WVKO (AM)

WVKO signed on in December 29, 1951, under the ownership of Skyway Broadcasting;[1] unlike most AM stations of the time, WVKO actually went on the air three years after its FM sister station, WVKO-FM at 94.7 MHz (unrelated to the current WVKO-FM (103.1 FM) licensed to Johnstown). Both stations lasted under common ownership for the next thirty years, as WVKO-FM primarily simulcast the programming of its AM sister station until the fall of 1982, where it went into separate programming as WSNY. Both stations were sold by Skyway Broadcasting to Franklin Communications—now a part of Saga Communications—in January 1982 for $3 million.[2]

From 1963 until 1997, WVKO was an R&B/Soul music station, its tagline being "The Rhythm of The City." It was during this time that WVKO employed Ted Williams as an overnight disc jockey; Williams gained fame in 2011 when, while homeless, he was discovered by a videographer for the Columbus Dispatch and a video featuring his "golden radio voice" went viral on the Internet.[3] Ted briefly returned to the station as the morning show host in January 2016.[4]

In the mid-1980s, WVKO received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permission to broadcast around the clock, using lower power after sunset.

WVKO dropped its soul/R&B format in early February 1997 and switched to an urban gospel music format while also airing a variety of sermon-based shows featuring local and national religious leaders during the daytime and evening hours. In 2005, the gospel format was modified to airing only between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm on weekdays and Sundays, with R&B, soul, and southern blues airing during the evening and overnight hours and on Saturdays, interspersed with various local talk and information programs aimed at the African-American community. It was also the broadcast outlet for the Columbus Clippers minor league baseball team.

WVKO went off the air on May 5, 2006, due to the soon-to-expire transmitter land lease, and major financial issues incurred by both the station and its previous owner, Youngstown-based Stop 26 Riverbend;[5] the license was transferred on January 22, 2007 to Bernard Ohio LLC, following a period under the supervision of a bankruptcy trustee, despite some formal objections filed with the FCC.[6] The station moved to another transmitter site in March 2007, at which point it returned to the air with reduced power under a special temporary authority.[7]

On December 6, 2007, WVKO debuted a progressive talk format, mostly carrying programming from the Air America radio network;[8] local programming included Fight Back hosted by Dr. Robert Fitrakis;[9] and Blue State Diner hosted by Michael Alwood. In late May 2008, WVKO openly began soliciting listeners for cash donations due to both a lack of advertiser support and increased rent for the studios.[10]

St. Gabriel Radio entered into a local marketing agreement in December 2008 to program WVKO, with the progressive talk being dropped that December 23 in favor of Catholic radio programming in a simulcast with Marysville-licensed WUCO (1270 AM), which St. Gabriel had owned since 2005;[11][12] WUCO would also be divested. This arrangement continued until September 9, 2011, when St. Gabriel purchased WOSU (820 AM) from the Ohio State University for $2 million;[13] the sale was approved that November 7th by the FCC. St. Gabriel moved their programming to the renamed WVSG (AM) on December 17 and ended their lease of WVKO on December 20.

WVKO returned to progressive talk on January 2, 2012;[14] again, due to a lack of advertiser support, the station's format changed again that December 17 to urban gospel branded as "The Praise".[15][16] It and WVKO-FM were sold to TSJ Radio, LLC effective December 19, 2014, at a price of $743,750.

On March 4, 2018, under a local marketing agreement with Sandblast LP, the format was once again modified from all gospel music to the format it had from 2005-2006, with gospel music and Christian talk programming airing on Sundays and during the weekday daytime hours, plus R&B, soul, southern blues, and public affairs talk programming airing on Saturdays and during the evening and overnight hours on weeknights. In February 2019, Sandblast LP exercised its option to purchase WVKO from TSJ Radio for $250,000;[17] the deal never closed, and TSJ retook control of both stations, in addition to purchasing translator W225CS (92.9 FM) from Sandblast LP for $30,000 excluding deducted unpaid obligations of $26,277.50.[18]

• Official website
• FCC History Cards for WVKO
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WVKO
• Radio-Locator Information on WVKO
• Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WVKO