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 1992[1] |
Format | News/talk, radio reading service |
Power |
2,200 watts day 940 watts critical hours 2 watts night |
Class | D |
Facility ID | 63403 |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°55′26.00″N 70°56′7.00″W / 41.9238889°N 70.9352778°W |
Callsign meaning | Virginia B. Fairbanks, wife of owner of unrelated WVBF (now WROR-FM)[2] |
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.[3] 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 in March 1992.[1] Original owner Steven J. Callahan sold the station to Metro South Broadcasting, owner of WMSX in Brockton, on January 7, 1993.[4] The new owners dropped WCEG's music programming in favor of a simulcast of WMSX; separate programming was subsequently introduced in Portuguese.[5] However, the station had been silent for several years by 1996, when Callahan reached a deal to repurchase the station.[6][7] Soon after reassuming control on January 5, 1997,[6] Callahan brought WCEG back on the air with radio reading service programming;[5] the call letters were changed to WVBF on March 21, 1997.[8] 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.[9] In 2006, the station's daytime power was increased to 2,200 watts.[10][11] 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.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bickelhaupt, Susan (May 15, 1992). "The little AM station that thinks it can". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
- ↑ "WVBF Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ "Application Search Details (1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fybush, Scott (January 26, 1997). "Back From the Dead...". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Application Search Details (2)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ Fybush, Scott (November 19, 1996). "MusicAmerica Returns". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ "WVBF Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ Fybush, Scott (May 13, 2002). "North East RadioWatch". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ "APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST STATION". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. February 2, 2004. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Application Search Details (3)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ Winokoor, Charles (August 6, 2007). "Local talk radio gets 2nd wind". Taunton Daily Gazette. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
External links
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WVBF
- Radio-Locator Information on WVBF
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WVBF
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