WCKA (810 AM, "Real Country") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Jacksonville, Alabama Jacksonville is a city in Calhoun County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 12,548, which is a 49% increase since 2000. It is included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to Jacks ...

, United States. The station is owned by Steven L. Gradick and licensed to Alabama 810 LLC. It airs a

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. Programming is simulcast on translators W232BS 94.3 FM (Jacksonville) and W246DB 97.1 FM (Anniston).

Programming

Real Country WCKA 94.3, 97.1 & am810 broadcasts a country format 24 hours a day. On air personalities include Rick Sisk, Roger Allen, Jim Morgan, and Lauren McCauley.

History

In March 1988, HMS Broadcasting Company of Jacksonville, Alabama, reached an agreement to sell WJXL to Bussey Hayes Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

on April 29, 1988, and the transaction was consummated on May 2, 1988. In July 1995, Bussey Hayes Communications, Inc., reached an agreement to sell WJXL to People's Network Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 12, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on December 21, 1995. The station's callsign was changed from WJXL to WNSI on January 22, 1996. In May 1996, People's Network Inc., reached an agreement to sell WNSI to United Broadcasting Network, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on July 19, 1996, and after an FCC-approved time extension the transaction was consummated on December 23, 1996. In October 2003, United Broadcasting Network, Inc. (

Ron Gettelfinger Ronald A. Gettelfinger was the president of the United Auto Workers from 2002 to 2010. Gettelfinger started his union involvement in 1964 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Louisville Assembly Plant run by Ford Motor Company while working as a cha ...

, president) reached an agreement to sell WNSI to Steven L. Gradick's Alabama 810, LLC, for a reported sale price of $235,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 25, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on November 26, 2003. At the time of the sale, the station broadcast a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format. The new owners of WNSI petitioned the FCC for new call letters and the station was assigned WCKS on February 5, 2004. In December 2005, control of Alabama 810 LLC was transferred from Steven L. Gradick to Leslie E. Gradick. The station changed call letters again on November 29, 2006, when the station was assigned the current WCKA call letters by the FCC. And in 2019 when Leslie E. Gradick Passed the station Alabama 810 LLC was transferred back to Steven L. Gradick.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WCKAWCKA official website
* * * * {{Country Radio Stations in Alabama CKA Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1987