WCNU

Infobox Radio station
name = WCNU


city = Crestview, Florida
area = Northwest Florida South Alabama
branding =
slogan =
frequency = 1010 kHzcite book |title=Broadcasting Yearbook |year=1961 |publisher=Broadcasting Publications |oclc=7682503 |pages=p. 93]
repeater =
airdate =
format = Defunct
power = 1,000 watts
(later 10,000 watts)
class =
facility_id = 18094
coordinates = coord|30|42|37|N|86|34|19|W|region:US|display=inline,titleGnis|308648|WCNU-AM (Crestview) Tower (as of 1981)]
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
affiliations =
owner = Jerry W. Milligan, Sr.
licensee =
sister_stations =

WCNU (1010 AM) was a radio station located in Crestview, Florida, USA. [cite book |work=Amendments to the Communications Act of 1934 |title=Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session, on S. 611 and S. 622 |publisher=U.S. Govt. Printing Office |author=United States Senate |date=1979 |page=p.2909 |accessdate=2008-08-08 |quote=WCNU, Crestview, FL, 1 kw, ND, D, II] The station served the Northwest Florida and South Alabama areas.

History

Samuel F. (Sam) Townsend purchased WCNU radio station in Crestview, Florida in 1949. The station began broadcasting on a frequency of 1010 kHz on the AM dial with 1000 watts of power. WCNU operated from its studio in Radio Valley on State Road 85 south of the city limits.

WCNU played a country-western format for its listeners in the Northwest Florida/South Alabama area. It was known as the "Community Station" and for playing "Dixie" before and after the news in the morning. The station was also known for signing off every evening to "Canadian Sunset."

In the late 1950s, WCNU and WDSP were owned and operated by W.D. "Cooter" Douglass and his wife, Marie.cite news |title=Destin, Fla., Resident Buys WGTX Radio Station |url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/398777/destin_fla_resident_buys_wgtx_radio_station/index.html |work=The Destin Log |date=2006-02-20] In 1959, citing his actions "in the spirit of emphasizing the public interest" and his "faithful reporting of the news and fearless comment thereon from Radio Stations WDSP, DeFuniak Springs and WCNU, Crestview", the Florida Legislature passed a resolution designating U.S. Route 90 passing through Walton and Okaloosa counties as the "William D. "Cooter" Douglass Highway." [cite book |title=Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Florida |author=The General Assembly of the State of Florida |publisher=W. & C. Julian Bartlett |date=1959 |page=p. 485]

WCNU was purchased by Jerry W. Milligan, Sr. in the late 1970s. In 1980, Milligan changed the format of the station to light rock/pop music and, in September 1983, increased its power to 10,000 watts. [cite web |work=QSL Cards and Letterheads |url=http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/cliff/53/wcnu.jpg|title=WCNU 1010 Crestview, FLORIDA! |accessdate=2008-08-08] The new format and high power significantly increased the station's listener appeal and listener area. WCNU went out of business in 1989.

Licensed to Eagle International Broadcasting Inc., based in Pensacola, Florida, WCNU's final FCC license expired on February 1, 1996 and it was cancelled and deleted from the FCC database on August 29, 1996. [cite web |work=FCC Media Buerau |title=Station Search Details (18094) |url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=18094 |date=1996-08-29]

References