WWOW (1360 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to

Conneaut, Ohio Conneaut ( ) is the northeastern most city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, as well as the entire state as a whole. Located in the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area, it is settled along Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Cre ...

, broadcasting an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format. Owned by Matthew Jarvi, the station serves the eastern portions of

Greater Cleveland The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 census results, the six-county Cleveland, OH ...

and

Northwestern Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encompassing the western half of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its eco ...

. The station's transmitter resides off of Middle Road in Conneaut.

History

WWOW first went on-air in 1959. The station operated at that time with a daytime-only power of 500 watts. The

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for WWOW was first issued in November 1957. In 1964, the station's owner signed on sister station

WFIZ WFIZ (95.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a top 40 (CHR) format. Licensed to Odessa, New York, United States, the station serves the Ithaca, New York area. The station is currently owned by the Cayuga Radio Group subsidiary of Saga Comm ...

, also licensed to Conneaut. In 1967, WWOW applied for pre-sunrise authorization, allowing it to sign on two hours prior to local sunrise. This petition was challenged by Jupiter Broadcasting, licensee of

WSAI WSAI (1360 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwo ...

. The challenge was denied 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 ...

(FCC). WWOW started out as a

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

station and had a lot of following with Kenneth Vaughn as veteran news director for 33 years. Early DJs were names like Larry "Spyder" Snyder, Paul Allen, Bud "Stinky" Steiger and numerous others. Many locals also had their chance at being a DJ too, and filled in on weekends, holidays, etc. The station's original owner was Louis Skelly, from

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

. In July 1970, Skelly sold WWOW and WFIZ to Contemporary Media for $155,000. In 1978, sister station WFIZ was sold to Bible Broadcasting Inc. The five shareholders of Contemporary Media transferred control of the license to Doyle Flurry and Tom Childs in October 1979. The FCC approved the transfer by the end of the year. By 1985, WWOW's studios had moved from the Main Street location to Conneaut Plaza on Route 20 west and the station adopted a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

format. By 1990, the station moved back to downtown Conneaut at 239 Broad Street (near its present location) and began adding

and farm programming to its country music format. In the late 90s, the station flipped to a

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

format as "Newsradio 1360" before switching to an oldies format on May 2005 as ''Walking on Water - 1360 WWOW'' (original meaning of the call sign and as a reference to

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

). In December 2006, the station was sold to Gates Mills-based Cause Plus Marketing for $200,000. In 2007, the station flipped to a

catholic radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

format, retaining the "Walking on Water" branding. With the format flip, the station was an affiliate of

EWTN Radio The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

. WWOW returned the conservative talk format and branding in 2009 until reverting back to its current oldies format as ''1360 WOW'' in 2011. The station additionally expanded its sports coverage significantly by carrying the

Columbus Blue Jackets Radio Network The Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs Columbus Blue Jackets Radio Network is an American radio network consisting of 36 radio stations which carry coverage of the Columbus Blue Jackets, a professional hockey team in the National Hockey League. Colum ...

and local high school basketball games. In July 2017, WWOW signed on FM translator W275CU on 102.9 FM, licensed to Avonia, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

1360 WOW! OnlineFCC History Cards for WWOWBroadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1985Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1990Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1995Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 2000
* * WOW Mass media in Ashtabula County, Ohio Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1959 1959 establishments in Ohio Conneaut, Ohio {{Ohio-radio-station-stub