Coordinates

28°36′50″N77°12′32″N

{{infobox radio station | name

WCCO | image | city Minneapolis, Minnesota | area Minneapolis-St. Paul | branding ''Newsradio 830 WCCO'' | slogan "''The Good Neighbor''""''Today's 8-3-0 WCCO''" | airdate 1922 | frequency 830 kHz AMsimulcasted on WLTE-HD2 102.9-2 (HD Radio) | format Commercial; News/Talk | power 50,000 watts | class A (Clear channel) | facility_id 9642 | callsign_meaning Washburn Crosby COmpany (previous owner) | former_callsigns WLAG (1922-24) | affiliations CBS Radio Network | owner CBS Radio | sister_stations KZJK, WCCO-TV, WLTE | webcast Listen Live! | website cbsminnesota.com }}

WCCO (830 kHz) is a radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The station broadcasts on a clear-channel frequency and is owned by CBS Radio. The station's studios are located in downtown Minneapolis, while its transmitter is located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. With 50,000 watts of power, WCCO's signal reaches a wide area of North America at night.

From 1947 to 1996, WCCO radio and WCCO-TV (channel 4) won twelve George Foster Peabody Awards, more than any other Twin Cities broadcast outlet.

History

Early Years

WCCO began broadcasting in the region on Sept. 4, 1922 as WLAG, known as "the Call of the North", from a hotel near Loring Park in Minneapolis. However, the station soon landed in financial trouble and closed down in 1924. Washburn Crosby Co., forerunner of General Mills, took over the station and renamed it WCCO, for the company's initials. Broadcasts resumed less than two months later on Oct. 2, 1924 from its current transmitter site in Coon Rapids (then known as Anoka Township). But for that brief interruption, WCCO would be the oldest station on the air today in Minnesota. It originally broadcast at 710 AM.

In the early days of radio, WCCO was a powerful force in the development of better and more powerful transmitters. On Nov. 11, 1928, with the implementation of the Federal Radio Commission's General Order 40, WCCO changed its frequency to 810 kHz and was granted clear-channel status. It signed on with 50,000 watts for the first time in September 1932. In the 1930s, two additional 300-foot towers were added to increase the range of the station's signal, allowing it to be picked up as far away as Hawaii and the Caribbean Sea when atmospheric conditions were right. Later in 1932, CBS bought WCCO from General Mills, and it remains affiliated with the CBS Radio Network to this day.

WCCO constructed a new 654-foot tower in Coon Rapids in 1939. This is the same tower used today, although the broadcast frequency was changed to 830 kHz as a result of the 1941 North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement.

Signal

Due to the station's power, as well as Minnesota's mostly flat landscape, WCCO boasts one of the largest coverage areas in the country. During the day, it provides at least B grade coverage to almost all of Minnesota (as far north as Duluth and as far south as Rochester), plus large portions of Iowa and Wisconsin. Under the right conditions, it reaches into portions of North and South Dakota. At night, the station's signal typically reaches across 28 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Certain conditions can make the signal stretch much farther. Legendary station personality Howard Viken says that he once picked up the station while he was stationed at Guadalcanal in 1943. In 2005, WCCO began broadcasting its signal with HD Radio.

Programming and Personalities

WCCO broadcasters were substantial celebrities across the Midwest. Perhaps the greatest of them all was Cedric Adams who first appeared on WCCO in 1931, and broadcast on the station until his death in 1961. Pilots flying over the Upper Midwest reported watching the lights go out all over the region each night when Adams finished his 10 p.m. newscast. Howard Viken, Maynard Speece, Charlie Boone and Roger Erickson, Jergen Nash, Joyce Lamont, Randy Merriman and others were so well known and loved that when distinguished broadcaster Steve Cannon "the Iron Ranger" and his cast of characters, including Backlash LaRue and Ma Linger arrived at WCCO from KSTP in 1971, he was still thought of by many as the "new guy" nearly until his retirement 26 years later.

