WLCY (106.3 FM) is 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 ...

formatted

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 ...

serving

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...

, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. It is owned and operated by

Renda Media Renda Media (formerly known as Renda Broadcasting) is a privately held Pittsburgh-based radio broadcasting company founded by chief executive, Tony Renda. Renda operates stations in Pennsylvania and Florida. Most stations are identified as “A ...

.https://rendabroadcasting.com/our-markets/indiana-pa

Early history

Beginnings as WCQO

The 106.3 license originally signed on as WCQO-FM ("CQO" being the initials of station founder Ada Ottie's daughter Constance Quinn) with a "Music of Your Life" format featuring music of the 1930s and 1940s. Charles Rutledge served as vice president and general manager of Blairsville Broadcasting Company, Inc., the original licensee, while Constance Quinn Ottie served as the station's operations manager. The station broadcast from a two-story wood-framed house at the intersection of Routes 22 and 119 in Burrell Township, just outside the Blairsville borough limits. The ground floor housed the on-air and production studios, with sales and administrative offices on the top floor. During these early years, the station broadcast a locally produced polka show, hosted by Mark Bertig who led the band "The Polish Friends" from the late 1970s to early 1980s. He would leave in 1985, only to return in 2002 to manage this station and three of its competitors under subsequent purchases by its present owner.

The WNQQ days: "Wink FM"

On April 15, 1985, the station was purchased by former

WAMO-FM WAOB-FM (106.7 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, as well as parts of Eastern Ohio and the northern panhandle of West Virginia, it is owned by St. Joseph M ...

general manager Ray Gusky (dba WNQQ, Inc.), who rebranded the station with the call sign WNQQ-FM and adopted a hybrid AC /

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

format. Billed as "Wink-FM," the station added specialty programming, such as a locally based oldies program on Saturdays, "Jukebox Saturday Night with D.P. McIntire" (who would re-emerge decades later as the general manager of 101.9 WKRP in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

) as well as a Sunday morning program featuring Irish folk music, "C'eol Na hEireann with Nancy Lee." Transfer of the station's control went from Gusky to Jeff Dean (dba Pennsylvania Broadcast Associates) in December 1987.

Longo's Luckyland: WLCY and "Lucky 106.3"

Latrobe-based Longo Media Group purchased the station in November 1989. It was rebranded under the call letters WLCY-FM (once assigned to an AM-FM-TV combination in Tampa, Florida), revamping its soft adult contemporary format under the nickname "Lucky 106.3". After a three-year hiatus and a stint at

WPXZ WPXZ-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, known as the "Weather Capital of the World". The station operates at a federally assigned frequency of 104.1 MHz and an effective radiated power of 3,000 wat ...

McIntire would return to the station in a part-time role in 1989, with G.V. Rapp coming on as program director. Tony Michaels maintained his role hosting "Jukebox Saturday Night," having inherited it from McIntire's successor, Dave Justin. Consolidating the business offices of the station with those of

WCNS WJFG (1480 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It simulcasts with co-owned WJFA 910 AM in Apollo, Pennsylvania. They carry a conservative talk radio format and are owned by John Fredericks, through licensee ...

in Latrobe, owner John Longo would conduct an interior renovation in 1990, moving the on-air studio into a front extension of the building. As part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Route 22/119 widening project, the building which had housed the station since its debut would be demolished in 2001. WLCY's on-air operations would be moved to Latrobe to complete its consolidation with

, but a small sales office nonetheless was maintained in Blairsville.

Sale to Renda Broadcasting

Longo sold the station in 2002 to Pittsburgh-based Renda Broadcasting Corporation for $900,000, following an LMA of almost two years. In need of additional studio space to accommodate four radio stations (

WDAD WDAD (1450 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Renda Broadcasting, Renda Media. History WDAD was the first radio station in Indiana County, and was one of the first radio stations ...

WCCS WCCS (1160 AM) is a commercially licensed American radio station in Homer City, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh and 25 miles northwest of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. WCCS broadcasts with a maximum daytime power output of 10, ...

, WLCY,

WQMU WQMU is a hot adult contemporary radio station broadcast on 92.5 FM. It is owned and operated by Renda Media. History WQMU signed on in August 1968 at 103.1 MHz. From the day of its first sign-on until January 1990, WQMU was mostly automat ...

), Renda Broadcasting acquired the former Gatti Pharmacy building at the corner of 9th and Philadelphia Streets in downtown Indiana, where the four stations and its business operations occupy the first and second floors. As the format of the station was in many ways identical to those of the other stations in this new four station cluster, WLCY's format was changed to country music shortly after the acquisition. The station competes with

WFGI-FM WFGI-FM (95.5 Hertz, MHz, "Froggy 95.5") is a Froggy (brand), Froggy branded country music formatted radio station in Pennsylvania serving the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Johnstown area. The station is owned and operated by Seven Mountains Media, t ...

by playing today's best country highlighted by throwback country hits. On-Air talent includes Andy Hart with the rest of Cat Country's music automated.

References

External links

* {{coord, 40.520, N, 79.224, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Country radio stations in the United States LCY Indiana County, Pennsylvania Indiana, Pennsylvania Radio stations established in 1982 Renda Broadcasting radio stations 1982 establishments in Pennsylvania