Whatever happened to the little AM 1580 station from Columbia, PA? I don't live in the area anymore but I believe its long gone. I remember they used to be a talk format and carried Rush Limbaugh, even though WSBA-AM was also carrying Rush, which didn't make sense why he'd be syndicated on two stations so close together. Just curious.
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AM 1580 Columbia
- Thread starter SteelRocker
- Start date
J
John-Summers
Guest
SteelRocker said:
Apparently it is gone for good but just recently. It was being operated by a Spanish organization in Lancaster. On the FCC web site there's this: THE LAND WHERE THE TOWER SITE IS LOCATED, WAS SOLD AT A SHERIFFS SALE WED. NOV. 22 2006. THE NEW OWNER WANTED ALL EQUIPMENT REMOVED BY JAN. 11, 2007. ALL EQUIPMENT WAS REMOVED FROM THE TOWER SITE, AND STATION WENT OFF THE AIR AT 8AM ON JAN. 11, 2007. THE SILENT STATUS IS PERMANENT, THE NEW OWNER WILL BE REMOVING THE TOWER WITHIN 30 DAYS.
It had been Spanish for several years. Prior to that it was run by the Lancaster Association for the Blind as a radio reading service for the vision impaired, hence the calls WVZN. In the late-80s/early 90s a guy named Ted Berne owned it, and it was live, local talk, though not very successfully, considering the 500 watt signal. (I was writing a newspaper article about local talk radio and tried to call them for a comment. The phones had been disconnected. Not a good sign for a talk station!) I don't remember the call letters. And yes, they did air Limbaugh. In fact, they were one of the first stations in the country to do so, before WHP and long before WSBA. It was odd programming, since I recall Berne himself was somewhat of a Liberal, but I suppose he was looking for diversity.
Before that it was WHEX and ran a satellite-delivered HOT AC format which only last a couple of years before it was sold to Berne. (I'm not sure of the spelling of his name.) Before that it had been silent for several years following the bankruptcy of the original WHEX, which had actuallly been a pretty good, smokin' Oldies station in the 1970s. Former teen idol Jimmy Clanton jocked there, and they had satellite studios at Park City Mall. HEX went under due to a GM, I was told, who lined his pockets but didn't pay the bills, and one day the power company just shut 'em down. I heard Clanton wanted to buy it but couldn't get financing because the outstanding debts were so high, or something like that. Before WHEX was Oldies, it aired a variety format. A friend of mine who was a student at F&M at the time did a Progressive Rock show in the evenings. And before that it was WCOY, a little local station with a hodge-podge format. It went on the air as WCOY in 1957.
That's the story on 1580 in Columbia, and now it has reached the end of the road.
John-Summers said:
John, that is an awesome story about the history of the station. For the life of me I cannot remember the stations callsign when it was running the talk format. Also, I had absolutely no idea its origins date back to the WHEX days. When we first moved to Lancaster from the midwest in 1972, I was just a kid, and remember going to the Park City ice rink downstairs and watching the DJ's at WHEX. I believe you are also correct, Rush was on 1580 before WSBA. I don't recall Rush on WHP though.
John...You should indeed, write a book on the history of Central Pa. radio. Your stories are always complete with many fascinating details. Suggestion for a co-author...our friend Dave Cannon from WGTY. You guys have the market cornered on Midstate radio history and trivia...might be a big seller!
J
John-Summers
Guest
Yes but who would read it other than we radio geeks? Actually, I did something like that a few years ago when I became a middle-aged college student and went to York College to complete my BA. I researched and wrote an Independent Study, kind of a junior-grade Master's Thesis, on the development of the radio medium in South Central PA from the 1920s through 1950. I went to historical societies, county libraries, consulted city directories from years past and even located some revealing books and newspaper articles. There is a lot of early radio information on-line if you know where to find it. Unfortunately I couldn't do much in the way of interviews since most of the people involved are gone, but George Trout was a great interview and lent me some WORK 10th, 15th and 20th anniversary tapes which were very interesting. In return I copied them to CD for him. The pioneers of early radio in Harrisburg/York/Lancaster were an interesting bunch of entrepreneurs who jumped into a new medium with both feet, some successfully, some not.Blues Man said:
My "thesis" ran about 60 pages including related photos, radio schedules and other materials. One of these days I'll copyright my paper and put it on line. I'd always been interested in the subject and I enjoyed writing it. Hey, it got me an "A!" I probably know more about the history of radio in these parts than just about any one else.