WCCO Radio is known in its home market by its call letters, the phrase "Radio 8-3-0" or "Minnesota's 8-3-0" or the nicknames "' CCO" or "The Good Neighbor", and plays a news and talk-oriented format, with a strong news element, opinion and a number of shows throughout the day, with occasional short stories like the station's former "Point of Law" program which served to both entertain and educate the station's listeners about finer points of the American legal system. The format also included a broad mix of music, which leaned toward traditional MOR and easy-listening fare until the 1980s, when the playlist shifted more toward adult contemporary. The music was gradually phased out by the early 1990s, when the format was changed to all news/talk.

Severe Weather Coverage

WCCO also had a longtime reputation of being the station to tune to for emergency information, especially severe weather. Listeners would call in during severe weather events and describe what they were seeing at their locations, supplementing information from the National Weather Service. For many years, it was famous for its "klaxon" alert tone for tornado warnings, which was a purposely irritating, attention-grabbing sound designed to alert even the drowsiest listeners, of impending danger. This sound was created by putting a two-part metal ashtray on a bulk tape eraser and pushing the erase button, creating a foghorn-like tone, which was then recorded for subsequent use.

For a series of public service, live, emergency broadcasts in 1965 - the St. Patrick's Day Blizzard, the record April floods on the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, and the May 6 onslaught of 24 tornado touchdowns in the Twin Cities area - the station earned a 'trifecta' of the George Foster Peabody, the DuPont, and the Sigma Delta Chi, awards, all in one year.

FM Sister: W9XHW to WCCO-FM to Lite FM

WCCO engineers were experimenting with frequency modulation by 1939, operating W9XHW at 42.3 MHz, but at just 50 watts. The station continued to only consider the medium tepidly. In 1969, WCCO-FM was broadcasting at 2700 watt, atop the 450-foot Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, and only for the minimum number of hours required to keep a license to the frequency. The FM station moved its antenna to 1250 feet near the top of the Shoreview, Minnesota, Twin Cities antenna farm, with a power of 100,000 watts, in 1973. A full day's programming of music and a large news operation could be heard clearly for 150 miles in all directions. By the late 1970s, "WCCO-FM 103" had come into its own and established its own identity with a very popular adult-contemporary/soft rock format. In 1983 it became WLTE 102.9 FM. Like its AM sister, "102.9 Lite FM" broadcasts in HD Radio, and rebroadcasts WCCO programming on its HD-2 side channel.

WCCO Today

WCCO was the top-rated station in the Twin Cities for decades until shifting demographics and interests finally brought KQRS-FM to the top spot. One sign of the changing times: the well-known farm report was dropped in early 2004, reflecting the fact that many farmers began to rely more on the Internet for such information and that the number of farmers in Minnesota has drastically shrunk since the station first began broadcasting (though agriculture remains vital to the region).

For several years, WCCO has hosted a weekly radio show with the governor of Minnesota. Former governor Jesse Ventura had a show while in office, and successor Tim Pawlenty has followed suit.

More recent WCCO personalities have included longtime Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman, "Whole-Lotta Woman" Ruth Koscielak, Tim Russell, also a cast member on Garrison Keillor's ''A Prairie Home Companion''. Some notable sports broadcasters have included Baseball Hall of Fame member Herb Carneal the longtime voice of the Minnesota Twins, Halsey Hall, Ray Scott and Ray Christensen, longtime voice of University of Minnesota's Gopher Football and Gopher Men's Basketball. Some of WCCO's current programming includes the morning show with Dave Lee during the week days from 5 to 9. The afternoon drive with Michele Tafoya from 3 to 6, and Hine Sight from 8 to 10 p.m. followed by variety / comedy host T.D. Mischke until midnight when the station broadcasts syndicated programming.

WCCO will be the radio home of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball starting with the 2011-2012 season, having recently acquired the broadcast rights from rival KFAN. WCCO has also recently signed a contract to broadcast University of St. Thomas football beginning in the 2011-2012 season. Games will be hosted on air by David Lee and color commentary will be provided by Joe Senser. WCCO was the former home of University of Minnesota Golden Gophers athletics, Minnesota Wild hockey and Minnesota Twins baseball. The Twins had been on WCCO since arriving in Minnesota in 1961, but because of a dispute between WCCO parent CBS and XM Satellite Radio over compensation for its Major League Baseball broadcasts, CBS did not renew many of its MLB contracts. WCCO was the radio home of the Minnesota Vikings from 1961-69, 1976-84, 1988-90 and 1996-2000.

