WOKO

This article is about a Vermont radio station. For the New York State radio station that held the WOKO call letters from 1925-1983, see WOPG (AM).

WOKO
Broadcast areaBurlington–Plattsburgh
Frequency98.9 MHz
Branding98.9 WOKO
Programming
FormatCountry music
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerHall Communications
WBTZ, WIZN, WJOY, WKOL
History
First air date
June 26, 1962 (62 years ago) (1962-06-26)
Former call signs
  • WJOY-FM (1962–1972)
  • WQCR (1972–1990)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID25867
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT94 meters (308 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
44°27′3.1″N 73°11′49.4″W / 44.450861°N 73.197056°W / 44.450861; -73.197056
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewoko.com

WOKO (98.9 FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, United States, the station serves the Burlington-Plattsburgh area. The station is owned by Hall Communications[2][3]

History

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WJOY-FM

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WJOY-FM signed on the air on June 26, 1962.[4] It was Vermont's first FM radio station and broadcast a classical format, programmed separately from its AM counterpart, WJOY (1230 AM).[5] The station contracted with Heritage Music, a company based in New York and Bellingham, Washington, to provide its musical selections.[5][6] To prepare for FM broadcasting, one studio was cut in half to add an FM control room, and another studio was converted to a transmitter room for WJOY's AM and FM operations.[4] In 1967, WJOY-AM-FM broke ground on new studio facilities, including a new and taller 359-foot (109 m) tower to replace the 220-foot (67 m) tower being used.[7] WJOY-FM began stereo broadcasting in 1969.[8]

WQCR

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In 1971, Frank Balch, who had joined WJOY as an announcer in 1951, and had become president of the Vermont Broadcasting Corporation, acquired majority control of WJOY-AM-FM.[9] The next year, on August 14, 1972, WJOY-FM became WQCR;[10] the call letters were said to stand for "Wonderful Queen City Radio".[11] The station continued to have an easy listening sound.[11]

There were two major developments for WQCR in 1975. In February, it flipped to a rock format; in July, it increased its effective radiated power from 3,200 watts[12] to 33,000, doubling its coverage area.[13] Balch served in the late 1970s, as director of the National Association of Broadcasters and on the University of Vermont Board of Trustees.[14] WQCR's power was further increased to 50,000 watts in 1980.[15] Despite having fully automated programming, "Q99" was a strong second overall in the market in 1981, and led among young adults.[16]

After 35 years in broadcasting, Balch sold WJOY-WQCR to Hall Communications of Norwich, Connecticut, for $2.2 million in 1983.[17] The new ownership switched WQCR from automated to live programming.[18] The 1984 sign-on of WXXX put a massive dent in WQCR's ratings; the new contemporary hit outlet debuted at number one and dropped WQCR from a 21.2 share in the fall 1984 Arbitron book to a 9.4.[19]

On September 9, 1988, brought technical and format changes. The station rebranded as "The New Rock 99 FM" the same day it doubled its power to 100,000 watts.[20][21]

WOKO

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On April 1, 1990, after 16 years as a rock station, WQCR switched to country music and adopted new WOKO call letters, seeking to fill a void in the market, which only had one FM country outlet.[22] Around the same time, under the guidance of former executive vice president and COO Dick Reed, Hall flipped stations it owned serving New London, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island, to country.[23] The move was described by general manager Dan Dubonnet in 1992, as a quest to "save" the station, which was gaining little traction as a rocker; it tripled its weekly audience in the two years after the flip and benefited from the increased popularity of country music in the early 1990s.[24] The station's success earned it back-to-back station of the year honors from the Vermont Association of Broadcasters in 1993 and 1994;[25] by 1995, WOKO was back on top of the Burlington radio ratings.[26] Hall became Vermont's first FM duopoly owner with its purchase of WEXP-FM that same year.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WOKO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WOKO Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ "WOKO Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  4. ^ a b "WJOY-FM Will Go on Air Today". Burlington Free Press. June 26, 1962. p. 2A. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "FM To Bring New Broadcasting Era". Burlington Free Press. May 17, 1962. p. 22. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  6. ^ "WJOY-FM Will Feature Serious Heritage Music". Burlington Free Press. June 23, 1962. p. 6. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  7. ^ "Ground Broken for New WJOY Studios". Burlington Free Press. October 23, 1967. p. 13. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "WJOY-FM To Add Stereo Broadcasts". Burlington Free Press. April 14, 1969. p. 12. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "Balch To Buy WJOY Radio". Burlington Free Press. April 7, 1971. p. 19. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  10. ^ "WJOY-FM Becomes WQCR Today". Burlington Free Press. August 14, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Music in the air EVERYWHERE..." Burlington Free Press. October 29, 1973. p. 15. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  12. ^

    FCC History Cards for WOKO

  13. ^ "WQCR-FM Increases Power". Burlington Free Press. July 3, 1975. p. 26. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  14. ^ "Balch Named UVM Trustee". Burlington Free Press. Associated Press. March 2, 1977. p. 1B. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  15. ^ "WQCR-FM Boosts Power". Burlington Free Press. April 20, 1980. p. 11B. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  16. ^ Abbey, Alan (August 11, 1981). "Radio Ratings Shake Up Area Stations". Burlington Free Press. pp. 1D, 3D. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  17. ^ Eley, Bob (September 2, 1983). "Connecticut Company to Buy Two Burlington Radio Stations". Burlington Free Press. p. 5B. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  18. ^ Eley, Bob (January 29, 1984). "Giant firms buy into area's high tech rec". Burlington Free Press. pp. 1F, 12F. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  19. ^ "WXXX Ratings Top Area Radio Market". Burlington Free Press. August 9, 1985. p. 6C. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  20. ^ "Q-99 FM doubles its power to 100,000 watts". Burlington Free Press. September 9, 1988. p. 1D. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  21. ^ "It's Only Rock N Roll". Burlington Free Press. September 8, 1988. p. 3. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  22. ^ Donoghue, Mike (March 1, 1990). "WQCR-FM to switch its format". Burlington Free Press. p. 5C. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  23. ^ Helton, Lon (June 30, 2005). "Doing What's Right, And Doing It Well" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 32. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  24. ^ "WOKO rides the new country wave". Burlington Free Press. May 28, 1992. p. Weekend 9. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  25. ^ Graff, Christopher (June 12, 1994). "Greene named top broadcaster". Burlington Free Press. Associated Press. p. 4B.
  26. ^ Blackburn, Maria (February 3, 1995). "Country WOKO clobbers on-air competition". Burlington Free Press. p. 12A. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  27. ^ Donoghue, Mike (February 23, 1995). "WEXP sold to owner of WOKO". Burlington Free Press. p. 8B. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
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