On the subject of Rush, SteelRocker: As I recall, Rush's syndicator at the time allowed the Columbia station, which might have been WTKN or something like that, to continue running the show because they had been with it since the beginning, and WHP had to accept that, as WSBA did later. Really, why should they care about a tea kettle from Columbia?
J
John-Summers
Guest
terp said:
Now I remember. WNZ-T. Ted Byrne. He was from Boston. The local newspapers were fascinated by him. Nobody listened to his station, however.
If you have access to a 16" turntable I have more WORK history for you. Call me.
terp said:
For some reason WNZT isn't sounding correct for this era of 1580-AM. This is interesting reading though.
T
tube man
Guest
The call sign history of the station is as follows: WCOY 1957-1972, WHEX 1972-1976 when it went off the air for 8 years. In 1984 it was back on the air as WHEX again, then in 1985 became WNZT until 1995, when it went off the air for another year, returning as WVZN in the summer of '96.
I most recently heard the land is under a sales agreement, which almost certainly will be the death of that place as a transmitter site. It was being sold as a building lot. I would think it unlikely that the place will be back, as it is so tough to find a tower site in most of Lancaster county, not to mention the $30-40,000+ needed to build it (probably over $100,000 if you gotta buy land.
I most recently heard the land is under a sales agreement, which almost certainly will be the death of that place as a transmitter site. It was being sold as a building lot. I would think it unlikely that the place will be back, as it is so tough to find a tower site in most of Lancaster county, not to mention the $30-40,000+ needed to build it (probably over $100,000 if you gotta buy land.
T
tube man
Guest
Just to clarify my post above, it was sold at a sheriff's sale in November of 2006, as the owner defaulted on their note to the Blind Association. There was a bidder at the sheriff sale who allegedly bought the land. Either that person or the Blind Association listed the land for sale by a realtor in January as a building lot. A week ago I heard it was sold.
John-Summers said:
I worked for Ted Byrne in the mid 90's. In fact, I was the last employee of WNZ-T. Ted used to do a morning talk show out of WLAN-AM in Lancaster. The show was simulcast on WNZ-T in Columbia. I was the board-op at WNZ-T. My job was to get to the station at the crack of dawn, fire up the transmitters, sign on, connect to WLAN and board-op the program. Now, the station was run out of a beat up old trailer on top of a hill just outside of Columbia. At the time, I was the only person in the building until Ted got there after doing the moring show. One morning, I was running the board and there was a knock at the front door. I assumed it was UPS or Fed-Ex or some delivery service. I go up to the entrance and find about 4 or 5 people in dark suits. One of them comes to me and says "We are from the IRS and are here to seize the premises." I immediately had to sign off the air and they started taking an inventory of everything in the station. That was my last day working for WNZ-T. As I recall, the station remained off the air until it was purchased by the Lancaster Blind Association.
I still have my last check from WNZ-T.
After WNZ-T was shut down, Ted's show continued to run out of WLAN-AM. I eventually became the producer of the show at WLAN until it was taken off the air.
I worked there in the early 90's too... as WNZ-T was declining. It was a beat up old trailer on the top of a steep hill (try to manage that one in the snow). I remember the electricity being shut off (and Ted telling listeners when we came back on that it was storm damage). I was also there the day that the first WTC bombing happened, and I was told to keep running Rush's show, instead of going to USA Radio News (there was no other news source... Ted read it out of the paper in the mornings and lost his license with AP when he didn't pay for it). And fortunately, all of the board ops (most of us students from Millersville University) were male, because the very small bathroom would break often, so, yes, we had to go out back. We also usually got paid in cash (when we got paid), and when we got checks, we'd take them to the bank immediately so they wouldn't bounce. There was also no working phone in the building, and this is in the days before cell phones were the norm. If there was an emergency, we were instructed to go to the house across the street to ask to use the phone. That never happened.
I wasn't there when the IRS came knocking, but Ted had lots of money issues, and no one bought or sold spots for him. I'm not sure how the station made enough to keep it on the air (then again, at times it wasn't).
One bright spot: in Rush's first book, he mentions a little radio station in Lancaster Pennsylvania picking up his show during its infancy. That station was WNZ-T. Unfortunately, it wasn't mentioned by its calls.
And if there was anything good about working there in the afternoons, when Rush's first segment came on, it lasted 20 minutes without a break, and the board ops could drive down the hill (Broadcast Mountain as Ted called it) to McDonald's on Columbia Avenue to get lunch and get back before the block was up. And we never locked the door when we ran out, because unfortunately there really wasn't much to steal (let alone the fact that the key was usually missing). Oh, the view of the Susquehanna River from the top of the hill was also beautiful.