In August 2008, as a cosmetic change to make WCCO in the norm with CBS' other talk radio stations, the station changed from "News/Talk 830 WCCO" to "News Radio 830 WCCO".

On-air staff (as of Sep 4, 2010)

''The Dave Lee Morning Show''

Dave Lee – host

Telly Mamayek – news updates

Mike Lynch – weather updates

Sid Hartman – sports talk

Josie Smith – traffic reporter

Jerry Peterson (J.P.) – traffic reporter

Key features of the show: 20 minutes of non-stop news at 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., traffic and weather together on the 8s, birthdays, "Market Watch" with Ann Cates, John Rash with "The Rash Report"

''The John Williams Show'' (9 to Noon)

John Williams – host

Bruce Hagevik – news updates

Steve Murphy-News

Susie Jones – news updates

Jerry Peterson – traffic reporter

''The Chad Hartman Show'' Noon to 3

Chad Hartman – host

Adam Carter – news updates

Mike Lynch – weather updates

Mark Napolean – traffic reporter

''Michele Tafoya Show''

Michele Tafoya – host

Adam Carter – news updates

Laura Oaks – news updates

Chris Shaffer – WCCO weather updates

Jerry Peterson or Josie Smith – traffic reports

''Sports Tonight with Mike Max'' (6-8 p.m.)

Mike Max – host

Laura Oaks – news updates

Susie Jones – news updates

Ron Schara – Monday night outdoors

''The John Hines Show'' (8-10 p.m.)

John Hines – host

Laura Oaks – news updates

Chris Shaffer – weather updates

''The Nite Show'' (10 p.m.-midnight)

Live Monday to Thursdays, Fridays its highlights of the week.

T.D. Mischke – host

Laura Oaks – news updates

''The Jon Grayson Show'' (midnight to 5 a.m.)

Jon Grayson – host

Weekend hosts and news staff

Denny Long – Saturday and Sunday mornings

Bruce Hogevik – weekend news reporter

Steve Thompson – afternoons

Eric Nelson – afternoons

Esme Murphy – Saturday nights

Dave Mona – Sunday Sports Huddle

Sid Hartman – Sunday Sports Huddle

Jearlyn Steele – Sunday evenings

Jordan Rich – weekend overnights

On-air staff

Dave Lee - mornings

Good Morning Minnesota

WCCO News Hour

Mike Max – evenings

John Hines 8 to 10

Mischke 10 to 12

Jon Grayson - overnights

Mike Lynch – weather

Steve Murphy – news editor/reporter

Telly Mamayek – morning news anchor/reporter

Bruce Hagevik – weekend news reporter, also works a few days during the week

Adam Carter – news reporter weekday 9 a.m., noon and early afternoons

Jerry Peterson – traffic mornings/afternoons

Josie Smith – traffic mornings/afternoons

Ann Cates – Market Watch

Denny Long – weekend mornings host, also rotates on WCCO Midday Live.

Esme Murphy – weekend host, Saturday evenings

Eric Nelson – weekend host/sports

Steve Thomson – weekend host/sports

Dave Mona – weekend host Sunday mornings

Jearlyn Steele – Sunday evenings

Ron Schara – WCCO outdoors

John Rash – The Rash Report during the Dave Lee Morning news

Sue Zelickson – food reporter

Sid Hartman – WCCO radio sports,

Roger Strom - Farm and Business report

Susie Jones - reporter weekday midday and afternoons

Laura Oaks, - reporter evenings and weekends

Former on-air staff

Cedric Adams - deceased

Charlie Boone – retired 12/18/2010

Steve Cannon - retired 10/3/1997 (deceased)

Clellan Card - deceased

Roger Erickson - retired 1/10/1998

Halsey Hall - deceased

Franklin Hobbs - deceased, host of the overnight show "Hobbs House" from 1959 to 1981

Ruth Koscielak

Joe McFarlin - deceased

Al Malmberg - laid off.

