View source for WCAO

{{Short description|Radio station in Baltimore, Maryland}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WCAO
| logo = 
| city = [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]]
| country = US
| area = [[Baltimore metropolitan area]]
| branding = Heaven 600
| frequency = {{Frequency|600|[[kHz]]}} ([[HD Radio]])
| airdate = {{Start date and age|1922|5|8}}
| languages = [[American English|English]]
| format = [[Urban gospel]]
| power = 5,000 [[watt]]s unlimited
| class = B
| facility_id = 63777
| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| sister_stations = [[WPOC]], [[WQSR]], [[WZFT]]
| repeater = {{Radio Relay|102.7|[[WQSR|WQSR-HD2]]|Baltimore}}
| coordinates = {{coord|39|25|47|N|76|45|41|W}}
| affiliations = 
| owner = [[iHeartMedia, Inc.]]
| licensee = iHM Licenses, LLC
| webcast = [https://www.iheart.com/live/heaven-600-1069/ Listen Live]
| website = {{URL|https://heaven600.iheart.com/}}
}}
'''WCAO''' (600 [[AM broadcasting|AM]] "Heaven 600") is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[radio station]] in [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]].  It broadcasts an [[urban gospel]] [[radio format]] and is owned by [[iHeartMedia, Inc.]]  It also airs some [[Christian talk and teaching]] programs.  The [[radio studio|studio]]s and offices are located at [[The Rotunda (Baltimore)|The Rotunda]] shopping center in Baltimore.

WCAO is powered at 5,000 [[watt]]s.  To protect other stations on [[AM 600]], it uses a four-[[tower array]] [[directional antenna]] at all times.  To improve its sound quality, WCAO broadcasts using [[HD Radio]] technology.  The [[transmitter]] is off Garrison Forest Road at Caves Woods Road in [[Owings Mills, Maryland]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=Wcao&nav=home Radio-Locator.com/WCAO]</ref>  Programming is also heard on the HD-2 [[digital subchannel]] of co-owned 102.7 [[WQSR]].

==History==
[[File:Sanders & Stayman Company advertisement featuring WCAO (1922).gif|thumb|left|200px|The Sanders & Stayman Company founded WCAO in 1922.<ref>"Sanders & Stayman Company advertisement featuring WCAO", ''Baltimore Sun'', August 31, 1922, page 8.</ref>]]

===Early years===
[[File:WCAO advertisement (1947).gif|thumb|1947 station advertisement.<ref>[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC/Broadcasting-Magazine/BC-1947/1947-01-27-BC.pdf#num=41 "WCAO" (advertisement)], ''Broadcasting'', January 27, 1947, page 41.</ref>]]
Effective  December 1, 1921, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in charge of radio at the time, adopted a regulation formally establishing a broadcasting station category, which set aside the wavelength of 360 meters (833&nbsp;kHz) for entertainment broadcasts, and 485 meters (619&nbsp;kHz) for farm market and weather reports.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435066705633&view=1up&seq=200 "Amendments to Regulations"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', January 3, 1922, page 10.</ref> On May 8, 1922, the Sanders & Stayman Company, at 319 North Charles Street, was issued a license for a new station on the shared 360 meter "entertainment" wavelength.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxhh8g&view=1up&seq=1106 "New Stations"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', June 1, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license for station WCAO, serial #366, issued May 8, 1922 for a three month period to the Sanders & Stayman Company, for operation on 360 meters.</ref> The station's call letters, WCAO, were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs. WCAO was the second broadcasting station licensed in the state of Maryland, following [[WKC (Baltimore)|WKC]], also in Baltimore, which had been licensed the previous March.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxhh8g&view=1up&seq=1040 "New Stations"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', April 1, 1922, page 2. Limited Commercial license for station WKC, serial #557, issued March 23, 1922 for a three month period to the Joseph M. Zamoiski Company, for operation on 360 meters.</ref>

The station was reassigned to 1090&nbsp;kHz in late 1924,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008420265&view=1up&seq=436 "Alterations and corrections"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', November 1, 1924, page 10.</ref> and ownership was transferred to Albert A. and A. Stanley Brager at 842 North Howard Street the next year.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763060&view=1up&seq=152 "Alterations and corrections"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', August 1, 1925, page 6.</ref> In 1926, Monumental Radio at 848 North Howard Street gained ownership.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763060&view=1up&seq=43 "Alterations and corrections"], ''Radio Service Bulletin'', November 30, 1926, page 7.</ref> In 1927, the station was assigned to 780&nbsp;kHz,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=89 "Broadcasting Stations by Wave Length"] (effective June 15, 1927), ''Radio Service Bulletin'', May 31, 1927, page 10.</ref> and the next year, under the provisions of the [[Federal Radio Commission]]'s [[General Order 40]], assigned to 600&nbsp;kHz,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c021003683&view=1up&seq=237 "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time"], ''Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928 to September 30, 1928'', page 201.</ref> which it has been on ever since.

