WCSO was a radio station in Springfield, Ohio. First licensed in 1922, it was deleted in 1930, as part of a consolidation that created WGAR.
History
Wittenberg College's Carnegie Science Hall in Springfield (pictured here in 1911) was the first home to WNAP/WCSO, one of two forerunners to today's WHKW. The station's towers were located in front of the hall.[1]
WCSO was first licensed, as WNAP, on October 13, 1922, to Wittenberg College in Springfield, operating on the standard "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz).[2] 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.[3] First receiving experimental license 8XAK earlier in 1922,[3] Wittenberg professor E. O. Weaver and several of his students constructed the 1,000 watttransmitter in advance of signing on, and programming was presented by the college's Speech and Drama Department.[1]
The station's frequency was reassigned in the fall of 1923 to 1300kHz,[4] to 1090kHz in early 1924,[5] and to 1210kHz at the end of the year.[6] The station's call letters were changed to WCSO—for Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio—on March 6, 1925,[3] and the station was reassigned to 1170kHz on June 15, 1927.[7] 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.[1]
As part of a major reallocation under the provisions of the FRC's General Order 40, on November 11, 1928, WCSO was assigned to 1380kHz on a timesharing basis with KQV in Pittsburgh. WCSO was reassigned to 1450kHz a few months later as WFJC's new timesharing partner.[8]
George A. Richards, Leo J. Fitzpatrick and P. M. Thomas—owners of WJR in Detroit—incorporated the WGAR Broadcasting Company in order to establish "Cleveland's fourth radio station".[9] On September 6, the company filed an application with the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) for authorization to "consolidate stations WFJC and WCSO into a new station with new equipment at Cleveland Ohio",[10] which was approved that same month.[11] The WGAR Broadcasting Company took over ownership of WCSO on September 26, 1930,[3] later recognized as a casualty of the Great Depression;[1]: 41 WFJC was acquired seven days earlier.[12][13] WCSO made its final broadcast on October 11, 1930, after coverage of the Wittenberg Tigers-Washington & Jefferson Presidents football game[14] and its license was formally deleted at the end of the month.[15]
Later renamed Wittenberg University, the institution re-entered radio broadcasting in 1966 with the sign-on of WUSO, regarded as "a descendant" of WCSO.[16]
^"New Stations". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 67. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. November 1, 1922. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^ abcdFrost, S. E. Jr. (1971) [1937]. Education's Own Stations(PDF). New York, New York: Arno Press, Inc. pp. 475–478. ISBN0-405-03555-1. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via World Radio History.
^"Alterations and Corrections". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 79. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. November 1, 1923. p. 8. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^"Alterations and Corrections". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 83. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. March 1, 1924. p. 8. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^"Alterations and Corrections". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 93. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. January 2, 1925. p. 8. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^"Alterations and Corrections". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 147. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. June 29, 1929. p. 17. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^"WJR Back of New Radio Studio Here". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. September 26, 1930. p. 11.
^Reeves, Russell H. (September 29, 1930). "Checking Over the News of the Week". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. p. 10.
^"Alterations and Corrections". Radio Service Bulletin. No. 163. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. October 30, 1930. p. 12. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2022 – via HathiTrust.
^"See Sale Of WFJC As Network Move". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. September 20, 1930. p. 3. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Last Program is Broadcast". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. Associated Press. October 12, 1930. p. 35. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
^"Radio Station WCSO Stops Broadcasting". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. October 31, 1930. p. 25. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Wittenberg To Open FM Broadcasting". Springfield News-Sun. February 20, 1966. p. 2B. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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