WCOS (1400
AM) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services
** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money
* a dose of advertising ...
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
. It carries a
sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...
format and is owned by
iHeartMedia, Inc. The station goes by the name Fox Sports Radio 1400. Its
studio
A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater.
The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal.
Types Art
The studio of any artist, esp ...
s and offices are on Graystone Boulevard in Columbia near
Interstate 126
Interstate 126 (I-126) is a spur route of I-26 entirely within the city limits of Columbia in the US state of South Carolina. It is entirely concurrent with U.S. Route 76 (US 76) and connects I-26 to Downtown Columbia. It i ...
. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is on Short Street in Columbia, near Millwood Avenue (
U.S. Route 76
U.S. Route 76 (US 76) is an east–west U.S. highway in the Southeastern United States that travels for . Its western terminus is at U.S. Route 41 in Tennessee, US 41 and the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 72 in Tennessee, US 72 (Broad Street) in ...
).
WCOS is an
affiliate
Affiliation or affiliate may refer to:
* Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law
* Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship
* Affiliate marketing
* Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
of the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
radio network, with the largest number of stations in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
.
History
WCOS
signed on
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...
in 1939, making it Columbia's second radio station. The station featured programming from
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
's
Blue Network
The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945.
Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the ...
(which later became the
ABC Radio Network
Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which ...
) as well as local programming.
In 1958, the station stunted by playing
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...
's "I Wish I Was In Dixie" over a period of 24 hours before switching over to the "Top 60 in Dixie" playlist, a format that it kept for the next 20 years under various monikers like "Super COS", and "Position 14".
In 1980, after being beaten in the ratings by rival FM Top 40
WNOK, WCOS changed over to
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
, simulcasting parts of the broadcasting day of their sister FM,
WCOS-FM. In the early 1990s, the station adjusted its format to satellite-fed
classic country, but went back to simulcasting WCOS-FM within a year's time. In 1995, WCOS switched to
CNN Headline News
HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming.
The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...
.
In 1996, WCOS adopted its present sports talk format.
In 2007, WCOS re-branded itself as "The Team". On January 3, 2012, as part of a three-way swap,
WVOC
WVOC (560 AM broadcasting, AM) – branded ''News Radio 103.5 & 560 WVOC'' – is a commercial radio, commercial Talk radio, news/talk radio station licensed to serve Columbia, South Carolina. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station covers the ...
's news/talk format moved to
WXBT-FM, which changed its calls to WVOC-FM. WVOC then changed its calls to WXBT (AM), which took WCOS' sports talk programming. WCOS became "Hallelujah 1400", an
urban gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel, also known as urban gospel music, urban gospel pop, or just simply urban gospel, is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genr ...
station.
On November 6, 2014, WCOS switched back to sports while WXBT returned to news/talk as WVOC, and WVOC-FM returned to urban contemporary as WXBT.
WVOC Columbia Returns to 560; Sports Moves to 1400
/ref>
The station is owned by iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
, which also owns WCOS-FM, CHR station WNOK, variety hits station WLTY, urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...
station WXBT
WXBT (100.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to West Columbia, South Carolina and serving the Columbia metropolitan area (South Carolina), Columbia metropolitan area. It airs an urban ...
and 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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...
station WVOC
WVOC (560 AM broadcasting, AM) – branded ''News Radio 103.5 & 560 WVOC'' – is a commercial radio, commercial Talk radio, news/talk radio station licensed to serve Columbia, South Carolina. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station covers the ...
in the Columbia radio market.
References
External links
COS
Radio stations established in 1939
1939 establishments in South Carolina
IHeartMedia radio stations
{{SouthCarolina-radio-station-stub