City DeLand, Florida First air date 1965 | Branding 105.9 Sunny FM | |
Broadcast area Greater Orlando/Daytona Beach Slogan "Orlando's Greatest Hits" Frequency 105.9 (MHz) (also on HD Radio)
105.9 HD-2 for "O-Rock" (Alternative rock)
105.9 HD-3 for WFAN simulcast | ||
WOCL (105.9 FM) is a Classic Hits formatted broadcast radio station in Orlando, Florida, owned by CBS Radio. The station airs a classic hits format, focusing on music from 1970 (with a few songs per day from the 1960s) to 1989 with the core being the late 1970s and 1980s with even some 1990s. It is similar to the format used by sister station WCBS-FM in New York. Its studios are located in Maitland and the transmitter tower is in Orange City.
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The station can be heard not only in the Orlando area, but also as far away as the Space Coast in Brevard County, and the eastern shores of Central Florida. To the North, the station can be heard up to Jacksonville. Sunny can also be heard as far west as the Nature Coast of Citrus and Hernando Counties. Sunny FM is also one of the few Orlando stations to cover Ocala with a decent signal.
History
The first format on the 105.9 FM frequency was Country, which signed on from DeLand in 1965 with the callsign WOOO, which would change to WDLF three years later. It was sold in 1977 and re-branded as WELE-FM as a sister station of WELE in South Daytona, Florida.
In 1986, the format was shifted to Oldies and the callsign changed to WOCL. Initially called "Class 105.9", it was renamed "Cool 105.9" in February 1988.
On April 8, 1999, the Oldies format was moved to WSHE at 100.3 and called "Cool 100". (That station would eventually be reformatted to Latin pop and become "Rumba 100.3" with new call letters WRUM.) 105.9, meanwhile, was changed to "Jammin' Oldies", a fad-type format at the time, and re-branded "Power 105.9". In 2000, as part of AMFM Media's merger with Clear Channel, WOCL was sold off to Infinity Broadcasting (now known as CBS Radio). By this time, the Jammin' Oldies format had entered a period of decline.
On October 31, 2000, the station fired its on-air staff and began stunting with Halloween-themed music and liners stating, "You're listening to WOCL 105.9. Listen today at noon.... or die." At Noon, WOCL became Alternative rock, "O-Rock 105.9." The first song was Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly."
Between October 31, 2000, and January 4, 2008, the station played modern rock. During this time, they were also noted for airing the Howard Stern morning show and also the Mr. Burgess prank calls.
Two talk shows, The Morning After Show and The Jody & Scott Show were turned into music-only shows in mid-2007.
Stunting and 2008 format change
Without warning, at 9:00 A.M. on January 4, 2008, after playing Down by 311, WOCL dismissed its on-air staff and began stunting with Bill Drake's The History of Rock & Roll program. During this time, WOCL's webpage displayed a banner with pictures revolving between country music stars, classical figures such as Beethoven, smooth jazz icons such as Kenny G, and sports icons.
At 12:40 P.M. on January 10, 2008, the station began playing a year-by-year montage of snippets of popular culture (including movies, commercials, and of course, hit music) and news stories covering the years from 1965 to 1989. This montage was similar to the one played by WCBS-FM in New York when they relaunched their oldies/classic hits format on July 12, 2007, and almost exactly the same one that would be used by classic hits convert WJMK in Chicago on March 14, 2011. At 1:05:09 P.M., the station re-launched with a Classic hits format, branded as "Sunny 105.9". It features a playlist and imaging that closely resembles that of WCBS-FM in New York. The first song played on "Sunny 105.9" was That's The Way I Like It by Hialeah group KC and the Sunshine Band. The shift left WJRR as Orlando's only alternative rock station, although WJRR transitioned back to active rock in 2011 because of panel changes on Nielsen BDS.
"O-Rock 105.9" would return as an HD2 channel in April 2008, restoring its modern rock format.
In February 2010, WOCL modified their moniker to "105.9 Sunny FM", focusing on music from 1970 (with a few songs per day from the 1960s) to 1989, with the core being the late 1970s and 1980s, with even some 1990s. It is similar to the format used by sister WCBS-FM in New York.
WOCL HD2
WOCL's former modern rock format "O-Rock" airs on WOCL's HD2 channel.
WOCL HD3
WFAN, a New York City sports radio station, airs on WOCL's HD3 channel. This makes the station a de facto affiliate of the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and several other NYC-area sports teams.