Power was increased to 250 watts on 600 kc in 1929 and subsequent power changes brought the station up to 5 kw in 1942. In the 1930s, WCAO was powered at 1,000 watts by day and 500 watts at night, with studios at 811 West Lanvale Street.<ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1935/1935-BC-YB.pdf#page=35 "Directory of Broadcasting Stations of the United States: Maryland"], ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting Yearbook]]'' (1935 edition), page 36.</ref>  It was a [[CBS Radio News|CBS]] [[Network affiliate]] during the 1930s and 1940s.  In that era, WCAO carried CBS dramas, comedies, news, sports, [[soap opera]]s, [[game show]]s, [[children's radio|children's shows]] and [[big band]] broadcasts during the "[[Golden Age of Radio]]."

From May 1937 until May 1957, radio announcer Charles Purcell and [[theatre organ]]ist Roland Nuttrell hosted a nightly live broadcast known as "Nocturne."  Nuttrell would play calming melodies on the organ at the [[Parkway Theatre (Baltimore)|Parkway Theatre]] or the Century Theatre, while many miles away in the WCAO studios located at the [[Upton Mansion]], Purcell would read from his poetry book entitled ''The Book Of Golden Dreams''. Nocturne received many positive reviews from listeners, noting it was far more effective at putting people to sleep than taking sleeping pills. The 20-year run of this program made it the longest-running radio program in Baltimore at that time.

In 1947, WCAO added an FM station, WCAO-FM (102.7 FM).  At first, it mostly [[simulcast]]ed the AM station, but in the 1960s and 1970s, it aired its own [[classical music]] format.  Today, that station is co-owned [[WQSR]].

===Top 40 era===
From the 1950s through the 1970s, WCAO was one of Baltimore's most popular stations, broadcasting a [[contemporary hit radio|Top 40]] format. WCAO [[disc jockey]]s were noted radio personalities for many young listeners such as Johnny Dark, Robert C. Allen, III, Kerby Scott, Jack Edwards, Les Alexander, Bob Bartel, Frank Luber, Donn Keller, Paul Rodgers, Alan Field, and Gene Creasy.

Robert V. O. Swarthout of Monumental Radio Company operated the station until 1956, when it was purchased by Plough Broadcasting, a [[subsidiary]] of the [[Schering-Plough]] pharmaceutical company.<ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/section%20B%20All%20Radio%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201961-1962-9.pdf#page=74 "Directory of Broadcasting of AM and FM Stations in the U. S.: Maryland"] ''Broadcasting Yearbook'' (1961-1962 edition), page B-76</ref> By 1980, many contemporary music listeners had switched to FM radio to hear the latest hits.

===Later formats===
WCAO flipped to a [[country music]] format on October 1, 1982; however, it had trouble competing with FM counterpart [[WPOC]] (93.1 FM).  The country format lasted nine years.

On November 25, 1991, WCAO switched to an [[urban gospel]] format, becoming a competitor to similarly formatted [[WWIN-AM|WWIN]] "Spirit 1400".<ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1991/RR-1991-11-29.pdf#page=12 "WCAO Drops Country For Gospel"], ''Radio & Records'', November 29, 1991, page 12.</ref>

==Past personalities==
[[Eddie Hubbard]] was a popular WCAO disc jockey.  He later gained fame as a radio personality in [[Chicago]].<ref name=tv>{{cite news|last1=Ratty|first1=Marguerite|title=Eddie Hubbard Fills Cupboard by Adding TV!|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1948/12/12/page/206/article/eddie-hubbard-fills-cupboard-by-adding-tv|access-date=March 21, 2015|agency=Chicago Sunday Tribune|date=December 12, 1948}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{AM station data|63777|WCAO}}
*[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=50829 FCC History Cards for WCAO] (covering 1927-1981)

==Further reading==
*[https://charmcityhistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/early-baltimore-wireless-telephone.html "Early Baltimore 'Wireless Telephone' (Radio) Stations"], April 20, 2013.
*[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/WCAO-1939.pdf ''WCAO, the Voice of Baltimore'' (1939)], Retrieved February 25, 2024.
*[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/WCAO-1940.pdf ''WCAO, the Voice of Baltimore'' (1940)], Retrieved February 24, 2024.

{{Baltimore Radio}}
{{Clear Channel Communications}}
{{coord|39|25|47|N|76|45|42|W|type:landmark_region:US|display=title}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Baltimore|CAO]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1922]]
[[Category:Urban gospel radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in Maryland]]
[[Category:IHeartMedia radio stations]]
[[Category:Christian radio stations in Maryland|CAO]]