrounding Northeastern Indiana as a full-power simulcast of WIOE, licensed to nearby South Whitley. WIOE also simulcasts over Fort Wayne translator W282CH. The WIOE studios are located in both Warsaw, and Fort Wayne, while WIOE's transmitter resides in Fort Wayne's East Central neighborhood along with W282CH's transmitter of Fort Wayne. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WIOE broadcasts under the C-QUAM AM stereo standard, and is available online.
The year 1984 in radio involved some significant events.
The year 1972 in radio involved some significant events.