WOWQ (FM)

WCCL

Central City, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Central City, Pennsylvania Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Frequency	101.7 MHz
Branding	Cool 101.7
Programming
Format	Oldies
Affiliations	Westwood One
Ownership
Owner	Forever Broadcasting
History
First air date	1972 (as WCCS)
Former call signs	WCCS (1972-1981) WWZE (1981-1988) WYSN (1988-1997) WSRA (1997-2001)
Call sign meaning	W C CooL
Technical information
Facility ID	49026
Class	A
ERP	720 watts
HAAT	196 meters
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	cool101online.com

WCCL is an American radio station physically located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania located at 101.7 FM, but licensed to the community of Central City, Pennsylvania. The oldies formatted station currently carries a syndicated feed of Westwood One's "Good Time Oldies" format. The station is owned by the Forever Broadcasting.

History: beginnings as WCCS

For many years, this station was known as WYSN, "Sunny 101". Licensed to Central City in Somerset County, the station first went on the air in 1972 as WCCS, whose calls are used today by an AM station north of Somerset County in Homer City.

Coincidentally, the construction permit for WCCS in Homer City was once owned by the former Ridge Communications, this station's competitor, known then as WVSC-AM (today as WLLI) and WVSC-FM (today as WLKJ). Ridge Communications had sold the license for the Homer City Station in 1982 after failing to raise enough capital to put it on the air.

The WCCS letters were given up in January 1981 for WWZE, and then WYSN upon its acquisition in May 1988 by a new owner.

WYSN was purchased in 1988 by Nor-Lin Broadcasters, Inc., then the licensee of AM 1330 WADJ in Somerset, put on the air back in 1981 by Nor-Lin Broadcasters. Nor-Lin was a company headed by Johnstown radio and television legend Ron Lorence and his wife Norma. Ron Lorence was a regular presence on WJAC-TV's locally produced shows such as "Seniors Today" and "Scholastic Quiz", and is still heard as the voice of Pennsylvania's Allied Milk Producers' radio commercials.

Under Nor-Lin ownership, WYSN operated with a format of adult standards music provided by WestWood One's "Adult Standards" format, a rather unusual move for an FM station. The station moved to a more current adult contemporary sound in the mid 90's following a format change of crosstown competitor WVSC-FM from adult contemporary to contemporary country. Ron Lorence managed the station, his wife Norma kept the books, and son Brad served as the station's operations manager, continuing in that role until long after the stations were sold.

Sale to Dame Media

Wanting to retire, Nor-Lin sold WADJ and WYSN in December 2000 to Dame Media, which had at the time owned WNTJ-AM and WMTZ-FM in Johnstown. At Dame's request, Ron Lorence stayed on as general manager for about a year, primarily to assist Dame with the transfer of ownership. Brad Lorence was promoted to station manager after his father decided it was time to retire for good, yet Brad Lorence still continued to do his live morning show over WYSN, which by this time has become WCCL, and had switched its format to oldies.

Lorence and Taylor fired: station sold

Without warning, Brad Lorence and morning show sidekick Jessica Taylor, who had been part of Somerset County morning radio for many years, were suddenly terminated in January 2004. The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, which voted the duo as "Simply the Best Morning Radio Team" in a reader's survey, was bombarded with calls when listeners were suddenly informed that Lorence and Taylor were gone. Two months later, the manager who activated the decision to fire the duo, Chuck Jewell, was also terminated. Dame officials insisted the firing had nothing to do with Lorence and Taylor, that it was a cost-cutting measure. Jessica Taylor by this time had gone on to country-formatted competitor Froggy 95.

The following year, Dame Media decided to sell its radio interests in Johnstown to Results Radio Group, which included WLKJ 97.7 (formerly WVSC-FM), WCCL, and ESPN Radio 1330 in Somerset, also simulcast on 1490 in Johnstown. Results Radio, recognizing the past success of Lorence and Taylor, brought Jessica Taylor back to the WCCL morning show, which she continues to do today, but without Brad Lorence, who went on to pursue other interests.

WCCL today

Though WCCL is licensed to Somerset County, its studios and offices have been physically located in Johnstown since Dame Media purchased the station from the Lorence family. The studios and offices remain there today, but the station still focuses on the Johnstown and Somerset County area, with highly local appeal. The station is a part of many sports networks including Pittsburgh Penguins, Altoona Curve, Pitt Panthers football and local high school football.

Christmas Music

Every year on Thanksgiving Day Cool 101.7 dumps the oldies format and the True Oldies Channel and plays Christmas music. The oldies format and the True Oldies Channel returns on December 26.

Ownership

In November 2007, a deal was reached to sell WCCL plus co-owned stations WPRR, WBVH, and WLKH to Forever Broadcasting Inc. (Carol Logan, president) for a reported combined sale price of $3 million. 2510 Licenses LLC (Nicholas Galli, managing member) still owns all four stations, pending FCC approval of the sale.

References

• Fans Angrily Protest Somerset, Pa., Radio Station's Firing of Popular Hosts.
• Cost-Cutting Measures Continue at Johnstown, Pa.-Area Radio Station.

External links

• Cool 101.7 WCCL official website
• Facility details for Facility ID WCCL ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database