City Corry, Pennsylvania Frequency 1370 kHz | Branding Kickin' Country 1370 | |
Broadcast area Corry, Pennsylvania
Union City, Pennsylvania
and the rest of Erie County, Pennsylvania Slogan Your Hometown Radio Station First air date April 2, 1955 (as WOTR) | ||
WWCB (1370 AM) is a full-service radio station licensed to Corry, Pennsylvania and serving Corry, Union City, Erie County, Pennsylvania and Clymer, New York from its studio located at 122 North Center Street (PA 426) in downtown Corry and a transmitter facility off of West Columbus Avenue (U.S. Route 6). It is a Licensed Class B AM station operating 24 hours a day/7 days a week with 1,000 watts during the daytime, and 500 watts in the evening hours.
The station's format is primarily country music, and also broadcasts a variety of local sports programming featuring Corry High School Beavers football, basketball, baseball and softball and Clymer High School football, basketball and baseball. In addition, WWCB serves as an affiliate for the Motor Racing Network's and The Performance Racing Network NASCAR coverage. The station is owned by Samuel Jordan Jr. and Bill Stafford, through licensee Greater Corry Area Broadcasting LLP.
History
WWCB signed on in April 2, 1955 as WOTR. It moved to its current location on North Center Street over 30 years ago and become WWCB, standing for the local high school mascot, the "Corry Beavers".
As WWCB in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, the station featured long time personalities Bruce Lewis, Ron Smith and Barry Warnshius, with country music first thing in the morning and modern top 40 hits the rest of the day. The station was owned by Erie broadcasting icon Art Arkelien, who also owned FM station WYSS in Sagertown.
After the station was sold in the 1990s, it became full service Power 1370 (Oldies), and was part of a two station network with WYNE in North East. WMCE is now owned by Mercyhurst College.
In September 2010, Vilkie Communications took over operations of the station changing it to match their "Cool" moniker, based on "Cool 101.7" WMVL in Meadville. The station featured oldies from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and took on the call letters WHYP, which had been licensed to North East (and was the original callsign for the current WMCE).
On December 1, 2011, Whiplash Radio LLC signed an LMA/purchase agreement on WHYP, keeping the Cool name, and instituting a more tightly-programmed classic hits format. The station featured syndicated morning personality Charlie Tuna in mornings, Barry Warnshius in middays and station operator Chris Lash in afternoons. Dick Bartley's Classic Countdown and Rock and Roll's Greatest Hits programs were heard on the weekends.
On July 15, 2013, the Mid State Sports Network signed an LMA/Purchase Agreement on WHYP. In order to avoid any confusion with another area radio station, Cool 101.7 - WMVL in Meadville, management decided to drop WHYP and return to the WWCB call sign under the slogan: "Corry's Hometown Radio Station". That change became effective on August 30, 2013.
Station co-owner Sam Jordan is the station's primary local on-air host, airing during morning drive, with the rest of the station's lineup coming from a syndicated country network. The station airs The Crook and Chase Countdown Show, and other syndicated shows on the weekend. Kickin' Country 1370 also offers other syndicated programs including NASCAR USA, Motor Racing Network, and Performance Racing Network's talk shows. CBS Radio News provides world and national news reports, while local news is handled by Sam Jordan and First Warning Weather covered by WSEE-TV.
The commitment to sports programming continues. The station was the flagship station for the Erie Explosion indoor football team (also owned by Bill Stafford), until its suspension of operations on January 18, 2016. In addition, 1370 AM airs Buffalo Bills and Westwood One's NFL Football games on the station. This accentuates the coverage that the station has with NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races, heard on the weekend.