WHCO
Radio station in Sparta, Illinois, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WHCO (1230 AM) is a country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Sparta, Illinois, serving Sparta and Randolph County, Illinois. WHCO is owned and operated by David and Carol Holder, through licensee Southern Illinois Radio Group, Inc.[1]
Randolph County, Illinois
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| Broadcast area | Sparta, Illinois Randolph County, Illinois |
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| Frequency | 1230 kHz |
| Branding | "Real Country 1230 and 97.3 WHCO" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | Brownfield Radio Network Fighting Illini Sports Network RFD Radio Network Real Country (Westwood One) St. Louis Blues St. Louis Cardinals |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | February 1955[2] |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 27264 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000 Watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°07′25.0″N 89°43′20.0″W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | WHCO Webstream |
| Website | WHCO Online |
History
WHCO began broadcasting in February 1955 and aired a country music format.[2][4] It was owned by Hirsch Communication Engineering Corporation.[5] By the early 1970s, the station was airing a middle of the road (MOR) format, along with 30 hours of country music a week.[2] In the 1980s and 1990s, the station aired a full service format, with adult contemporary and country music, along with talk, farm, and religious programming.[6][7][8][9] In 1998, the station adopted a news-talk format, carrying local programming as well as nationally syndicated hosts such as G. Gordon Liddy, Larry King, and Jim Bohannon.[4][10] In 2008, WHCO returned to a country music format.[4] In 2013, controlling interest in the station was sold to David and Carol Holder's Southern Illinois Radio Group, Inc. for $150,000.[11]