View source for WWCO

{{short description|Spanish-language tropical music radio station in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WWCO
| logo             =
| above            = Simulcasts [[WRYM]] [[New Britain, Connecticut|New Britain]]
| city             = [[Waterbury, Connecticut]]
| country          = US
| area             = [[Greater Waterbury]]
| branding         = Viva Radio
| frequency        = 1240 [[Hertz|kHz]]
| translator       = {{Radio Relay|106.3|W292FI|Waterbury}}
| repeater         =
| airdate          = {{start date and age|1946}}<ref name="by2009">{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009|year=2009|page=D-126|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2009/RadioAL-FL-BC-YB-2009.pdf|accessdate=February 10, 2019}}</ref>
| format           = Spanish [[contemporary hit radio|contemporary]] - [[Tropical music|tropical]] - [[reggaeton]]
| language         =
| power            = 1,000 watts unlimited
| erp              =
| haat             =
| class            = C
| facility_id      = 40678
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|41|33|59.35|N|73|3|21.39|W|region:US-CT_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = Waterbury, Connecticut
| former_callsigns =
| operator         =
| owner            = Trignition Media, LLC
| licensee         =
| sister_stations  = [[WCUM]], [[WRYM]]
| webcast          = {{listenlive|url=https://radio.securenetsystems.net/ce/index.cfm?stationCallSign=WRYM}}
| website          = {{URL|https://www.vivazona.com/}}
| affiliations     =
}}
'''WWCO''' (1240 [[Hertz|kHz]]; "Viva Radio") is a [[commercial radio]] station licensed to [[Waterbury, Connecticut]], and owned by David Webster's Trignition Media LLC.  WWCO is a [[simulcast]] of its [[sister station]] in [[New Britain, Connecticut|New Britain]], [[WRYM]] (840 AM); the stations' programming is also heard on [[WCUM]] (1450 AM) in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=WWCO |title=WWCO Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?surveyID=WI14&band=am&callLetter=WWCO|title=WWCO Station Information Profile|publisher=[[Arbitron]]}}</ref>  WWCO, WRYM, and WCUM all air a Spanish [[Contemporary hit radio|contemporary hit]] [[radio format]], including [[tropical music]] and [[reggaeton]].
WWCO transmits with 1,000 watts [[omnidirectional antenna|non-directional]].  The [[transmitter]] is on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury, near the [[Naugatuck River]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=Wwco&nav=home Radio-Locator.com/WWCO]</ref>  Programming is also heard on 200-watt [[FM translator]] '''W292FI''' on 106.3 [[Hertz|MHz]] in Waterbury.<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/info/W292FI-FX Radio-Locator.com/W292FI]</ref>
==History==
===Top 40 hits===
WWCO [[sign-on|signed on]] the air in 1946.  It was originally powered at 250 watts. It was a [[network affiliate]] of the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]] with studios in the Mattatuck Historical Society Building at 119 West Main Street.  As network programming moved from radio to television in the 1950s, WWCO had a format that was mostly [[pop music]].
By the 1960s, WWCO was the first station in Waterbury to play [[rock and roll]] records and had a [[Top 40]] format.  On-air personalities during this era included Bob "Records" Crager, Les Davis, Joe Mulhall (later known as Ken Griffin in Hartford and Los Angeles), Bob Rouge and [[Wildman Steve Gallon|"Wildman Steve" Gallon]].  Davis and WWCO were featured in an article in the April 25, 1955, edition of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine.
During the 1960s and the 1970s, WWCO was owned by TV entertainer [[Merv Griffin]] and operated as "1240 Super Music C-O".  In 1967, WWCO added an FM station, WWCO-FM 104.1 (now [[WMRQ-FM]]). On-air personalities during this era included Tom Collins, later known as [[Joe Cipriano]], the voice of the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] network, [[CBS]] and [[NBC]].
===Adult contemporary and oldies===
The station evolved from Top 40 to an [[adult contemporary]] format (called "All-Star Music WWCO") at about the same time as [[WKCI-FM|WKCI]] (KC-101) switched from [[easy listening]] to [[adult top 40]] as "KC-101".   WKCI's switch to the new format may have hastened WWCO's departure from Top 40.  Some WWCO personalities left to take jobs at KC-101.
In 1984, WWCO was sold to Westport resident Sam Brownstein and abandoned the "All-Star" format.  It switched to 1950s and 1960s [[oldies]] under the direction of program director Mike Dowling.
===Urban nights===
The station found success with a night–time [[urban contemporary]] format called "Nightflight" which it used from 1984 to 1989.  Ricky "J" was one of the DJs. Later{{When|date=July 2010}} financial issues caused WWCO to terminate some of its personalities and to carry Unistar's "Niche 29" adult [[album rock]] (AOR) format.