Jergen Nash - deceased

Jack Rice - left on 1/30/2009 to move on and do other things

Dan Terhaar – sports; laid off

Howard Viken

Brad Walton - laid off from WCCO, deceased 8/26/2011

Patty Peterson - jazz singer

Don Shelby - retired from radio 2009, retired from WCCO-TV in December 2010

Glen Olson

Dark Star - contract buyout

Tim Russell - contract buyout

Jeff McKinny - left station

Eric Eskola - contract buyout

Phil Hendrie - left for nationally syndicated show

Wes Minter - left for another station

Sandy Buttweiler - left for KFGO

Paul Stagg - now with KWLM

Curt Lundgren - news: retired

Karen Filloon - weather: left meteorology

Mike (moose) Miller- location unknown

Dean Spratt- traffic (deceased)

Wendy Wilde- politics

Rita Maloney- news and weekend host- VP at Mpls Grain Exchange

Kim Jeffries- morning host

Herb Carneal-Twins baseball broadcast

John Gordon-Twins baseball broadcast

Dan Gladden-Twins baseball broadcast

Dick Chapman-host

Jim Rogers- night time host

Joyce Lamont- variety host

Bill Diehl- weekends on location

Don Wick-farm broadcaster, now partner in farm network in ND

Current sports teams on WCCO

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Timberwolves

University of St. Thomas Tommies

References

(2001). Radio and Television. A History of Minneapolis. Minneapolis Public Library. Accessed September 25, 2004. Jeff Baenen (September 24, 2004). Good Neighbor WCCO Radio celebrates 80 years. Associated Press. Accessed September 25, 2004. History of WCCO Tower. City of Coon Rapids. Accessed September 25, 2004.

External links

Radiotapes.com Many historic airchecks of WCCO-AM and other Twin Cities radio stations including an aircheck of WLAG from 1924.

TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com A site for airchecks of many Twin Cities stations from the 1960sand 1970s.

WCCO Live Outdoors with baseball great Jack Morris

Category:Radio stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul Category:Peabody Award winners Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States Category:HD Radio stations

Coordinates	28°36′50″N77°12′32″N
name	Tim Russell
birth date	April 23, 2010
death date
resting place coordinates
known for	''A Prairie Home Companion''
alma mater	University of Notre Dame
occupation	Radio host, voice actor
home town	Minneapolis
website
footnotes	}}

__NOTOC__ Tim Russell (born 1947/8) is an American radio announcer and voice actor (AFTRA/SAG) in Minneapolis – Saint Paul. He is most widely known as one of the actors on the long-running radio show, ''A Prairie Home Companion''. As a voice-over talent and announcer, Russell also appears in radio and television commercials.

Education and radio career

Russell graduated from the University of Notre Dame and briefly attended law school at the University of Minnesota. He took broadcasting classes at Brown Institute of Broadcasting in Minneapolis.

Russell began his radio career at WDBQ-AM in Dubuque, Iowa. He began work at WCCO-FM when it went on the air in 1973. While working there he began developing character voices and doing commercials. Between 1983 and 1993, he worked at WCCO-AM. After leaving WCCO, he worked for country station KJJO-FM and "easy listening" station KLBB-AM.

In 1997, he went back to work for WCCO-AM. Russell was voted the "Outstanding Broadcast Personality" by the Minnesota Broadcasters Association. In April 2010, Russell left WCCO through a buyout after working there for 33 years.

A Prairie Home Companion

In 1994, Russell began performing on the public radio show, ''A Prairie Home Companion.'' As a radio comedy actor, he is the voice behind Dusty from "Lives of the Cowboys", Fred Farell, and many famous celebrities, including Julia Child and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Russell played "Al, the Stage Manager" in ''A Prairie Home Companion'', the movie based on a screenplay by Garrison Keillor and filmed by Robert Altman at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota during the summer of 2005. The film was released on June 9, 2006.

Filmography

In addition to his role on the film version of ''A Prairie Home Companion'', Russell had small parts in two films set in Minnesota, 1994's ''Little Big League'' and 2009's ''A Serious Man''.

