WXCT AM 990 Southington, Connecticut

[ynkeesfn82]

WXCT AM 990 is a radio station in Southington, Connecticut. Their two antennas are behind their studios on Old Turnpike Road in the Plantsville section of Southington next to Chuck and Eddie's Junkyard. By day they broadcast with 2,500 watts and depending on what type of radio you have can be heard as far north as North Hampton, Massachusetts on a regular basis (though personally once back in 2001 I picked them up in the Super 8 Motel on Route 5 in Brattleboro Vermont. And I wasn't using a special radio either. I was a regular radio I brought from home) as far West as the Albany, NY Suburbs, and as far Southwest as Cahppequa (sic), New York. - The town where Bill and Hilary Clinton lived while she was a NY Senator. At night they power down to just 80 watts and can be heard within a few miles of Southington.

Since January 2012 WXCT has had a Spanish Hits format Monday-Friday, simulcasting sister station WSPR 1270 from West Springfield, Massachusetts. Together they are known as POWER 1270 y POWER 990 (POWER 1270 and POWER 990). All day Saturday until 8:30AM Sunday and Sunday 3PM until 6AM Monday Morning they feature Spanish Christian Programming under the name Radio Cantico Nuevo and Cantico 990. Sundays from 8:30AM-3PM they run programming in Italian, English (a Lutheran Church Mass), and Polish, which have been staples on AM 990 for many years (and in the case of the Italian Programming a staple since 1969 when the station signed on). Prior to January 20012 WXCT ran Radio Cantico Nuevo programming 24/7 (outside the 8:30AM-3PM block on Sundays) since May 2007.

From February 2002 until May 2004 and October 2005 until May 2007 WXCT ran a mostly talk format. I was an intern READ: UNPAID EMPLOYEE there off and on in my spare time From February 2002 until May 2004. I ran the broadcast console during sporting events and talk shows. I sometimes appeared on the local talk show hosted by Charlie Profit. In May 2004 after a change in ownership WXCT took on a part time Spanish Adult Contemporary Format READ: Spanish Music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today. It was called SuperMAX 990. For 3 months WXCT retained English Language Programming from 6PM-6AM mostly talk shows (leftover from the previous format) and infomercials, though several people bought a few hours of time and hosted their own show. Yours truly may or may not have hosted a music show under the DJ name of Jay Clark. (It was really bad). All local shows were abruptly cancelled in August 2004 when the SuperMax programming took over all air time on WXCT except for Sundays. SuperMAX programming abruptly ended in July 2005. Their lease was either terminated or not renewed. The ownership of the station flipped the station to Spanish Hits as POWER 990. That ended abruptly in October 2005 when they brought back Charlie Profit who re-installed the talk format on the station. He began leasing the station in July 2006 and leased it until May 2007 when he ran out of money.

The people running the station these days do not have a clue. A lot of the Spanish Religious Programming is loud and over-modulated and distorted. The Polka show on Sundays comes in via some kind of Phone system from the Bristol Polish American Citizen's Club. Whoever is the in-studio producer READ: Whomever sets up the phone connection is completely clueless. Often during the first few minutes of the Polka show you hear a modem type sound underneath the music. The show is also a technical nightmare. They never had these problems when Charlie Profit ran the station. I also do not know what type of equipment they use to get WSPR's programming over to the WXCT studios, but there a lot of audio dropouts. These audio dropouts do not occur when programming is originating at the WXCT studios whether live, on tape, etc.

Pretty much the way the ownership of the radio station operates is as long as the check doesn't bounce they don't care what the station sounds like. It's sad.

[TheFugitive]

I was an intern READ: UNPAID EMPLOYEE there off and on in my spare time From February 2002 until May 2004. 

Lincoln freed the slaves.  He didn't say nuthin' about the interns.   ;D

[ynkeesfn82]

Forget about what I posted about WXCT. Their future is up in the air right now. They got divorced from WSPR West Springfield and currently is just playing automated Spanish Music. There is a message on WSPR's Facebook Page in Spanish that the station is under new management and a new logo that just shows POWER 1270. Their website has not been updated yet to show the change. All the DJs are apparently out at WSPR as well. Since the Spanish Religious Programming on WXCT on the weekend came from a different source I doubt it will be affected by this change during the week.

[TheFugitive]

I had always wanted to take a crack at radio, but never had the opportunity.
As a kid I had a good friend who was a DJ on a very popular local Top 40 station.
And I knew another guy who had spent some time at a small station in rural Pennsylvania
(and his stories were hilarious!)

I did have a very brief stint on the closed-circuit AM station at my university.
I failed to make the cut when, while reading a newscast which included a story about a bear
that was running around in a suburban neighborhood, I pronounced the word bear as "bahr".

I made them play that back to me five or six times.  I couldn't believe it.
I had absolutely no idea whatsoever that I had done it.

The following semester their license for an FM signal had been approved, and I found myself
#376 on a waiting list.

The only explanation I ever came up with was that when I was a toddler in Columbus, Ohio,
my mom says that we were the only non-Kentuckians living on the block.  Very interesting how
things from such a formative age can creep into your speech years later.

Though likely it's just as well, seeing that radio is a rapidly dying industry.
My friend who did Top 40 moved on to other things.  They guy who worked at the small
station eventually got tired of having to choose between putting gas in his tank or eating,
and started selling insurance.

[JimSawhill]

I was a DJ helper at the old WINF in Manchester for a few months.

[ynkeesfn82]

I was a DJ helper at the old WINF in Manchester for a few months.

These days they're running a Spanish Variety format from studios at 135 Burnside Ave in East Hartford shared with WLAT 910 (New Britain) which is doing Spanish Top 40 and WKND 1480 (Widsor) which is African American Talk and Gospel Music with some older R&B Music thrown in.

[ynkeesfn82]

Forgot to mention that in June WXCT resumed simulcasting WSPR La Nueva Power 1270 Springfield. That last for about a week and a half and then they began simulcasting WACM La Popular 1490 West Springfield. On July 3rd Davidson Media Group blew up WACM/WXCT. For several hours they played "It's The Same Old Song" by The Four Tops on a repeating loop. At 12 Noon July 3rd DMG relaunched WACM/WXCT as "Oldies 990/1490 WXCT". Fred King who was a DJ on WHYN in Springfield in the 60s and most recently was at Real Oldies 1250 WARE in Palmer, Mass is doing Mornings. Ray Mills (who as a 15 year old boy worked at what was then WTXL 1490 in West Springfield) hosts an all-request show on Saturday Nights.

You can listen on line: http://www.davidsonmediagroup.com/player/wacm_player.html

Note: WACM airs an Irish Show Saturdays 9AM-11AM and Sundays 10AM-Noon.

There is no separate stream for WXCT which airs specialty programmings on Sundays 8:30AM-3PM.

WXCT Sunday Programming:
8:30AM-1PM Italian Programming
1PM-2PM Immanuel Lutheran Church Shut-In Mass from Bristol, CT
2PM-3PM Just Friends Polka Show from the Bristol Polish-American Citizen's Club