On February 3, 1926, excited people began gathering outside city hall for a historic event – the inaugural broadcast of WCOA Radio. Precisely at 8:30pm, WCOA went on the air and except for occasional interruptions from a few hurricanes over the years it has been on the air ever since. Depending on whom you talk to WCOA is the second, third or fourth oldest radio station in the state. was placed in
charge. He obtained the proper permits, figured out how to operate the equipment and came up with the call letters of WCOA, which stood for “Wonderful City Of Advantages:
WCOA has always been the station to whom people have turned during times of emergency, especially hurricanes. When Erin and Opal struck Pensacola in 1995, WCOA provided round-the-clock coverage. As the designated Emergency Alert System radio station in this area, WCOA is still ready to respond when necessary. Many well-known people have been associated with WCOA over the years. Don Priest was news director for 41 years until his retirement in 2001. Hired away from a radio station in Sarasota by owner Mack Miller, Priest worked with WCOA longer than any other employee. Known for his excellent work as a newsman he also was deeply involved in local sports broadcasting high school football games for many years. Other broadcasters who worked with WCOA over the years were Luke McCoy, Don Griffith, Sally Henderson, Gordon Towne, John Teelin, Dave Pavlock, Arlene Sadrow, John Richardson, Marty White, Steve Remel, Don Redfield, Pappy Lynn, John Waite, Dan Lucas, Ellis Davis, Jim Young, Laura Lunsford and Bern Benicks. One of the best known broadcasters was the late Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch on the Adams Family TV show. News Talk 1370 WCOA AM continues to do what it has always done best for the past 90 years – provide local and national programming along with news, sports, weather and traffic information to the Pensacola community.