References

External links

Official website (shared with Sue Scott)

Tim Russell's page at ''A Prairie Home Companion'''s website

Category:American radio personalities Category:American public radio personalities Category:Radio in Minnesota Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:1947 births Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:University of Minnesota Law School alumni Category:University of Notre Dame alumni

Coordinates	28°36′50″N77°12′32″N
Position	Fullback
Number	24
Birth date	August 20, 1939Leon County, Texas
Debutyear	1960
Finalyear	1960
College	Texas
Teams	Denver Broncos (1960)
Stat1label	Rushing attempts-yards
Stat1value	30-18
Stat2label	Receptions-yards
Stat2value	5-34
Stat3label	Touchdowns
Stat3value	1
Nfl	ALL115890
Highlights	No notable achievements
Cfhof	}}

Donald Ray "Don" Allen (born August 20, 1939 in Leon County, Texas) is a former professional American football fullback in the American Football League. He played college football at the University of Texas, and played professionally for the Denver Broncos in 1960.

See also

Other American Football League players

References

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:People from Leon County, Texas Category:Players of American football from Texas Category:American football fullbacks Category:Texas Longhorns football players Category:Denver Broncos (AFL) players

Coordinates	28°36′50″N77°12′32″N
Name	Roger Erickson
Position	Pitcher
Bats	Right
Throws	Right
Birth date	August 30, 1956
Birth place	Springfield, Illinois
Debutdate	April 6
Debutyear
Debutteam	Minnesota Twins
Finaldate	September 26
Finalyear
Finalteam	New York Yankees
Stat1label	Win-loss record
Stat1value	35-53
Stat2label	Earned run average
Stat2value	4.13
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	365
Teams	Minnesota Twins (-) New York Yankees(-) }}

Roger Farrell Erickson (August 30, 1956 in Springfield, Illinois), is a retired professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from -. He played for the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. He currently works at a winery in Georgia.

External links

Category:1956 births Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Baseball players from Illinois Category:New York Yankees players Category:Minnesota Twins players Category:Evansville Triplets players Category:Living people

Sid Hartman (born March 15, 1920) is an American sports journalist for the Minneapolis ''Star Tribune'' and the WCCO 830 AM radio station.

Background and early career

A high-school dropout, Hartman received no formal writing training. Hartman penned his first column for the ''Minneapolis Daily Times'' on September 11, 1945, and continues to report 64 years later, now for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Minneapolis Lakers

As a 27 year old in 1947, Hartman became the acting general manager of the Minneapolis Lakers. Hartman helped build what would become the first dynasty in the NBA.

Sports columnist

Sid Hartman has been a popular and widely read sports columnist throughout his career. Hartman's columns have always been strong on reporting, not so strong on writing. Dick Cullum, Hartman's first editor, explained it this way: "Writers are a dime a dozen, but reporters are impossible to find. Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated notes, "English sometimes appears to be his second language."

In the Twin Cities, Hartman is often referred to on sports radio and TV programs by his first name.

Hartman has also appeared as a radio sportscaster and commentator for years on Minneapolis' WCCO Radio. One of the elements of his style - often caricatured by local comics and other radio personalities - is his habit while interviewing sports figures of referring to them as "my close personal friend". Over the years, his alleged "close personal friends" have included the likes of George Steinbrenner, Bobby Knight, Lou Holtz, and Carl Yastrzemski.

Author

Hartman has published two books:

Sid!

Sid Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments

Family

His son Chad Hartman has a radio show on the same station WCCO. Chad enjoys sports much like his father but often disassociates himself from his father's opinions.

Hartman's name was among tens of thousands on Ponzi schemer and close personal friend, Bernie Madoff's client list. It is unknown how much money, if any, Hartman lost with Madoff when the $50 billion fraud was exposed late in 2008.

References

External links

''Star Tribune'': Sid Hartman

''WCCO: Sid Hartman''

''Yesterday's News blog'': Hartman's first column (Sept. 11, 1945)

Category:American columnists Category:American sportswriters Category:Radio personalities from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:1920 births Category:Living people