WOCL

Last updated

WOCL
WOCL 1059 Sunny FM Logo.png
Broadcast area Greater Orlando - Central Florida
Frequency 105.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding105-9 Sunny FM
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Classic hits [1]
Subchannels
Ownership
Owner
  • Audacy, Inc.
  • (Audacy License, LLC, as Debtor-in-Possession)
History
First air date
July 10, 1967;56 years ago (1967-07-10)
Former call signs
  • WOOO-FM (1967–1970)
  • WDLF (1971–1974)
  • WELE-FM (1974–1986)
Call sign meaning
"Orlando's Class" (former format)
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 10138
Class C
ERP 100,000  watts
HAAT 484 meters (1,588 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 28°55′12″N81°19′08″W / 28.920°N 81.319°W / 28.920; -81.319
Translator(s) HD3: 93.5 W228DF (Orlando)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live (via  Audacy)
Website audacy.com/1059sunnyfm

WOCL (105.9 FM "Sunny FM") is a commercial radio station, licensed to DeLand, Florida, and serving Greater Orlando and Central Florida. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a classic hits radio format, focusing on the hits from the 1980s but with some 90s and 2000s titles as well. [1] The radio studios and offices are on Pembrook Drive in Maitland. [3]

Contents

WOCL has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for non-grandfathered FM stations. The transmitter is on Miller Road in Orange City, Florida. [4] WOCL can be heard as far away as the Space Coast in Brevard County, and the eastern shores of Central Florida. To the North, the station can be heard up to Jacksonville. Sunny can also be heard as far west as the Nature Coast of Citrus and Hernando Counties. Sunny FM is also one of the few Orlando stations to cover Ocala and parts of Gainesville with a decent signal.

History

Country (1967-1986)

On July 10, 1967;56 years ago, the station signed on the air. [5] It was a country music station with a limited signal. The original call sign was WOOO-FM, which changed to WDLF three years later. [6] [7] It was sold in 1977 and re-branded as WELE-FM as a sister station of WELE 1380 AM in South Daytona, Florida. [8]

Oldies (1986-1999)

In 1986, the format was shifted to oldies and the call sign changed to WOCL. [9] Initially called "Class 105.9", it was renamed "Cool 105.9" in February 1988. [10] [11]

Rhythmic oldies (1999-2000)

On April 8, 1999, the oldies format was moved to WSHE at 100.3 and called Cool 100. (That station has since been reformatted to Latin pop and become Rumba 100.3 with new call letters WRUM.) 105.9, meanwhile, was changed to Jammin' Oldies , a fad format at the time, and re-branded Power 105.9. [12] [13] [14] [15]

In 2000, as part of AMFM Media's merger with Clear Channel, WOCL was sold off to Infinity Broadcasting (renamed CBS Radio in 2005). By this time, the Jammin' Oldies format had entered a period of decline.

Alternative rock (2000-2008)

O-Rock 105.9 logo used from October 31, 2000, until January 4, 2008. The logo would later be in use again after O-Rock returned on WOCL-HD2. O-Rock logo.jpg
O-Rock 105.9 logo used from October 31, 2000, until January 4, 2008. The logo would later be in use again after O-Rock returned on WOCL-HD2.

Between October 31, 2000, and January 4, 2008, the station played alternative rock, known as O-Rock 105.9. [16] Following Clear Channel dropping The Howard Stern Show from its stations across the country (including WTKS-FM in Orlando, WOCL began airing the show in morning drive. [17] [18] [19]

Two talk shows, The Morning After Show and The Jody & Scott Show were turned into music-only shows in mid-2007. [20]

Classic hits (2008-present)

Sunny 105.9 logo used from 2008 to 2010. Sunny1059.png
Sunny 105.9 logo used from 2008 to 2010.

Without warning, at 9:00 a.m. on January 4, 2008, after playing "Down" by 311, WOCL dismissed its on-air staff and began stunting with Bill Drake's The History of Rock & Roll program. During this time, WOCL's webpage displayed a banner with pictures revolving between country music stars, classical figures such as Beethoven, smooth jazz icons such as Kenny G, and sports icons.

