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History of WOWO
Based on Sam DeVincent’s Timeline of WOWO
1921:
Chester Keen built the first transmitter in Fort Wayne. He and Lauer Auto initiated Fort Wayne's first radio station WCWK.
1925:
Keen bought the Lauer interests.
1925:
WOWO established by the Main Auto Supply Co., with studios above Main Auto at 213 West Main St. Officers: President, Fred Zieg; Sales Manager, Clyde Durbin; Secretary-Treasurer, J.A. Becker.
1925:
WOWO started broadcasting March 31, 1925 on 500 watts, 1320 kilocycles. Call letters chosen arbitrarily. "W" for broadcast station east of the Mississippi and "O" for ease of pronunciation. A slogan erroneously traced to call letters was used for a time: "Wayne Offers Wonderful Opportunities."
1927:
WOWO a pioneer station of CBS.
1927:
WOWO power increase to 2,500 watts night, 5,000 watts day, September 1927.
1928:
Keen sells WCWK to Fred Zieg who operated WOWO. This station became WGL (What God Loves) and remained with the Zieg interests until sold to Westinghouse in 1936; then Westinghouse sold to Farnsworth in 1945 and subsequently it was purchased by Fort Wayne newspapers. Balance of data here applies to WOWO only.
1929:
Power increase to 10,000 watts on 1160 kc April 1929. Transmitter at Junction 30-33.
1929:
Disastrous fire at studio site, July 4, 1929. Operation moved across street until damages could be repaired. Great pipe organ was not damaged. This organ was later sold to the Gospel Temple in Fort Wayne.
1930:
Many firsts have been credited to the WOWO operation such as first basketball games ever to be broadcast anywhere (listed in official radio chronology); first “Man on the street” program from the lobby of the Old Indiana Theater; first station to broadcast by remote the IHSAA tournaments.
1931:
First regular newscaster hired - H.W. Flannery.
1932:
Sales department a separate corporation: WOWO-WGL Sales Service, Inc.
1936:
WOWO acquired by Westinghouse in August 1936. First station wholly
owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
1937:
New studios at 925 S. Harrison St. completed May 1, 1937. Over 10,000 persons visited the studios in the two-day open house and congratulatory messages were received from around the world including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Joined NBC Blue Network May 1. This later became ABC.
1941:
Full time on 1190 kc March 29, 1941.
  
1948:
Penny Pitch established as annual on-air fund raising event to benefit needy WOWO-land
families.
1952:
Moved to new studios at 128 W. Washington Blvd. April 30, 1952.
1952:
Fort Wayne Komets Hockey debuts in October on WOWO.
1953:
Bob Chase begins as color/play by play announcer for Fort Wayne Komets. By December, 1953, Bob was the play-by-play announcer for Komet Hockey and Sports Director for WOWO.
1954: 50,000 watts (as powerful at any station in U.S.) February 1954. Transmitter site on U.S. 24 near Roanoke, Indiana with new Westinghouse HG50 transmitter. Directional antenna beamed east at night.
1956:
Dropped all network affiliations; became independent. This brought DJs into prominence; also such programs as Program PM, a two-hour nighttime feature; caused an increase in public service especially on the community needs level, and intensified news coverage with WBC Washington News Bureau, European and around the world news reporting by WBC correspondents, Associated Press, etc. A new “sound" gave radio and WOWO new depth and with car radios, the greatest mass audience of any medium. More and more sets are sold each year with transistors making radio as mobile as people themselves.
1960:
WOWO, on their 35th anniversary placed a time capsule in the ground at Swinney park ... and marked the spot with a commemorative plaque. The capsule was filled with momentos of life as it was that day and included predictions of what life might be like when the capsule is opened in 1994 - the 200th anniversary of Fort Wayne.
1963:
Adopted a new communicative name: "Group W" - May 20, 1963. The new designation means that all advertising and promotion of WOWO will include the “Group W” tag. The legal name is unchanged as "Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, Inc."
1965:
WOWO celebrates 50 years of service to the tri-state area and is recognized as one of the real radio pioneers in the nation... and as the most powerful station in Indiana, to be their emissary to the nation and the world.
