WUCS (97.9 FM) is a commercial

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

formatted radio station licensed to

Windsor Locks, Connecticut Windsor Locks is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was ...

. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and serves as the

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

. The station broadcasts from studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford.

History

The station first signed on in July 1990 as WPKX, 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 ...

station licensed to

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. ...

. The station originally targeted

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, even though Enfield is part of the Hartford market. However, Enfield is on the Connecticut-Massachusetts state line. It was owned by SFX Broadcasting in the late 1990s, then Capstar. AMFM owned it briefly before being acquired by Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) in 2000. The station had an

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

HD2 station broadcasting

Americana music Americana (also known as American roots music) is an amalgam of Music of the United States, American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States of America, with particul ...

since early 2006. In March 2010, Clear Channel Communications filed an application with the FCC to move the WPKX

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 ...

from

Provin Mountain Provin Mountain is a very narrow traprock mountain ridge located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is part of the Metacomet Ridge which extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecti ...

Feeding Hills, Massachusetts Feeding Hills is a section of the city of Agawam, Massachusetts, United States, with its own ZIP Code (01030) and post office. Line Street in Agawam is generally accepted by residents as being the unofficial border. In the early to mid-19th cen ...

to the top of

City Place City Place is a mixed-use facility featuring two 20-story buildings in central Fort Worth, Texas. The complex was formerly known as Tandy Center and served as the corporate headquarters for RadioShack (formerly Tandy Corporation) for many yea ...

Downtown Hartford Downtown Hartford, Connecticut is the primary business district of the city, and the center of Connecticut's state government. Because of the large number of insurance companies headquartered there, Hartford is known as the "Insurance Capital of ...

, in a bid to move the station from the Springfield

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

market to the larger and more lucrative Hartford Arbitron market. In January 2011, the move was refiled with a city of license change to Windsor Locks; this followed an agreement with

WMAS-FM WMAS-FM (94.7 Hertz, MHz), branded 94.7 WMAS, is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Enfield, Connecticut, and serving the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts, Springfield metropolitan area and Pioneer Valley of West ...

, which agreed to change its city of license from Springfield to Enfield as part of a deal involving a Clear Channel-owned generator in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

. The previous country format moved to WRNX (100.9 FM). WPKX979

On January 27, 2012, at 6 a.m., the station switched to a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

affiliate

WPOP WPOP (1410 AM) is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, broadcasting a news/talk and sports radio format, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford. WPOP broadcas ...

(1410 AM). The call sign was changed to WUCS on February 7, 2012. WPOP switched to

in March 2012, with ESPN Radio remaining on WUCS. As of the 2018–19 academic year, WUCS serves as the flagship station for

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

radio play-by-play, including the school's

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 ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, and men's and

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

programs. Coverage is produced for the school by

IMG Media IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents ...

. The station switched affiliations from ESPN Radio to Fox Sports Radio and rebranded as "Fox Sports 97.9" on January 2, 2024.ESPN Hartford Switches to Fox Sports Radio
Radioinsight - January 2, 2024

References

External links

* Mass media in Hartford County, Connecticut UCS Radio stations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Connecticut IHeartMedia radio stations Fox Sports Radio stations Sports radio stations in the United States {{Connecticut-radio-station-stub