At 12:40 p.m. on January 10, 2008, the station began playing a year-by-year montage of snippets of popular culture (including movies, commercials, and of course, hit music) and news stories covering the years from 1965 to 1989. This montage was similar to the one played by WCBS-FM in New York City when that station relaunched its oldies/classic hits format in July 2007, and almost exactly the same one that would be used by classic hits convert WJMK in Chicago in March 2011. At 1:05:09 p.m., WOCL re-launched with a Classic hits format, branded as Sunny 105-9. [21] It features a playlist and imaging that closely resembles that of WCBS-FM in New York. The first song played on "Sunny 105.9" was "That's The Way I Like It" by the Florida-based group KC and the Sunshine Band. [22]

The shift left WJRR as Orlando's only alternative rock station, although WJRR transitioned back to active rock in 2011 because of panel changes on Nielsen BDS. (Alternative would make two subsequent comebacks on analog Orlando Radio - first at 107.3 FM from June 2014 to February 2016, then on sister station 101.9 WQMP in November 2017.) O-Rock 105.9 returned as an HD2 channel in April 2008, restoring its modern rock format.

In February 2010, WOCL modified its moniker to 105-9 Sunny FM, focusing on music from 1970 (with a few songs per day from the 1960s) to 1989, with the core being the late 1970s and 1980s, with even some 1990s.

Entercom/Audacy ownership

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. [23] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th. [24] [25]

In 2018, the station changed its slogan to "We Own the 80s", and also updated its logo. The station tweaked its format, dropping all 1960s music, and most music before 1975. The station's playlist is mostly 1980s music with some 1970s and 1990s songs. In 2020, WOCL adopted the slogan "Nobody Plays More 80s".

On March 30, 2021, Entercom rebranded as Audacy, Inc.

Sometime in the fall of 2022, the station increased its 70s and 90s output and added some early 2000s music, which was very limited back in the 2010s. By that time, the station quietly tweaked its slogan from "Your Home of the 80s" to "Your Home of the 70s, 80s, and 90s".

Ratings would severely take a downturn quickly with the new "expanded playlist of the 70s, 80s and 90s". As a result, in late spring or the early summer of 2023, the station reorganized and tweaked its playlist once more to heavily feature 1980s hits, but still included some 1990s and 2000s hits while phasing out all 1970s hits, with a new slogan, "Orlando's Hottest Classic Hits". This bolstered the station's Nielsen ratings and landed it back in the top two stations in Orlando.

WOCL-HD2

WOCL's former modern rock format "O-Rock" aired on WOCL's HD2 subchannel from 2008 until 2019. That format stayed in place even after sister station WQMP switched to alternative rock in November 2017. A simulcast of New York sports radio station WFAN moved from 105.9 HD3 to 105.9 HD2 to accommodate the playlist overlap of sister alternative rock station WQMP and move of regional Mexican-formatted "Ok 93.5" from WOTW-HD3. In early 2020, Entercom switched the feed of 105.9 HD2 from the WFAN simulcast to the national CBS Sports Radio feed.

WOCL-HD3

WOCL is the current originating station of Haitian Creole-formatted "RTVEO", moving from WQMP-HD3. RTVEO is rebroadcast onto FM translator W228DF, heard on 93.5 MHz.

Broadcast translator for WOCL-HD3
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class Transmitter coordinatesFCC info
W228DF93.5 FM Orlando, Florida 156373240121  m (397  ft)D 28°32′29″N81°30′39″W / 28.54139°N 81.51083°W / 28.54139; -81.51083 LMS

Related Research Articles

KRTH is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a classic hits format. KRTH's studios are located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles. The station's signal covers an extremely large area of Southern California due in part to its antenna location on Mt. Wilson. It can be heard as far south as San Diego, as far east as Moreno Valley, as far west as Santa Barbara, and as far north as Barstow. KRTH is the flagship station for the nationally syndicated program Rewind with Gary Bryan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCBS-FM</span> Adult hits radio station in Los Angeles

KCBS-FM is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded as "93.1 Jack FM".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KQQL</span> Radio station in Anoka–Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota

KQQL is a commercial radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and is licensed to suburban Anoka. It plays classic hits and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.

Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s and the nostalgia behind it is a major driver to the format. It is considered the successor to the oldies format, a collection of top 40 songs from the late 1950s through the late 1970s that was once extremely popular in the United States and Canada. The term is sometimes incorrectly used as a synonym for the adult hits format, which uses a slightly newer music library stretching from all decades to the present with a major focus on 1990s and 2000s pop, rock and alternative songs. In addition, adult hits stations tend to have larger playlists, playing a given song only a few times per week, compared to the tighter libraries on classic hits stations. For example, KRTH, a classic hits station in Los Angeles, and KSPF, a classic hits station in Dallas, both play power songs up to 30 times a week or more, which is another differentiator compared to other formats that share songs with classic hits libraries.