1966: Long-time WOWO Farm Director Jay Gould's book, "Hello World" is published. It is a selection of Gould's most-requested poems and speeches. About 23,000 copies are sold.
1977:
WOWO moved to location at 203 West Wayne St. on the fourth floor of the Central Building, in the Winter of 1977. It was customized to accommodate the needs of WOWO. There was no elevator service in the building at the time of the move, and all equipment had to be hauled up four flights of stairs to the new studio facilities.
1979:
Addition at Roanoke transmitter site completed and new Harris MW50A transmitter put into use.
WOWO 1979 Transmitter
(still used as a backup today!)
1982:
Price Communications purchased WOWO from Westinghouse Broadcast Company, ending a 46 year association with Fort Wayne for Group W.
1985:
WOWO returns to FM radio. Their last FM station broadcast was in 1955, when they were one of the pioneers in FM while a member of Group W.
1985:
Sports Talk with Art Saltsberg and Dean Pantazi makes nightly debut as on WOWO. Art had done a Sports Talk show in 1977 and 1978 with Ron Gregory two nights per week. November 4, 1985
1987:
Legendary WOWO morning announcer Bob Sievers retires after a half century serving WOWO and WOWO’s listeners. Sievers’ association with the station began in 1932 when, as a high school student, he helped get the station on the air from the Gospel Temple. He was finally hired by WOWO in 1936 and with the exception of 6 years he spent in the Navy, taking care of WOWO’s listeners was Bob’s daily mission.
1988:
WOWO returns to the music of their heritage, and becomes Fort Wayne's "Original Oldies" station, playing the music that made them the top rated radio station in America in the 60's.
1992:
WOWO retains its full service heritage and drops oldies in favor of adult contemporary music format.
1994:
Inner City Broadcasting purchases WOWO from Price Communications and Federated Media begins operating WOWO in agreement with Inner City. WOWO FM sold to third party. November 11, 1994.
1994:
Time capsule opened.
1995:
WOWO studios move to new facilities at Federated Media’s Maples Road broadcast facilities.
1995:
Dr. Laura Schlessinger debuts on WOWO. March 1995 – January 2002.
1996:
WOWO completes transition to News/Talk format with Talk programming around the clock. Emphasis continues on News, Weather, Cancellations and Delays, Traffic, Sports, and other information elements along with top rated talk shows. September 1, 1996.
1997:
Pat White moves from Saturday afternoons to weekday afternoons. March 17, 1997
1997:
America’s foremost talk host, Rush Limbaugh, moves to WOWO to complement the stations rapidly growing talk position within WOWO-land. August 20, 1997.
1997:
Final edition of the Little Red Barn airs as producer Flyin’ Brian airs his tribute to Sam DeVincent upon Sam’s passing on November 29, 1997. Sam dedicated most of his life to preserving and sharing music. He produced and hosted the show for 28 years. Sam and his wife, Nancy, joined the radio station in 1945 and never left. December 7, 1997.
1999:
WOWO remains at 50,000 watts daytime and power is lowered to licensed 9,800 watts a night.
1999:
Current WOWO transmitter
New Harris DX50 broadcast transmitter installed at transmitter site near Roanoke to bolster both day and night signal. Transmitter and new digital audio processing equipment give WOWO the loudest, brightest sound possible on the AM dial.
2000:
WOWO Celebrates 75 years as the voice of a thousand Main Streets.
2000:
Art Saltsberg retires from WOWO Sports Talk program after nearly 15 years on the program. July 26, 2000
2001:
Pat Miller begins live Saturday morning talk show. April.
2002:
Glenn Beck debuts on WOWO (January). Mike Savage and
Sean Hannity debut on WOWO (March).
2003:
Fort Wayne radio icon Charly Butcher begins regular duties as host of Fort Wayne’s Morning News (January).
Nationally Syndicated Talk Host Glenn Beck hosts Northeast Indiana’s Rally For America at Kruse Auction Park in Auburn. The rally coincides with the start of the 2nd war against Iraq. 20,000 listeners and patriots attend from all over America. March 22, 2003.
July 22 officially proclaimed as "Bob Chase Day" in Fort Wayne as commemoration for Bob's 50 years of on-air service with WOWO Radio.
2005
 
April 4th: WOWO begins High Definition Broadcast and offers online streaming
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