Look Back: WCCO Radio Celebrates 95 Years on the air!

The personalities have become the friends and companions of listeners. Cedric, Clellen, Viken, Joyce, Charlie and Rog, Cannon, Dave, Shelby, Tafoya, Williams, Hines, Hartman, Herb, Gordo, Ray, Chappy…the names go on and on. These people and all the many thousands who have been here, from the newsroom and studios to the producers and engineers, the sales department, managers and office staff, every single person who walked through the doors of WCCO knew that the trust of a state and region depended on them doing what the listeners came to expect over those 95 years.

Where to begin after 95 years?  It’s not a “traditional” year to celebrate (not like a 50th or, soon enough, 100th). 

Yet, each October 2nd, we feel like it’s a good time to look back at something that is special and unique. 

This station has touched the lives of Minnesotans for nine and half decades!  That’s almost (not quite) as long as Sid. 

In no way, is this about me.  But a little perspective from someone who has lived and breathed it for 20 of those years. 

I came to ‘CCO in 1999.  I grew up here, listened to Boone and Erickson hoping my school was closed (it wasn’t) just like you did.  I had to listen to Cannon because the adults in my life HAD to listen to Cannon.  I heard Dan Gladden’s home run during game 1 of the 1987 World Series too, and had the same thought: holy cow, they might win a championship!  To hear Herb say “the Twins are baseball’s World Champions” on WCCO Radio?  Wow, what a thrill.  I still get goosebumps.  Let’s do that again please!  Maybe this is the year.  We’ll see.  

In the early days of radio, WCCO was a powerful force in the development of better and more powerful transmitters. On November 11, 1928 with the implementation of the FCC’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 activated 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.

Another remarkable early story is that of Wheaties.  In the 1920's, it was an unknown product being developed by Washburn Crosby.  In order to market it better, they came up with the "Wheaties Quartet" who would sing the commercials on WCCO.  The singing commercial jingle was born right here in Minnesota, and right here on WCCO by those four men who sang:

Cedric Adams, the Twin Cities first “Media Star”
During those early days, 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 10:00pm newscast.

It wasn’t until the late 1930’s and especially by the early 1940’s that news started getting a larger presence on the station. Cedric Adams and his “Noontime News” became everyone’s source of information. Events around the world started to greatly affect Minnesotans and WCCO’s news (along with the CBS News of the day). From the attack on Pearl Harbor, to the storming of Normandy on D-Day to the end of the War in Japan, WCCO became the Upper Midwest’s source for worldly news. On the local scene, the WCCO Newsroom was born and launched the careers of some of the best journalists in the country. Eddie Gallaher, Harry Reasoner, Jergen Nash, Dick Champman, Eric Eskola, , Jeff McKinney, Steve Murphy and many, many more brought WCCO listeners the news as it happened.

WCCO has 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 see in their locations, supplementing information from WCCO’s Meteorologists and the National Weather Service. For many years, WCCO was famous for the “klaxon” alert tone for tornado warnings, which was a purposely irritating, terrible sound designed to alert even the drowsiest listeners of impending danger. This sound was created by putting a metal tape reel on a bulk eraser and pushing the erase button, creating a foghorn-like tone, which was then recorded for subsequent use. WCCO still is the only station in Minnesota with a full-time Meteorologist on staff (two actually). It speaks of the importance weather has to both WCCO and Minnesotans.

And then there are sports:
WCCO is currently the home for Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball and University of St. Thomas Football, but over the years, there wasn’t a sports event in Minnesota WCCO didn’t broadcast at some point.

Unlike all those years of Twins Baseball and the 86 years of Gopher football, the Vikings came then left. Then came again. Then left again. Then they came back. Then they left again.

But, through those stretches of years, the Vikings provided a million thrills. The early years with Tarkenton running for his life led to the Super Bowl years of the 70’s. The 80’s and 90’s were met with good teams that could never get over the hump. Then Randy Moss blew into town. The team seemed unbeatable. Until they were beat. And the Vikings, once again, fell short. Yet Minnesotan’s still bleed purple. WCCO was there with the listener, living and dying with each season falling just short.

In 1969 WCCO brought listeners (and the tried and true hockey fans throughout the state) a brand new team. The Minnesota North Stars became part of the first expansion the league had done since it’s inception. The great Al Shaver and the great Steve Cannon were there to bring you all the goals, saves, power-plays, fights and hockey action night after night. Then, the Stars left for Texas, and Minnesota was once again left without and NHL team. Local leaders spent the next several years looking for a solution. A new building and a new team in St. Paul were born in 2000. Starting with the first Draft for the team in 1999, WCCO was there. Broadcasting Wild games from 2000-2011, WCCO was there with Bob Kurtz, Tom Reid and others.

WCCO has also been home to Gopher Basketball with the great Ray Christensen calling games for many decades. Gopher Hockey came calling in 2000, just in time for back-to-back national titles. WCCO has been home to the Timberwolves now since 2011 and with a dedication to local college football, has been a partner of St. Thomas and has broadcasted their games since 2011 also.

Today:
WCCO, through 95 years, has been there and it’s our intention to be there for the next 95 years and beyond. The personalities may come and go, the news may change, the games and sports will always be a part of us. But through it all, we want to be the voice of Minnesotans.

WCCO personalities today include longtime Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman who has now been on the air since 1955, morning show host Dave Lee and Meteorologist Mike Lynch, Cory Hepola, Chad Hartman, Paul Douglas, Jordana Green, Mike Max, and Henry Lake.

The Newsroom staff includes Steve Simpson, Adam Carter, Laura Oakes, Susie Jones, Al Schoch, Sloane Martin and Mark Freie.

While we get to occasionally look back at our history, especially on these special anniversary dates, we spend all the rest of our time looking towards the future. It’s a future that we see is as bright as our past and we can’t wait to share that with all of you.