WWCO was sold to Winthrop Broadcasting, whose relatives owned Waterbury's [[WQQW (Connecticut)|WQQW]] (1590 AM; now [[dark (broadcasting)|silent]]).  WWCO relocated from its longtime location on the Straits Turnpike in Middlebury to a new studio in Waterbury.  By 1990, WWCO again returned to its old Top 40 format, again as "1240 Super Music 'C-O".  Steve Skipp returned for a short tenure as program director, after which Wally Mann succeeded him and continued in that position as the station switched back to an [[oldies]] format.
General manager Tom Coffey and former [[WWYZ]] salesman Rob Johnson formed Mattatuck Communications and purchased the station.  The studios moved to a new location.{{When|date=July 2010}} While most AM stations had already abandoned contemporary music, WWCO, and its on-air talent, continued into the early 1990s.
===Buckley Broadcasting and Connoisseur Media===
WWCO was then{{When|date=July 2010}} sold to Connecticut-based [[Buckley Broadcasting]], the parent of [[WDRC (AM)|WDRC]] in [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]].  WWCO moved to WDRC's studios in [[Bloomfield, Connecticut|Bloomfield]] and began broadcasting the same programming as WDRC.  WDRC's [[talk radio]] format was known as "The Talk of Connecticut".  It also included AM stations in [[Meriden, Connecticut|Meriden]] and [[Torrington, Connecticut|Torrington]].
On March 5, 2014, Buckley Broadcasting announced that it would sell its Connecticut radio stations, including WWCO, to [[Connoisseur Media]].<ref name=hc-saletoconnoisseur>{{cite news|last=Fillo|first=Maryellen|title=Buckley Sells WDRC And CT Stations To Connoisseur|url=http://courantblogs.com/java/buckley-sells-wdrc-and-ct-stations-to-connoisseur/|accessdate=March 5, 2014|newspaper=[[Hartford Courant]]|date=March 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305214351/http://courantblogs.com/java/buckley-sells-wdrc-and-ct-stations-to-connoisseur/|archive-date=March 5, 2014}}</ref> The sale was consummated on July 7, 2014 at a price of $7,922,035.
===Trignition Media===
WWCO was not included in the 2018 sale of WDRC and the other "Talk of Connecticut" stations to Red Wolf Broadcasting,<ref name="ir-saletoredwolf">{{cite news |title=Connoisseur Sells Hartford's WDRC, 3 Others to Red Wolf. |url=http://www.insideradio.com/free/connoisseur-sells-hartford-s-wdrc-others-to-red-wolf/article_8d6a4d88-fae4-11e7-a92a-af0411629d1c.html |accessdate=February 9, 2019 |work=Inside Radio |date=January 16, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> which was completed on March 29, 2018.<ref name="hbj-saletoredwolfcomplete">{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Joe |title=Red Wolf completes purchase of five CT radio stations |url=http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20180330/NEWS01/180339990/red-wolf-completes-purchase-of-five-ct-radio-stations |accessdate=February 9, 2019 |work=Hartford Business Journal |date=March 30, 2018}}</ref> Instead, the station was sold to Trignition Media, owner of [[WRYM]] in [[New Britain, Connecticut|New Britain]], for $260,000.<ref name="ir-saletotrignition">{{cite news |title=Connoisseur Sells Last 'Talk Of Connecticut' Signal. |url=http://www.insideradio.com/free/connoisseur-sells-last-talk-of-connecticut-signal/article_1345c3e8-fc9c-11e7-a83c-6f969bdcfba5.html |accessdate=February 10, 2019 |work=Inside Radio |date=January 18, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2018, WWCO left the "Talk of Connecticut" network and began simulcasting WRYM's "Viva" tropical format.<ref name="ri-wrymonwwco">{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |title=Viva Expands In Connecticut |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/127456/viva-expands-connecticut/ |accessdate=February 10, 2019 |work=RadioInsight |date=February 13, 2018}}</ref> Trignition Media's purchase of the station was completed on February 22, 2019.<ref name="fcc-saletotrignitioncomplete">{{cite web |title=Consummation Notice |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1800880&Service=AM&Form_id=905&Facility_id=40678 |website=CDBS Public Access |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |accessdate=April 25, 2019}}</ref>  Both stations acquired translators so their programming could be heard on the FM band.
==FM translator==
{{RadioTranslators
| callsign =
| width    =
| call1    = W292FI
| freq1    = 106.3
| city1    = Waterbury, Connecticut
| fid1     = 200742
| watts1   = 250
| haat1    = 0
| class1   = D
| coord1   = {{coord|41|31|4.3|N|73|1|7.3|W|region:US-CT_type:landmark|name=W292FI}}
| notes1   =
}}
==References==
{{Portal|Connecticut}}
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.vivazona.com/}}
{{AM station data|40678|WWCO}}
{{Hartford Radio}}
{{Spanish Radio Stations in Connecticut}}
[[Category:Waterbury, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Mass media in New Haven County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Connecticut|WCO]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1946]]
[[Category:Spanish-language radio stations in Connecticut|WCO]]
[[Category:Reggaeton radio stations]]
[[Category:Tropical music radio stations]]