WNCC (AM)

Infobox Radio Station
name = WNCC


area = Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania / Johnstown
branding = "The Cambria County Radio Network"
slogan =
airdate = October 15, 1950
frequency = 950 kHz
format = Oldies, sports
power = 500 watts (Daytime)
29 watts (Night)
class =
owner = Vernal Enterprises, Inc.
callsign_meaning = Northern Cambria County
Infobox Radio Station
name = WRDD


area = Ebensburg, Pennsylvania / Johnstown
branding = "The Cambria County Radio Network"
slogan =
airdate = May 25, 1961
frequency = 1580 kHz
format = Oldies, sports (simulcast of WNCC)
power = 1000 watts (Daytime)
17 watts (Night)
class =
owner = Vernal Enterprises, Inc.
callsign_meaning = none

WNCC is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to the Borough of Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania. WNCC operates on a federally-assigned frequency of 950 kHz with a maximum power output of 500 Watts. Its simulcast AM sister station, WRDD, is licensed to the borough of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, operating on a frequency of 1580 kHz with a maximum power output of 1,000 watts. Both stations are owned by Vernal Enterprises.

These stations are marketed together as "The Cambria County Radio Network".

History

WNCC first signed on the air back in 1950, licensed to the coal-mining community of Barnesboro (which would later merge with Spangler to form Northern Cambria) and like many small stations of its day, served the local area with a combination of local news, sports, and music. The station changed hands in 1975 when the station was purchased by Bland Group, Inc., a company headed by William Bland.

Bland Group controlled WNCC, and at one point, successfully applied for a construction permit to build an FM station. The permit for 94.3 WRHB-FM was issued in the late 1980's, but as it turned out, would never sign on the air under Bland's ownership. Unforeseen circumstances forced Bland to turn the station over to a bankruptcy receiver, which then proceeded to sell WNCC to Johnstown-based Eagle Broadcasting in 1990.

Eagle acquired WNCC, along with two other failing AM stations, WRDD in nearby Ebensburg, and WCRO, about 25 miles south in Johnstown. Headed by J. Richard Lee and his daughter Jane, Eagle operated both WNCC and WRDD as simulcast outlets of WCRO, as that was the only station of the three that had an existing studio building. The three stations identified themselves as "Eagle Radio" and broadcast a series of time-brokered religious programs throughout the day.

In 1996, Eagle Broadcasting put all three stations up for sale, after a series of competing religious-formatted FM stations and translators signed on the air. Both WRDD and WNCC were sold to Vernal Enterprises that year, with WCRO being spun off to the Greater Johnstown School District. The company, headed by Indiana County businessman Larry Schrecongost, moved the operations of WNCC back to Barnesboro, where it was joined by WRDD, and set up operations in a new studio. Both WNCC and WRDD simulcast a full-service format of oldies, news, and local sports, which Schrecongost had demonstrated success with on a station that he had acquired four years earlier, AM 1380 WTYM in Kittanning.

Both WNCC and WRDD were joined four years later by a co-owned FM sister station. Vernal Enterprises was able to secure another construction permit after the window to put WRHB-FM had already come and long gone. Taking call letters from a former oldies station licensed to suburban Altoona, the station signed on as WHPA-FM, billing themselves as broadcasting from the "Heart of PennsylvaniA". WHPA did not simulcast its two AM stations, but rather focused on a music-intensive Classic Hits blend of both oldies and classic rock.

Personalities

The late Bernie Smith (1939-2006), who would complete a 34-year career in radio and television before being elected Indiana County Commissioner in 1995, started his career at WNCC in 1962 before moving to WDAD (and later WCCS) in his native Indiana four years later.

Dennis Pompa had served as WNCC's program director under Bland's ownership until the station was sold to Eagle Broadcasting. He returned to this position following the station's acquisition by Vernal Enterprises.

WNCC Today

Not long after sister FM station WHPA signed on the air, Schrecongost moved the three stations to the First United Federal Building in Ebensburg, WNCC, WRDD and WHPA continue to operate from this location today. WHPA is the flagship station for the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league baseball team the Altoona Curve.

External links

*
*