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| Broadcast area | Toledo metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 1230kHz |
| Branding | Fox Sports 1230 The Gambler |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sportsgambling |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCKY-FM,WIOT,WRVF,WSPD,WVKS | |
| History | |
First air date | April 10, 1938 (1938-04-10) |
Former call signs | WTOL (1938–1965) |
Call sign meaning | "Seaway" (after theSt. Lawrence Seaway) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19627 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°38′13″N83°33′52″W / 41.63694°N 83.56444°W /41.63694; -83.56444 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | thegamblertoledo |
WCWA (1230AM) is acommercial radio station inToledo, Ohio, airing asportsradio format, concentrating onsports gambling. It is owned byiHeartMedia with studios on South Superior Street at Lafayette Street in Toledo. It carries programming fromVSiN andFox Sports Radio. Popularsyndicated sports programs heard weekdays include:The Dan Patrick Show,The Herd with Colin Cowherd andThe Doug Gottlieb Show.[2]
WCWA transmits at a power of 1,000 watts.[3] Thetransmitter is near the intersection of Hawley & Whittier Streets and can be easily seen from the Anthony Wayne Trail. WCWA also streams its signal on theIHeartRadio app. WCWA is part of iHeart's Toledo cluster, also includingWSPD 1370 AM (NewsRadio),WVKS 92.5 FM (KISS FM),WRVF 101.5 FM (The River),WCKY-FM 103.7 FM (Buckeye Country) andWIOT 104.7 FM (Toledo's Rock).
WCWA is Toldeo's second oldest radio station. Itsigned on the air on April 10, 1938, at 1200kilocycles. It was powered at only 250 watts, using thecall sign WTOL.[4] It was founded by former Toledo prosecutorFrazier Reams (whose family owned the station all the way until 1996). Originally adaytimer, required to go off the air at night, WTOL was granted authority for around-the-clock operations in 1939. It was anaffiliate of theNBC Blue Network (later to becomeABC Radio).
Programming on WTOL, until the mid-1960s, was afull-service format of news, information, sports, ABC network programs and various types of music, including pop,country,jazz, and, by the early 1960s, somerock and roll. The station started broadcasting 24 hours a day in 1962 with the new format "Demand Radio 123". The tight format wore out in less than two years. In 1964 switched to a personality-drivenmiddle of the road (MOR) sound. For many years, WTOL was a family of three broadcast stations which includedWTOL-TV 11 and 104.7 WTOL-FM (nowWIOT).
The call letters were changed in 1965, when the two radio stations split from Channel 11. The call sign "WCWA," was chosen to represent the word "seaway," as a tribute to theSt. Lawrence Seaway, of which Toledo is a major port. The call letters were originally assigned to a German merchant ship, the MS Karl Trautwein. The ship gave up the call sign for a modest payment.
In 1969, Station Manager Garry Miller persuaded Former WCWA disc jockey Jim Felton to leave the powerhouse regional station CKLW in Detroit and return to program WCWA as aTop 40 outlet. The new format had a more youthful sound, includedPAMSjingles, while still avoiding the harderalbum rock and R&B songs. Theplaylist contained a variety of music and gained a much larger audience, topping the ratings of localnews-talk outletWSPD and leading Detroit stations 760WJR and 800 CKLW. But as the 1970s continued, WCWA saw its ratings decline.
In the early 1980s, WCWA Manager Dan Dudley, took the station in another direction with help from consultant Jim Felton, who was working atCFTR in Toronto at the time. They mixed the popoldies withcountry musiccrossover songs. The "Urban Cowboy" craze was in its heyday, and the format worked very well. They also brought veteran journalist Don Edwards to run the news department. Mornings were handled by John Mack Brown, a controversial host, who was counterbalanced by the impressive image of Don Edwards. DJs included Larry Fletcher, Jay Richards, Larry Weseman and Don King who hostedSports Talk every evening. The format did well for about two years, but the "cowboy" fad faded over time.
WCWA with program director Mike Sheppard, took on another format change, flipping WCWA toadult standards. It used thesyndicated music format of the "Music of Your Life". It was seeing increased ratings across the country as those born in the 1940 and 50s sought out a musical sound for themselves. WCWA kept this format in both live and satellite delivered versions until 2002.
The last live version of WCWA in the standards format originated from studios at Fort Industry Square, designed by Denny Moon. The staff included Bob Martz, program director Jim Felton, Suzanne Carroll, Bill Charles, Michael Drew (Mike) Shaw, and Dennis Williams. The ratings increased with the live programming, but sales and management had trouble selling advertising on a station which catered to "old people". Most advertisers seek youngerdemographics.
After two decades playing nostalgia/standards, WCWA changed format totalk radio in November 2002. The station's ratings were not helped by the switch from music. The end of adult standards on 1230 also brought heated protest within the listening community, specifically from an organization known as CORRAL.
On March 1, 2021, WCWA rebranded as "Fox Sports 1230 The Gambler".[5] The station added programming from theVegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), following in the footsteps of iHeart Fox Sportssister stations inCleveland,Youngstown, andPhiladelphia.[6]
WCWA is theflagship station forToledo Mud Hensminor league baseball, with all regular season games, playoffs and theTriple-A All-Star Game broadcast. Jim Weber is the play-by-play voice of the Mud Hens, having called the team's games since the mid-1970s. Matt Melzak joins when home and not working his Walleye job at the same time as the Mud Hens game.
WCWA is also the flagship of theToledo Walleye, which played its inaugural season in 2009-2010. Matt Melzak is the play-by-play announcer for the Walleye. WCWA also carriesUniversity of Toledo women's basketball, with Jim Heller calling the plays courtside.
Since 1969, the station engineer at WCWA andWIOT (named Chief Engineer in 1974) has been Dennis Moon. WCWA was known for having a clearer, fuller sound than most AM stations that offered music programming. This has been attributed by many who have worked there to Moon's decades-long devotion to WCWA's audio quality.
The "Moon-unit" updated WCWA to digitalHD Radio (IBOC) in the summer of 2007. With just 7 watts of digital power, the station could be received in hybrid digital all the way to the Michigan border.
WCWA once featured a schedule of ethnic and religious programming for most of its history. This includes programs inPolish and German as well as for theMexican-American and Irish-American communities. Weekly shows devoted toPolka music andUrban Gospel have been featured. WCWA was also the home of several spoken-word religious shows covering different faiths. Some of these religious shows were on WCWA since its inception.
Some of these specialty programs continue on Sunday mornings, outside of the usual sports format. They includeThe German American Hour,Lutheran Chapel of the Air andEchoes of Ireland.
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