WCER was an commercial
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
that was licensed to
Canton,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
at 900
AM, serving the
Canton metropolitan area. The station broadcast from 1947 to 2011, ceasing operations when the owners voluntarily allowed their
license
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
to expire, and the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) cancelled it.
History
The station began in 1947 as WAND. It became WCNS and later WNYN in the 1960s. WNYN, along with sister station WNYN-FM 106.9, was purchased in 1965 by Don Keyes, who had made his mark as a national programmer for legendary station owner
Gordon McLendon
Gordon Barton McLendon (June 8, 1921 – September 14, 1986Texas State Historical AssociationMcClendon, Gordon Barton/ref>) was an American radio broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Maverick of Radio", McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during ...
. He sold the AM station sometime after 1971, when he sold WNYN-FM to
Susquehanna Radio. The FM station became WHLQ, then WOOS, and is now
WRQK-FM.
After Keyes sold the AM station, it was known as "Country 9" in the early 1980s to North Shore Communications, Inc. an Ohio Corporation created by Stephen Bloomfield, Frank Pintur, both University of Akron graduates, and acolytes of former WNYN station manager, Dr. William B. Sties. It featured a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
format in the 1980s and was affiliated with ABC's "Direction" news network. The station was purchased by
Mortenson Broadcasting, then-owners of
WTOF-FM (98.1), and accordingly changed call letters to WTOF on March 15, 1985.
After Mortenson sold the AM station, the call sign was changed to WBXT on March 1, 1988 (with a short-lived Urban format), then to WCER on September 29, 1992. The WCER call letters originally stood for "Canton's Entertainment Radio," but have taken on different meanings with the station's Christian and religious-leaning format.
Owned by Melodynamic Broadcasting Corp., whose shareholders include Jack Ambrozic and former
Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...
Judge Leodis Harris, WCER featured programming such as
Alex Jones
Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
, Christian Teaching/Preaching, Derry Brownfield,
Dave Ramsey
David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American radio personality who offers financial advice. He is the founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions and a co-host of '' The Ramsey Show'', a nationally syndicated radio program. He ...
,
Dr. Laura
Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
, "The Patriot News Hour", and "The Flip Side" with Robby Noel. It also carried
Walsh University
Walsh University is a Private university, private Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1960 by the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a liberal arts college, it enrolls approximately 2,100 students as of 2023. ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and high school football games.
On March 31, 2011, early reports began to surface that WCER would permanently cease operations by the end of that day. However, such plans were rescinded for undisclosed reasons, and WCER continued broadcasting. A lease agreement with Curtis A. Perry III, former programmer for
WINW
WINW (1520 kHz) is a currently silent radio station licensed to Canton, Ohio. WINW is daytimer station, transmitting with 1,000 watts using a directional antenna with a four-tower array; but because AM 1520 is a clear channel frequency reserv ...
, took effect on July 8, 2011, and WCER dropped all existing talk programming for a revival of WINW's gospel music format.
WCER filed a "notification of silent operation" on September 27, 2011, stating that the station went off the air thirteen days earlier. Because the owners did not file an application to renew WCER's license, it expired on October 1, 2012, and was cancelled that October 5 by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
.
[ Retrieved December 31, 2019.]
References
External links
Facility details for Facility ID 41131 (WCER)in the FCC Licensing and Management System
* (covering 1945-1981 as WAND / WCNS / WNYN)
{{Religious Radio Stations in Ohio
CER
Radio stations established in 1947
1947 establishments in Ohio
Defunct radio stations in the United States
Radio stations disestablished in 2012
Defunct religious radio stations in the United States
2012 disestablishments in Ohio
CER
Canton, Ohio