WKRZ

WKRZ (98.5 FM, "98.5 KRZ") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Freeland, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Entercom Communications, through licensee Entercom Wilkes-Barre Scranton, LLC, and broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format. Its broadcast tower is located southeast of Wilkes-Barre in Bear Creek Township at (41°11′56.0″N 75°49′5.0″W).[2]

WKRZ
CityFreeland, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaWilkes-Barre-Scranton
Branding98.5 KRZ
SloganToday's Best Music
Frequency98.5 MHz (HD Radio)
First air date1948 (1948) (as WBRE-FM)
FormatAnalog/HD1: CHR
HD2: Country ("Froggy 101")
Language(s)English
ERP8,700 watts (analog)
348 watts (digital)[1]
HAAT357 meters (1,171 ft)
ClassB
Facility ID34379
Transmitter coordinates41°11′56.3″N 75°49′4.7″W
Call sign meaningWe're KRaZy!
Former call signsWBRE-FM (1948–1980)
OwnerEntercom Communications
(Entercom License, LLC)
Sister stationsWAAF, WGGY, WILK, WILK-FM, WMQX, WODS
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.985krz.com

WKRZ uses HD Radio, and simulcasts the country music programming of sister station WGGY Froggy 101 on its HD2 subchannel.

History

The station first signed on in 1948[3] with the WBRE-FM call sign, licensed to serve Wilkes-Barre. It was the FM sister station to then WBRE AM at 1340 kHz[4] also licensed to serve Wilkes-Barre. WBRE-FM evolved through a number of radio formats and by the 1970s was all-news.[5] The station, up to that point, broadcast in FM mono since its start in 1948. Due to consistently low audience ratings in the area,[6] WBRE-FM made a big change in 1980 when it was sold with the new owners adding FM stereo, a format switch to Top 40/CHR music, along with the call sign change to the present WKRZ. WKRZ has been broadcasting a Top 40/CHR format since 1980, branded at first as "The New 98 & A ½ FM KRZ".

The present owners of WKRZ, Entercom Communications, received FCC approval in 2003 to move WAMT (103.1 MHz FM, now WILK-FM) from Freeland to Avoca. As a condition of the move, Entercom was required to change the city of license of WKRZ from Wilkes-Barre to Freeland due to FCC concerns about the "loss of local service" to Freeland because of the WAMT move. In practice, the only change was the legal ID.[7]

Stations

One full-power station is licensed to simulcast the programming of WKRZ:

Call sign Frequency City of license Facility ID ERP
W		 Height
m (ft)		 Class Transmitter coordinates Service contour
WKRF107.9 FMTobyhanna, Pennsylvania14643830267.7 meters (878 ft)A41°02′39.6″N 75°22′37.7″WCovers Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

This station was originally assigned the WPMR call sign on November 29, 1989. The call sign was changed to WPMR-FM on March 11, 1992[8] and was off the air but began a simulcast of WKRZ in 1995.[9] Its call sign was changed to WKRF on May 15, 1995.[8]

See also

References
  1. "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. April 9, 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  2. "FM Query Results for WKRZ". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  3. "U. S. FM Stations as of 1948". Archived from the original on 2004-07-29. Retrieved 2004-07-29.
  4. "U. S. AM stations as of 1946". Archived from the original on 1999-01-28. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  5. Northeastern Pennsylvania Radio Answers
  6. "ROCKING LOCAL AIRWAVES MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO, A TEAM OF WACKY RADIO PERSONALITIES LED WKRZ-FM TO BECOME THE AREA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL FM STATION". Times Leader. Wilkes-Barre, PA. April 8, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  7. "NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush". Archived from the original on 2003-12-09. Retrieved 2003-12-09.
  8. "Call Sign History [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  9. Stark, Phyllis (April 29, 1995). "Vox Jox". Billboard. 107 (17): 92.
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