WCTK (98.1 FM, "Cat Country 98.1") is a country-formatted radio station in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The station covers much of southeastern New England, with studios in Providence, Rhode Island, and transmitter located south of New Bedford's downtown. The station is owned by Hall Communications.
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| Broadcast area | South Coast; Providence, Rhode Island; Cape Cod |
| Frequency | 98.1 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Cat Country 98.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Subchannels | HD2: Classic hits (simulcast of WNBH) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Hall Communications |
| WNBH | |
| History | |
First air date | December 9, 1946[1] (as WFMR) |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 25869 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 44,000 watts |
| HAAT | 159 meters (522 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°37′23″N 70°55′05″W / 41.623°N 70.918°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | catcountry.com |
History
editWCTK was originally WFMR, and had an authorized power of 20 kilowatts. It went on the air December 9, 1946;[1] during the inaugural program, Massachusetts governor Maurice J. Tobin said that WFMR was the first new FM station to sign on in New England after World War II.[3] It became WNBH-FM on November 10, 1954,[4] matching sister station WNBH (1340 AM). On September 17, 1973, WNBH-FM changed its callsign to WMYS,[4] with an oldies and classic hits format. On July 28, 1989, the station switched formats to country followed by a call sign change to WCTK on August 24, 1989.[5] First known as "Country 98.1 WCTK", the branding was changed to the current "Cat Country 98.1" in 1994. In 1997, the station moved its studios from New Bedford to the Roland Building in Providence to concentrate on fully serving the Providence Arbitron metro.
On February 1, 2019, WCTK began being simulcast on sister station WPVD (1450 AM) in West Warwick, Rhode Island, after that station dropped its ESPN Radio affiliation.[6] The station also began broadcasting in HD, with a simulcast of sister station WNBH's newly-launched classic hits format (Big 101.3) on its HD2 sub-channel.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-390. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCTK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Gov. Tobin Participates In WFMR Inauguration" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. December 16, 1946. p. 34. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
- ^ a b "WMYS (WCTK) history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ "Call Sign History". FCC. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
- ^ Venta, Lance (February 11, 2019). "Big 101.3 Brings Classic Hits To New Bedford". RadioInsight. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (February 11, 2019). "NorthEast Radio Watch 2/11/2019: Goodbye, Gary". Fybush.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.(subscription required)
External links
edit- Official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 25869 (WCTK) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WCTK in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- 1948 list of FM radio stations, including WFMR
