WCAO
| City | Baltimore, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Baltimore metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 600 kHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Heaven 600 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban gospel |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (iHM Licenses, LLC) |
| WPOC, WQSR, WZFT | |
| History | |
First air date | September 1922 |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 63777 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°25′47″N 76°45′41″W / 39.42972°N 76.76139°W |
| Repeater(s) | 102.7 WQSR-HD2 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | heaven600 |
WCAO (600 kHz "Heaven 600") is a commercial AM radio station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts an urban gospel radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It also airs some Christian talk and teaching programs. The studios and offices are located at The Rotunda shopping center in Baltimore.
WCAO is powered at 5,000 watts. To protect other stations on AM 600, it uses a four-tower array directional antenna at all times. To improve its sound quality, WCAO broadcasts using HD Radio technology. The transmitter is off Garrison Forest Road at Caves Woods Road in Owings Mills, Maryland.[1] Programming is also heard on the HD-2 digital subchannel of co-owned 102.7 WQSR.
History[edit]
Early years[edit]
WCAO was licensed on May 6, 1922. It was the first radio station in Maryland to get a commercial broadcast license. But WFBR (now WJZ 1300 AM) actually beat it on the air by a few months. WFBR got its license and signed on in June, while WCAO took until September for its initial broadcast.[2]
In the 1930s, WCAO was powered at 1,000 watts by day and 500 watts at night, with studios at 811 West Lanvale Street.[3] It was owned by the Monumental Radio Company and was a CBS Network affiliate during the 1930s and 1940s. In that era, WCAO carried CBS dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows, children's shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio."
From May 1937 until May 1957, radio announcer Charles Purcell and theatre organist Roland Nuttrell hosted a nightly live broadcast known as "Nocturne." Nuttrell would play calming melodies on the organ at the Parkway Theatre or the Century Theatre, while many miles away in the WCAO studios located at the Upton Mansion, Purcell would read from his poetry book entitled The Book Of Golden Dreams. Nocturne received many positive reviews from listeners, noting it was far more effective at putting people to sleep than taking sleeping pills. The 20-year run of this program made it the longest -running radio program in Baltimore at that time.
In 1947, WCAO added an FM station, 102.7 WCAO-FM. At first it mostly simulcast the AM station. But in the 1960s and 70s, it aired its own classical music format. Today that station is co-owned WQSR Jack FM.
Top 40 era[edit]
From the 1950s through the 1970s, WCAO was one of Baltimore's most popular stations, broadcasting a Top 40 format. WCAO disc jockeys were noted radio personalities for many young listeners such as Johnny Dark, Kerby Scott, Jack Edwards, Les Alexander, Bob Bartel, Frank Luber, Donn Keller, Paul Rodgers, Alan Field, and Gene Creasy.
At the time, WCAO-AM-FM were owned by Plough Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Schering-Plough pharmaceutical coompany.[4] By 1980, many contemporary music listeners had switched to FM radio to hear the latest hits.
Urban gospel[edit]
WCAO flipped to a country music format in 1982. But it had trouble competing with FM counterpart 93.1 WPOC. The country sound lasted nine years.
On November 25, 1991, WCAO switched to its current urban gospel format. It is now a competitor to similarly formatted WWIN-AM "Spirit 1400".[5]
Past personalities[edit]
Eddie Hubbard was a popular WCAO disc jockey. He later gained fame as a radio personality in Chicago.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WCAO
- ^ Belanger, Brian (August 2001). "Baltimore's Radio Stations" (PDF). News of the Radio History Society. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
- ^ Information from Broadcasting Yearbook 1935 page 36
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62 page B-76
- ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1991/RR-1991-11-29.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ Ratty, Marguerite (December 12, 1948). "Eddie Hubbard Fills Cupboard by Adding TV!". Chicago Sunday Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
External links[edit]
- WCAO in the FCC AM station database
- WCAO on Radio-Locator
- WCAO in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
Coordinates: 39°25′47″N 76°45′42″W / 39.42972°N 76.76167°W