WCSO was a radio station in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

. First licensed in 1922, it was deleted in 1930, as part of a consolidation that created WGAR.

History

WCSO was first licensed, as WNAP, on October 13, 1922, to

Wittenberg College Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign cou ...

in Springfield, operating on the standard "entertainment" wavelength of . As early as 1896, the college's physics department had experimented with radio transmissions, and a radio club composed of students was established in 1906. First receiving experimental license 8XAK earlier in 1922, Wittenberg professor E. O. Weaver and several of his students constructed the

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

in advance of signing on, and programming was presented by the college's Speech and Drama Department. The station's frequency was reassigned in the fall of 1923 to , to in early 1924, and to at the end of the year. The station's call letters were changed to WCSO—for Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio—on March 6, 1925, and the station was reassigned to on June 15, 1927. Originally located at Wittenberg's Carnegie Science Hall, the studios were eventually moved to Blair Hall, with the radio towers erected in front of the science building. As part of a major reallocation under the provisions of the FRC's

General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...

, on November 11, 1928, WCSO was assigned to on a timesharing basis with

KQV KQV (1410 AM) is a non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and covering the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, the station simulcasts WKGO (88.1 FM) in Murrysville and airs an easy l ...

in Pittsburgh. WCSO was reassigned to a few months later as WFJC's new timesharing partner. George A. Richards, Leo J. Fitzpatrick and P. M. Thomas—owners of

WJR WJR (760 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Detroit, Michigan, owned by Cumulus Media, with a news/talk format. Most of WJR's broadcast studios, along with its newsroom and offices, are in the Fisher Building in Detroit's New Center ...

in Detroit—incorporated the WGAR Broadcasting Company in order to establish "Cleveland's fourth radio station". On September 6, the company filed an application with the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...

(FRC) for authorization to "consolidate stations WFJC and WCSO into a new station with new equipment at Cleveland Ohio", which was approved that same month. The WGAR Broadcasting Company took over ownership of WCSO on September 26, 1930, later recognized as a casualty of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

; WFJC was acquired seven days earlier. WCSO made its final broadcast on October 11, 1930, after coverage of the

Wittenberg Tigers Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical ...

Washington & Jefferson Presidents The Washington & Jefferson Presidents are the intercollegiate athletic teams for Washington & Jefferson College. The name "Presidents" refers to the two President of the United States, presidential namesakes of the college, George Washington and ...

football game and its license was formally deleted at the end of the month. Later renamed Wittenberg University, the institution re-entered radio broadcasting in 1966 with the sign-on of WUSO, regarded as "a descendant" of WCSO.

References

{{Dayton Radio Radio stations established in 1922 Radio stations disestablished in 1930 1922 establishments in Ohio 1930 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct radio stations in the United States CSO Springfield, Ohio