WKKO-AM 860
Silent in 2000
Cocoa
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Original Call Letters: WKKO |
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Originally Licensed: Jan. 4, 1953 |
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Original City of License: Cocoa |
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Original Frequency: 860 |
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Origin of Call Letters: Sounds like; KKO=Cocoa |
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Original Power: 1,000 watts daytime |
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Original Location: Burnett Road, south of State Road 520 |
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Original Format: Rock |
Network Affiliation(s): |
United Press International |
Owner(s): |
1953-Brevard Broadcasting Company From the Fred King collection |
| 1959-Marvin Rothschild | |
| 1970-Cocoa One Inc. | |
| 1975-Emcom Associates | |
| 1984-Fox Radio Inc. | |
| 1985-Capitol Broadcasting Co. | |
| 1992-Walker Broadcasting | |
| 1993-Brevard Broadcasting, Inc. ($90,000) | |
| 1993-Walker Info & Ed Institute Inc. | |
| 1998-Carl Marcocci |
History Of Call Letters and Formats: |
WKKO-1951- |
| WKKO-1981-MOR | |
| WJZX-1984-Urban "Fox 86" | |
| WCKS-1986-Top 40 ''Brevard's No. 1 Hit Music Station'' | |
| WCKS-1986-'50s and '60s | |
| WCKS-1987-Top 40 | |
| WCKS-1987-Silent | |
| WWKO-1989-Urban Contemporary "KO 860 Knockin' Out The Hits" | |
| WRFB-1993-News/Talk "Radio For Brevard" | |
| WRFB-1998-Nostalgia | |
| WRFB-2000-Silent | |
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Mr. Davis E. Wilson tells about the beginnings of WKKO. |
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From Brian Douglas; "...This station was WCKS (using CK-101's former call letters) playing Top 40 in 1987. By 1993, WWKO was an R&B station. Alan Dickson was the GM through this time. The Owner Contact was Keith Walker..." "...It became a Nostalgia station soon after, before going dark in a buyout (to enable WGUL, Dunedin [also on 860] to improve its coverage)." |
Photos courtesy of
Davis Wilson click photo for full sized view

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The staff of WKKO in December, 1954.
Left-to-right
standing
Carl Collins outside
the WKKO studios in 1953 |
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Mercer Livermore-Hostess of "Cocoa Chatter" |
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Jack Gale-1963 |
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Bill Eckerd-Afternoons |
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Simon T (Simon Taloumis) |
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Mickey Martin-Mornings |
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Steve Canyon-1967- "The Long Lean Lizard from Lake Charles, Louisiana"-Afternoons |
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Hal Martin-1967 |
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Mike Curtiss-1969 |
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Dick Wilson-1970-71 |
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Johnny Knight-1969-71 |
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Dave Edwards-1973-1975 Biography WKKO Studio exterior and interior |
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Tom Collins-1974-Program Director/Mid-days/Operations Manager |
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Kris Kelly-1974-Afternoons |
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Jim Day-1974-Evenings |
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Beau Richards-1977-Mornings |
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Chip Taylor-1977-Afternoons/Music director/Program Director |
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Bobby Knight-1984-1985-Program Director |
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Chris Morgan-1985 |
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Chrissy Dimona-1985 |
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Terry Dollar-1985 |
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Scott Stover-1985 Biography |
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Rick Ryder-Program Director |
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Michelle Murillo-News Director |
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Peter David Kaufman (now an Editor at The Washington Post) |
| Steve Mack |
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Sal Tee-1993-"Solid Gold Reunion"-Saturdays11AM-1PM |
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Rosa Lee Jones-1965-1985-host of "Open House". In 1966, Mrs. Jones opened the first kindergarten for black children in Cocoa. It was the Rosebud Kindergarten and Child Care Center on Poinsett Drive. Mrs. Jones was a respected writer and an eloquent voice in Cocoa's African-American community, which because of segregation, remained racially and geographically separated from Cocoa's white community until the civil-rights era of the 1960s. |
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Melvin John Foley-1967-Mornings/PD who instituted the Drake format with short jingles and a much shorter playlist |
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From Fred King; "...Nort's La Scene was...extremely popular..." "...(it) was located one block from the beach at the end of the 520 causeway. It was straight out of (the movie) Saturday Night Fever, with the flashing colorized dance floor, strobes, movies on the wall and deafening discotheque (music)..." "...(WK)KO (DJs) handled the music there. |
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From Fred King; The WKKO "... jocks would pick up some extra cash by handling the music here. The owner of The Red Door, Johnny Esposito, was very close friends with one of the (WK)KO owners and we promoted...that club. Everyone knew about that club at that time. The building located along the Merritt Island causeway, no longer exists." |
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Carl G. Collins, Jr.-1953-Partner/General Manager-Brevard Broadcasting Company In Memory |
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Davis E. Wilson-1953-Partner/Chief Engineer-Brevard Broadcasting Company |
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Emerson Browne-1953-1954-Partner-Brevard Broadcasting Company |
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Marvin Rothschild-1959-Owner |
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Theodore Eiland-1970-President/General Manager-Cocoa One Inc. In Memory |
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Bill Maschmeier-1970-Owner |
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Keith Walker-1992-Owner-Walker Broadcasting |
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Alan Dickson-1992-General Manager-Walker Broadcasting |
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Carl Marcocci-1998-Owner |
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Earline Hamilton-Secretary |
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Ron Schrader-Engineer |
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Bob Norris-General Manager |
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Jay Waggoner-Engineer |
A view of the
WKKO studio courtesy of Jay Waggoner
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