WCOJ

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WCOJ is a 5,000 watt AM radio station licensed to Coatesville, Pennsylvania consisting of a 4 tower array broadcasting on 1420 kHz. WCOJ's format is talk radio. The station is affiliated with the CBS Radio Network.

[edit] Coverage Area

WCOJ's transmitter is located just North of Coatesville in East Brandywine Township, Pennsylvania.

The coverage area includes almost all of Chester County, Pennsylvania excluding only the extreme Northeast portion of the county known as The Main Line and the extreme Southeast part of the county along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. The station also reaches parts of Eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In addition to Coatesville and West Chester, communities served include Phoenixville, and Kennett Square.

[edit] Programming

WCOJ airs local programming in the morning and in the late afternoon. During morning drive, WCOJ airs WCOJ's First Edition with JT Morgan. Morgan's show is a hodge podge of local issues and entertainment news with a comedic edge. In the late morning, WCOJ broadcasts a call-in Swap Shop program with long-time WCOJ personality Ron McNeil. In the late afternoon, WCOJ airs a local talk show with personality Robert Henson.

Afternoons and evenings, WCOJ carries syndicated talk programming including: Bill O'Reilly, Dave Ramsey and Joy Browne. Joey Reynolds is carried during the overnight period.

Much of WCOJ's weekend schedule, as on many AM stations, is so-called "brokered" programming in which an individual or group buys a block of time and provides the program to fill that time. On WCOJ this includes infomercials, paid religious broadcasts, and advice programs hosted by local professionals to promote their services.

[edit] History

WCOJ began operating on November 29, 1949. It originally broadcast as a daytime only station at 1,000 watts. The radio station was a day-time only facility transmitting with 1,000 watts. The station increased its power to the 5,000 watts and began full-time operation in 1952.

Originally WCOJ's studios were located in a theater in downtown Coatesville. Over the years the station has also had studios at the transmitter site in West Brandywine Township, at 3721 East Lincoln Highway, Thorndale and at 17 West Gay Street, West Chester.

WCOJ was perhaps best known for much of the time it has been in operation for the morning program hosted for over 40 years by station personality Art Douglas. By his retirement in 1995 , Douglas had become a widely recognized figure in Chester County.

By the 1980s, WCOJ (which had been co-owned with Coatesville's local cable television system) became part of Lensfest Communications, which operated cable systems throughout the region before itself becoming acquired by Comcast in 1997. At that time, WCOJ was "spun off" and sold to former WPHI station manager Lloyd B. Roach. In 2003, Roach and venture capital firm acquired a group of radio stations in central and Northeast Pennsylvania and Southern New York state to form Route 81 Radio. WCOJ was absorbed into the Route 81 station group.

WCOJ alumni include:

• Ralph Penza (d 2007) - TV news anchor, WNBC, New York
• Kathy Gandolfo - Reporter, WPVI, Philadelphia
• Chris Carl - News Director, WDEL, Wilmington, Delaware
• Bob Kelly - Traffic Reporter, KYW-TV, Philadelphia
• Joe Thomas - Program Director/Mornings, WCHV and WKAV Charlottesville, VA

[edit] External links

• Official Site of WCOJ
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WCOJ
• Radio Locator Information on WCOJ
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WCOJ

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