WCRN

WCRN is an AM radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts, owned by Carter Broadcasting. The station broadcasts at 830 AM with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts and can be heard from Maine to Providence, Rhode Island, and from Boston to Springfield, Massachusetts (during the day). The signal is directional, pointed away from such other stations at 830 kHz as WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After sunset, WCRN's signal is made further directional towards the east; as a result, it is not clearly audible in Western Massachusetts after sunset.

WCRN
CityWorcester, Massachusetts
Broadcast areaCentral Massachusetts
Branding830 WCRN
SloganFull Service Radio
Frequency830 kHz
First air dateDecember 5, 1994[1]
FormatNews/talk
Power50,000 watts
ClassB
Facility ID9201
Transmitter coordinates42°14′50.00″N 71°55′52.00″W
Call sign meaningCarter Radio Network
AffiliationsWestwood One
OwnerCarter Broadcasting
WebcastListen Live (via TuneIn)
Websitewww.wcrnradio.com

The station bills itself as "Full Service", with a talk radio format all day, except for financial shows from 9-11 a.m. and noon to 1 p.m. weekdays and infomercials at assorted times on Saturdays and Sundays. The station simulcasts news from WFXT (channel 25) in mornings. WCRN runs music of the 60s, 70s, and 80s at night as North Star Music.

The station is owned by the Carberry family, who also own WACE in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Kurt Carberry is the vice president and general manager.

History
Logo as "True Talk 830"

WCRN signed on December 5, 1994,[1][2] carrying religious programming from the Carter Radio Network, based out of then-sister station WROL in Boston.[3] In December 2000, this was abandoned in favor of a big band format, "Swing 830".[4][5] The format was changed to oldies, via ABC Radio's The True Oldies Channel, in August 2004,[6] and then to the current talk format on May 8, 2006.[7]

In 2000, the station was allowed to increase its daytime power from 5,000 watts to the current 50,000 watts.[5][8] Nighttime power was also increased from 5,000 watts to 50,000 watts on April 4, 2007, just in time for the first Boston Red Sox night game of the season.[9]

Programming

WCRN's programming features the following programs:

Weekend political talk on the weekends includes Conservatively Speaking hosted by Mike Wade on Saturdays from 6:00 am until 9:00 and All Politics is Local in Massachusetts hosted by Jon Fetherston and Terry Hendrix Sunday's from 10 am until noon. Featuring national, state and local elected officials and how all political decisions effect local communities. WCRN was the flagship for the Worcester Tornadoes minor-league baseball team during the 2005 and 2010 seasons. The station is also an affiliate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst network for football and men's basketball broadcasts.

From 2007 through 2009, and since 2011, WCRN has shared the Worcester affiliation of the Boston Red Sox radio network with WEEI/WEEI-FM satellite station WVEI, an arrangement made in order to take advantage of WCRN's then-new 50,000 watt night signal to serve areas of MetroWest that had difficulty receiving either WVEI itself or the team's then-flagship, WRKO, particularly at night (when most Red Sox games are played), with WVEI selling local advertising on both stations.[10] The two stations replaced WTAG, which had carried Sox games for 40 years. WVEI became the sole Red Sox affiliate in Worcester in 2010, but WCRN returned to the Red Sox network in 2011. In September 2019 WCRN began airing The Worcester Red Sox Show LIVE on Thursdays from 9am-10am as the team prepares their move to the city in 2021.

References
  1. "New AM station signs on". Telegram & Gazette. December 20, 1994. Retrieved September 30, 2012. (pay content preview)
  2. Fybush, Scott D (June 22, 1995). "New England Radio Watcher: All Over The Place". rec.radio.broadcasting. Google Groups. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  3. Fybush, Scott (March 6, 2003). "Rambling Around Central Massachusetts". Tower Site of the Week. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  4. Fybush, Scott (December 25, 2000). "WMEX Goes Business". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  5. Fybush, Scott (January 1, 2008). "FM Flip-Flop in the Pioneer Valley". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  6. Fybush, Scott (August 30, 2004). "CHOI Wins a Reprieve". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  7. Fybush, Scott (May 8, 2006). "Sox & Entercom: So Happy Together?". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  8. Fybush, Scott (March 24, 2000). "WFAU Loses A Tower, WFNX Gains A State, NERW Visits California's Coast". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  9. Fybush, Scott (April 2, 2007). "Hornell's WKPQ Changes Hands - Maybe". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  10. Fybush, Scott (March 26, 2007). "Rhode Island Public Radio Gets Local". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
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