Everything is 100% factual in this post. I have nothing against Ted. I'm sure he had good intentions. But at that point in his life, he just didn't know how to manage money.
Quite an interesting radio experience at 1580 Conversation Radio, WNZ---------T.
PS: A few of us got chastized by Ted for not holding the pause long enough between the N and the T when we did spots and ID's. Who knew?
I wasn't there when the IRS came knocking, but Ted had lots of money issues, and no one bought or sold spots for him. I'm not sure how the station made enough to keep it on the air (then again, at times it wasn't).
One bright spot: in Rush's first book, he mentions a little radio station in Lancaster Pennsylvania picking up his show during its infancy. That station was WNZ-T. Unfortunately, it wasn't mentioned by its calls.
And if there was anything good about working there in the afternoons, when Rush's first segment came on, it lasted 20 minutes without a break, and the board ops could drive down the hill (Broadcast Mountain as Ted called it) to McDonald's on Columbia Avenue to get lunch and get back before the block was up. And we never locked the door when we ran out, because unfortunately there really wasn't much to steal (let alone the fact that the key was usually missing). Oh, the view of the Susquehanna River from the top of the hill was also beautiful.
Everything is 100% factual in this post. I have nothing against Ted. I'm sure he had good intentions. But at that point in his life, he just didn't know how to manage money.
Quite an interesting radio experience at 1580 Conversation Radio, WNZ---------T.
PS: A few of us got chastized by Ted for not holding the pause long enough between the N and the T when we did spots and ID's. Who knew?
Thanks for all the insight about WNZ-T ep13. I'm trying to figure how you could have made it from the studio to McD's on Columbia Ave. and back in 20 mins. though. That studio was in Wash Boro. Wouldn't the Burger King in Columbia been closer, or the DQ? Or the McD's on Centerville Rd? Or, of course the best cheesesteaks were made at Smiths! Can someone figure out how to send one or two of those cheesesteaks here to Pittsburgh w/o losing its flavor??
I did want to know why the pause between the Z and T in the callsign?
I did want to know why the pause between the Z and T in the callsign?
It may have been the BK... I could have sworn is was a McDonald's... but I know we had to fly down the hill and back... whichever it was... it was right by the K-Mart on Columbia Ave.
The "pause" was actually between the NZ and the T. NZ for News... T for Talk.
The whole ID read "From Broadcast Mountain, it's 1580 Conversation Radio WNZ-----T Columbia."
The "pause" was actually between the NZ and the T. NZ for News... T for Talk.
The whole ID read "From Broadcast Mountain, it's 1580 Conversation Radio WNZ-----T Columbia."
S
SignalSeeker
Guest
The great communicator for all of Lancaster and York Counties 1580 WNZ......T, Columbia.
NZ for news T for talk.
NZ for news T for talk.
Re: The end of AM 1580 Columbia
Then there's this from fybush.com:
"Just across the Susquehanna River, cross WVZN (1580 Columbia) off your station lists. The station, most recently broadcasting in Spanish, went silent January 11 after the land where its tower was located was sold. Licensee "Esfuerzo de Union Cristiana" tells the FCC that WVZN won't be returning to the air, a sad end to a history that started back in 1957 when the 500-watt daytimer signed on as WCOY."
Even though that place was a disaster when I worked there... it is upsetting to see a small AM radio station meet its demise. It was my first commercial radio job (now I'm in TV), and it taught me a lot about what to do... and what not to do.
PS: Is the land referred to in this post "Broadcast Mountain," or did the transmitter get moved off the hill by the trailer?
Then there's this from fybush.com:
"Just across the Susquehanna River, cross WVZN (1580 Columbia) off your station lists. The station, most recently broadcasting in Spanish, went silent January 11 after the land where its tower was located was sold. Licensee "Esfuerzo de Union Cristiana" tells the FCC that WVZN won't be returning to the air, a sad end to a history that started back in 1957 when the 500-watt daytimer signed on as WCOY."
Even though that place was a disaster when I worked there... it is upsetting to see a small AM radio station meet its demise. It was my first commercial radio job (now I'm in TV), and it taught me a lot about what to do... and what not to do.
PS: Is the land referred to in this post "Broadcast Mountain," or did the transmitter get moved off the hill by the trailer?
T
tube man
Guest
I was in the Columbia area today and drove by the old WCOY/WHEX/WNZT/WVZN transmitter site. The tower is completely gone with no trace of it ever being there and the small transmitter building is a pile of rubble. As best I can tell, the transmitter and related equipment had been removed. The only thing visible in the rubble was an ancient, bent, empty equipment rack. I suppose whoever owns that land will be building something there soon.
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