WDEV

WDEV / WDEV-FM
City WDEV: Waterbury, Vermont
WDEV-FM: Warren, Vermont
Branding Radio Vermont
Slogan The Friendly Pioneer
Frequency WDEV: 550 kHz
WDEV-FM: 96.1 MHz
First air date WDEV: July 16, 1931
WDEV-FM: August 11, 1989
Format Variety
Power WDEV: 5,000 watts (day)
1,000 watts (night)
ERP WDEV-FM: 400 watts
HAAT WDEV-FM: 694 meters (2,277 ft)
Class WDEV: B
WDEV-FM: C3
Facility ID WDEV: 54866
WDEV-FM: 54867
Transmitter coordinates WDEV: 44°21′17″N 72°45′7″W / 44.35472°N 72.75194°W / 44.35472; -72.75194
WDEV-FM: 44°7′37″N 72°55′43″W / 44.12694°N 72.92861°W / 44.12694; -72.92861
Affiliations Associated Press Radio Network, Boston Red Sox Radio Network, Fox Sports Radio
Owner Radio Vermont Group
(Ken Squier)
Sister stations WCVT, WLVB, WEXP (FM)
Webcast Listen Live
Website wdevradio.com

WDEV is a radio station based in Waterbury, Vermont, USA. WDEV broadcasts on the AM band at 550 kHz, and WDEV-FM, licensed to Warren, Vermont, broadcasts at 96.1 MHz. The stations' studios and offices are located near U.S. Route 2 in Waterbury. WDEV also operates a translator station, W243AT (96.5 FM), licensed to Barre, Vermont, and can also be heard on a privately owned translator, W270BR (101.9 FM), licensed to Island Pond, Vermont.

History

WDEV first signed on the air on July 15, 1931. It has been owned by the Squier family and their company, Radio Vermont Group, since 1935.[1] Lloyd Squier owned the station from 1935 until his death in 1979, and passed it to his son, NASCAR broadcaster Ken Squier, who owns the station today.

In 1966, one year after Sound of Music (film) was released, the von Trapp family telecast a public concert on WDEV (AM) from the family's lodge in Stowe, Vermont.[2]

In 1991, Squier bought WDOT in Warren and changed its calls to WDEV-FM. The FM station serves mainly to improve WDEV's coverage in the southern portion of its coverage area, particularly at night when the AM side must power down to 1,000 watts in order to protect clear-channel CBT in Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador.

A 2003 article, in Harper's magazine, cited WDEV as one of the best examples of independent radio broadcasting in the United States.[3]

Translators

In addition to the main station, WDEV is relayed by several translators.

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Class FCC info
W243AT 96.5 Barre (town), Vermont 99 D FCC
W270BR 101.9 Island Pond, Vermont 10 D FCC

News Programming

WDEV's news programming consists of a variety of news talk shows along with three newscasts per day. Some shows, such as the left-leaning Democracy Now!, are syndicated, but most are produced in-house by WDEV. The station's morning drive-time program is called The Morning News Service, and the afternoon drive-time show is called The Afternoon News Service, with an additional newscast that airs at noon called The Midday News Service. The morning and afternoon news services consist of local, state, and national news, in addition to interviews with reporters from WCAX-TV, Vermont's CBS affiliate, and VTDigger.org, an investigative news site. All newscasts feature a weather update from Roger Hill, the station's meteorologist. The daytime programming consists of a variety of local news talk-shows that span the political spectrum. The station's flagship news program is Open Mike with Mike Smith, which airs weekday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. On Mondays Hester Fuller hosts the program. Smith, a former Jim Douglas Administration official, focuses on politics, and takes calls from listeners who express their opinions. Weekdays from noon to 1:00 PM Bill Sayer hosts Equal Time Radio, a conservative talk show. The 1:00 to 2:00 PM time slot changes each day, and, depending on what day it is, is filled by either Equal Time Radio with State Senator Anthony Pollina (Mondays), Equal Time Radio with Traven (Tuesdays), The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman (Wednesdays), The Small Dog Speaks (Thursdays), or The Thom Hartmann Program (Fridays).[4]

Music Programming

WDEV's music programming consists of several different shows that air throughout the week. Each day the station airs The Getaway, a country/rock music program hosted by Arty Lavigne from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. WDEV also airs a nightly jazz program that is heard from 6:30 to 9:00 PM, unless the station is airing a sports game during that time. WDEV's weekend programming is made up almost entirely of music. Vermont broadcasting legend Joel Najman is on throughout the middle of the day on both Saturday and Sunday doing his show, entitled The Great American Music Hall.

Sports Programming

WDEV features sports updates during all three of its newscasts. During the Morning News Service, Mal "The Sammie" Boright comes on to give the update, and during the Midday and Afternoon News Services Ken Squier delivers the sports report. On Tuesday afternoons, Squier is joined by Jasper Goodman, who goes on to talk about the Red Sox. WDEV is an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox Radio Network, which is based at WEEI from Boston. WDEV carries all regular-season and postseason Red Sox games. The station also broadcasts Norwich University men's ice hockey and select Vermont high school basketball games. WDEV also airs auto racing from Thunder Road International SpeedBowl in Barre, Vermont, when there is no other programming conflict. WDEV's other Motorsports programming, when there is no conflict, includes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, WDEV airs Fox Sports Radio.

The Trading Post

The Trading Post is an early-morning advertising block hosted by John Noyes that consists of people calling in with three items or less (and only one car, unless the others are free or a parts car) to advertise them to the listening public. There is a "Party Line Edition," where listeners call in, that airs on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and also a "Mailbag Edition" in which Noyes reads written submissions on Thursday and Friday.

Music to Go to the Dump By

Perhaps noting special attention is this odd programming block that runs "in memory of Marie" from 9 to 10 am on Saturday mornings. It is hosted by Buster the Wonder Dog and his Faithful Companion, Ken. Ken is portrayed by Ken Squier.

Starting as soon as possible after 9, the show starts off with Ken talking to himself and Buster, apparently not noticing he is on the air. He talks to Buster as though he were a person; Buster makes no noise other than lapping at his water bowl and eating. After a couple minutes of this, Ken "realizes" that he's on the air, states the episode number (which he apparently makes up on the spot) and cuts to the theme song.

Following that, the show settles in to roughly an hour of odd songs, jokes the readers send in, and sporadic visits from Farmer Dave, who has run since 2002 on the "Undecided Cow Party" ticket for governor of the state.

The songs tend to be weird, and are an eclectic mix of rare recordings, home recordings sent in, and the occasional Tom Lehrer song. Florence Foster Jenkins enjoyed an extremely brief resurgence of popularity on the show, and occasionally a more 'mainstream' oddball tune, such as "I Like Chinese" or "The Monster Mash" will be played.

In March 2008, Buster died, putting this show on hiatus, until later in the year.

References

  1. ↑ "Business People-Vermont: WDEV". Vermontguides.com. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  2. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/maria-von-trapp-member-of-sound-of-music-family-dies-1.2547976
  3. ↑ http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/12/0079849
  4. ↑ http://wdevradio.com/index-progs.asp

External links

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