What's New

January 25, 2011 We've added airchecks ("The Saga of Rock Charles") and other WCSC audio from 1976-1977, courtesy Robert "St. John" Wermuth.

August 15, 2010 Thanks to Rob Braddock for the two 1980 newspaper graphics that have been placed on Photo Page 3.

May 31, 2010 Two new pics have been added to Photo Page 3.

February 17, 2010 We've added a Google Custom Search box to the Home Page to let you easily search this site as well as our other radio tribute sites at once.

January 11, 2010 Our appreciation to Jackson Douglas for sending us several classic WCSC graphics, now gracing this page like the one below:

November 28, 2009 Thanks to Madeleine Thomas for the additional images added to Photo Page 3.

August 3, 2009 More pictures were added to Photo Page 3. We also updated "A Brief History of WCSC Radio" (below).

January 3, 2009 We've added 1976 aircheck and promo audio from Scott Ashley, courtesy Scott's real-life counterpart, Gerry Cunningham.

December 15, 2008 Even more mid-70s CSC shots from Robert Braddock have been posted here.

December 8, 2008 More photos have arrived -- this time from Robert Braddock. Check out another brand spankin' new page of 1970s WCSC and WXTC pics.

December 2, 2008 Thanks to Jim Bradley, we've added a 1979 WCSC audio composite, plus a solo Jim Bradley aircheck from the Summer of 1980.

November 28, 2008 Check out our new photo page with pictures from Jim Bradley, plus our beefed-up DJs page.

A Brief History of WCSC Radio

WCSC-AM was Charleston, South Carolina's first radio station, signing on the air in 1930 at 1360 kHz. Around 1939 the station's frequency was changed to 1390. (For many years the station used the slogan "1390 since 1930" but that wasn't quite accurate.) For decades, WCSC was an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network. WCSC's original owner was the Liberty Life Insurance Company.

In 1937, John M. Rivers joined WCSC-AM radio as president of the South Carolina Broadcasting Company, the licenser of WCSC. In 1938, he became president and manager of WCSC Radio. Rivers purchased the station in 1944.

In 1948, WCSC-FM (later WXTC-FM) went on the air; in June of 1953, WCSC-TV, the first VHF television station in South Carolina, became operational. Rivers became chairman of the board of WCSC, Inc., in 1973.

In the 1950s and '60s, WCSC Radio's format could best be described as MOR ("Middle Of the Road"). There was a switch to Top 40 in the early 1970s as WCSC tried to compete head-to-head with long-time Top 40 leader WTMA. In the early '80s WCSC's format morphed into an Adult Contemporary presentation with a full-service approach. In 1983, it became Charleston's only AM stereo station.

By the time the Rivers family sold the station in 1987, the station had switched to all-oldies supplemented by sports and talk shows (like Tom Snyder's ABC offering). WCSC-TV was sold to Crump Communications at that time, and kept the WCSC call letters. WCSC-AM and WXTC-FM were sold to New York's Ralph Guild (of national ad representative "McGavren Guild" fame). WCSC Radio became WXTC-AM.

Later call letters for 1390 in Charleston included WZKG (June 12, 1989) and WCSE (January 13, 1990). 1390's calls eventually returned to WXTC (August 19, 1991) and for many years the station had a black gospel format. Owners included Wicks Broadcasting, Citadel Broadcasting and Apex Broadcasting.
 

In early 2009 WXTC jettisoned gospel music for a classic soul format.

On June 16, 2009 the call letters were changed to WSPO and the format became all-sports.

The station operates with a power of 5000 watts non-directional day, 5000 watts directional night. Studios are East of the Cooper on Clements Ferry Road. The transmitter is on Orange Branch Road in the West Ashley area.

The above time-lapse video shows the 2009 removal of the 1390 tower built in 1947.