City East Point, Georgia Branding News/Talk 1160 Frequency 1160 kHz | Broadcast area Atlanta, Georgia Slogan The Talk of the Town! First air date 1987 as WMLD | |
WCFO, known on air as "News/Talk 1160", is a news and talk radio station, licensed to East Point, Georgia, serving the Atlanta, Georgia radio market.
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Programming
Programming on WCFO includes both nationally syndicated and locally produced news, information, and talk programs. CBS Radio News is carried at the top of most hours and radio personality Matthew Erich Muller, known on-air as "Mancow", weekday mornings. WCFO broadcasts with a power of 50,000 watts during the day with a directional antenna pattern using a four tower antenna array, and 160 watts of power at night using one antenna tower in an omnidirectional antenna pattern.
The sister station to WCFO is WMLB, owned by JW Broadcasting. Prior to becoming WCFO in June 2006, the 1160 kHz facility was the home of WMLB. WWAA was sold to the owner of WMLB, JW Broadcasting, in 2006. The owner, JW Broadcasting, decided to move the WMLB call signs and format from 1160 kHz to the 1690 kHz frequency in order to increase WMLB's coverage area. The facility at 1160 kHz frequency was assigned the WCFO call sign and adopted the business talk radio format in June 2006. On April 1, 2008, WCFO switched to a news/talk format.
On April 6, 2009, it was announced that Don Imus' syndicated radio program, Imus in the Morning, will move from WYAY (owned by the show's syndicator, Citadel Broadcasting) to WCFO.
On April 16, 2010 Georgia State athletics & Newstalk 1160 "The Talk of the Town" reached an agreement to serve as the official flagship radio station for Georgia State's inaugural football season. The station will also serve as the radio home for Panther and men's basketball.
History of the 1160 frequency
WERD was playing classic R&B when on July 4, 1995, new program director Mitch Faulkner started playing rap music at night and hired younger DJs. James Brown soon put an end to the rap because he did not like it.
In summer 1996, WERD ended its rhythm and blues format and joined the Prime Sports Network with a sports talk format. The station went off the air in 1997. Atlanta businessman Darrell Spann and Atlanta Area Broadcasting returned the station to the air in July 1998 as WKGE with a classic country format.
On April 2, 2001, Billy Corey bought WMLB (1170 AM) in Cumming, Georgia and changed its format, and that of WKGE, to oldies—specifically oldies that had not been heard on other stations.
The change at WMLB did not make listeners happy. In 1995, WMLB changed from country music to Americana, and, although it did not reach all of Atlanta with its 5000-watt signal, it was the only station of its type in the area. The format included familiar names such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, as well as less mainstream artists such as John Prine, Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Son Volt, Wilco, Steve Earle, Jerry Garcia, and the Atlanta band The Vidalias. WMLB program director Chris Marino won Americana program director of the year from The Gavin Report in 1997.
WKGE and WMLB became "The Twins: Classic 1160 and Classic 1170." WKGE planned to increase its 10,000-watt signal to 50,000 watts. The playlist included "Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon, "Galveston" by Glen Campbell, "Chantilly Lace" by The Big Bopper, "Hawaii Five-O" by The Ventures, "Suspicion" by Terry Stafford, "Little GTO" by Ronny & the Daytonas and "Yes I'm Ready" by Barbara Mason. The music collection included 9000 songs, including some by The Tams with their original lineup. General manager Ron McCarter, described as "a voracious record collector," said Americana was "not commercially viable" but also said it was "a great format." WMLB fans wished the pairing of the two stations had resulted in Americana covering the entire area.
The power boost by 1160 AM (not including the limited nighttime signal), which became WMLB, involved moving the tower from East Point to Austell. By 2003, when the change took effect, the stations' format was adult standards from local DJs in the morning and afternoon and the Music of Your Life network at other times, with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Norah Jones and Diana Krall. The 1170 frequency left the air in 2003.
By 2005, WMLB had what was described as an "eclectic" format.