WVBF

WVBF
City of license Middleborough Center, Massachusetts
Broadcast area Middleborough/Taunton
Branding AM 1530 WVBF
Slogan Hometown Talk Radio
Frequency 1530 kHz
First air date March 31, 1992[1][2]
Format News/talk, radio reading service
Power 5,000 watts day
940 watts critical hours
4 watts night
Class D
Facility ID 63403
Transmitter coordinates 41°52′56″N 71°3′50″W / 41.88222°N 71.06389°W / 41.88222; -71.06389
(day and night)
41°55′26″N 70°56′7″W / 41.92389°N 70.93528°W / 41.92389; -70.93528
(critical hours)
Callsign meaning Virginia B. Fairbanks, wife of owner of unrelated WVBF (now WROR-FM)[3]
Former callsigns WCEG (1992–1997)
Affiliations IRN-USA Radio News
Massachusetts Reading Network
Owner Steven J. Callahan
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.hometowntalkradio.com

WVBF (1530 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Middleborough Center, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the Middleborough/Taunton area. The station is currently owned by Steven J. Callahan.[4] WVBF carries the Massachusetts Reading Network when not airing local programming. IRN/USA Radio News plays at the top of the hour during locally produced programs.

History

The station went on the air as WCEG on March 31, 1992.[1][2] Original owner Steven J. Callahan sold the station to Metro South Broadcasting, owner of WMSX in Brockton, on January 7, 1993.[5] The new owners dropped WCEG's music programming in favor of a simulcast of WMSX; separate programming was subsequently introduced in Portuguese.[6] However, the station had been silent for several years by 1996, when Callahan reached a deal to repurchase the station.[7][8] Soon after reassuming control on January 5, 1997,[7] Callahan brought WCEG back on the air with radio reading service programming;[6] the call letters were changed to WVBF on March 21, 1997.[9] The WVBF call sign had previously been used by 105.7 FM in Framingham from 1971 until 1993, while broadcasting top 40 and adult contemporary formats; that station is now WROR-FM.

From the station's inception, WCEG/WVBF only broadcast during daytime hours with 1,000 watts;[1] however, 2-watt nighttime service was inaugurated in 2002.[10] In 2006, the station's daytime power was increased to 2,200 watts.[11][12] On August 7, 2007, WVBF began to air several local talk shows from studios in Taunton; these shows moved from WPEP (1570 AM), which was in the process of closing down to accommodate a power increase at WNSH in Beverly. The radio reading service programming continues when talk programming does not air.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bickelhaupt, Susan (May 15, 1992). "The little AM station that thinks it can". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "WCEG reception verification" (PDF). April 1, 1992. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  3. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  4. "WVBF Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  5. "Application Search Details (1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Fybush, Scott (January 26, 1997). "Back From the Dead...". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Application Search Details (2)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  8. Fybush, Scott (November 19, 1996). "MusicAmerica Returns". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  9. "WVBF Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  10. Fybush, Scott (May 13, 2002). "North East RadioWatch". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  11. "APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST STATION". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. February 2, 2004. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  12. "Application Search Details (3)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  13. Winokoor, Charles (August 6, 2007). "Local talk radio gets 2nd wind". Taunton Daily Gazette. Retrieved June 30, 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, January 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.