KZJK is a commercial radio station licensed to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an adult hits radio format known as "104.1 Jack FM." Audacy also owns Jack FM stations in Los Angeles and Dallas. KZJK's studios and offices are on Second Avenue South in Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCBS-FM</span> Classic hits radio station in New York City

WCBS-FM is a radio station owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. licensed to New York, New York, and broadcasting a classic hits format. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, and its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.

WCSX is a commercial radio station licensed to Birmingham, Michigan, and serving Metro Detroit. It broadcasts a classic rock radio format and is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group. The studios and transmitter are on Radio Plaza in Ferndale. Despite its call sign, WCSX is not affiliated with the CSX Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOGL</span> Classic hits radio station in Philadelphia

WOGL is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a classic hits radio format. The broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, at. The station's studios and offices are co-located within Audacy's corporate headquarters in Center City, Philadelphia. The station features mostly hits from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s with some 2000s hits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBGB (FM)</span> Adult hits radio station in Boston

WBGB – branded as Big 103 – is a commercial adult hits FM radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston. The WBGB studios are located in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton, while the station's transmitter resides in nearby Newton. Besides a standard analog transmission, WBGB broadcasts over two HD Radio channels, and is available online via Audacy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBZZ</span> Radio station in New Kensington–Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">WQMP</span> Radio station in Daytona Beach, Florida

WQMP is a radio station licensed to Daytona Beach serving the Orlando and Space Coast areas of Central Florida. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format branded as "FM 101.9". Its studios are located in Maitland and the transmitter is in Orange City. To the north, the station can be heard as far as St. Augustine, to the south, the station can be heard as far as Palm Bay and is one of the few Orlando stations that covers Ocala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXSS</span> Radio station in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

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KCMO-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Shawnee, Kansas, and serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The station is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting and airs a classic hits radio format, switching to all-Christmas music from mid-November to December 25. KCMO-FM's studios and offices are located in the Corporate Woods area in Overland Park, Kansas. The transmitter is off Menown Avenue in Independence, Missouri.

KSPF is a commercial radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas, and serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. KSPF is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs a classic hits radio format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVIL</span> Radio station in Highland Park-Dallas, Texas

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References

  1. 1 2 "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Arbitron.com. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WOCL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "Contact Us | 1059 SUNNY FM Orlando". www.audacy.com.
  4. ↑ "WOCL-FM 105.9 MHz - Deland, FL". radio-locator.com.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009 (PDF). 2009. p. D-133. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ "WOOO-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. July 10, 1965. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  7. ↑ "WDLF-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. July 10, 1967. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ "WELE-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. July 10, 1967. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Archives: OrlandoSentinel.com - WELE CHANGING OWNERS AND NAME". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. January 13, 1986. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Archives: OrlandoSentinel.com - COOL RULES AT WOCL". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. February 16, 1988. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  11. ↑ "WOCL-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. February 14, 1988. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Archives: OrlandoSentinel.com - OLDIES STATION WOCL HAS LOST ITS 'COOL' MANAGEMENT CHANGES ITS TUNE, DUMPS THE ELVIS CROWD IN FAVOR OF DISCO, '70S SOUL AND MOTOWN". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. April 14, 1999. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ American Radio History [ dead link ]
  14. ↑ "R&R" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. April 23, 1999. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  15. ↑ "WOCL-FM 105.9 Power 105.9". Cflradio.net. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Rhythmic Oldies "Power 105.9" WOCL becomes "O-Rock 105-9" - Format Change Archive". Formatchange.com. October 31, 2000. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Archives: OrlandoSentinel.com - ALTERNATIVE ROCK FORMAT HITS AIRWAVES". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. November 1, 2000. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Archives: OrlandoSentinel.com - O-ROCK ROLLS INTO TOWN AS JAMMIN' OLDIES SHUFFLES OFF POWER 105.9 LAUNCHES AN ALTERNATIVE ROCK FORMAT WITH A NEW SENSE OF OPTIMISM". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. November 3, 2000. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  19. ↑ "R&R" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. November 3, 2000. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  20. ↑ "WOCL-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. July 10, 1967. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  21. ↑ "WOCL-FM 105.9 Deland". Cflradio.net. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  22. ↑ ""O-Rock" 105.9 WOCL Orlando Becomes "Sunny 105.9" - Format Change Archive". Formatchange.com. January 10, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  23. ↑ "CBS Radio To Merge With Entercom - RadioInsight". February 2, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  25. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
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