740 WGSM/94.3 WCTO Stereo
WCTO
An early 1970's WCTO logo.
WCTO promised "52 minutes of music, 24 hours a day".
This is the WCTO hour.
WCTO was fully automated. It had an IGM automation system with two
Scully model 270 decks for playing music reels, a carousel for commercials, two tape cart
machines and a mechanical network joiner for news. Commercial cartridges had to be loaded
in the carousel in the order that they played. After a while a second carousel was added.
The station I.D.s were done by some of the WGSM air staff as well as announcers Mike Jay
and John Taylor from Greater Media's station WCTC in New Jersey. The I.D.s were changed at
intervals to give the appearance that each announcer had an air shift. Music was programmed
by Stereo Radio Productions. Music reels alternated every 15 minutes and were changed every 2 hours.
The carousels held 24 tape cartridges. News occupied the first minute of the 2 minute break
at the bottom of the hour. Who ever was on duty in the newsroom had to get all the news
headlines in that 1 minute. It was fun to watch. Overnight the news was pre-carted and played
from an external cart machine tied to the automation system. Sometimes the news was read by
the overnight operator, who was often Bill Shepperd (you can see his picture on the WGLI
pages).
An playlist from one of the SRP music reels.
Contributed by "a friend".
A WCTO dial card.
Something many FM stations had at that time. You kept it by your radio
so you would know where to find the station on the dial.
Most radio stations had bumper stickers. WCTO had these metal plates to strap on to
the bumper of your car.
The original transmitter at WCTO was a Gates FM 3 H.
The transmitter ran 2.8 kilowatts with a Jampro 2 bay H & V antenna
atop the tower to give WCTO an ERP of 3 kilowatts. Later the antenna was changed to an MCI
panel antenna. The transmitter was then field converted to an FM 5 H in order to maintain the
stations ERP.
The original FM 3 H name plate from the WCTO transmitter.
It was replaced with an
FM 5 H name plate when we field converted the transmitter. Today it hangs on one of the
cabinets in the WA2FNQ transmitter room.
The WCTO (now WMJC) tower on Crooked Hill Road near the Long Island Expressway.
See the WMJC Tower Rebuild
On May 1, 2007 the top 2 sections of the tower were replaced to improve its structural integrity.
My thanks to Mike Glaser for allowing me on site to witness this.
Hear some WCTO airchecks on Joe's Radio Aircheck Page.