The Rock Radio Network is a 6-station AM and FM radio network out of San Juan,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. It broadcasts Christian biblical teaching in a bilingual format. The Rock consists of the stations

WBMJ WBMJ (1190 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. and features programming from Salem Commu ...

/ W258DT in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

WIVV WIVV (1370 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Vieques, Puerto Rico, it serves part of Puerto Rico, large areas of the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles. WIVV was the first-ever ...

/ W280GC in

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...

, and

WCGB WCGB (1060 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format as part of The Rock Radio Network. Licensed to Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. and ...

/ W293DP in

Juana Díaz Juana is a Spanish female first name. It is the feminine form of Juan (English John), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Janet, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. Juanita is a common variant. The name Juana may refer to: People *Juana I (14 ...

, Puerto Rico. The Rock is owned and operated by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc.

History

;WIVV Days The Rock Radio Network began as the missionary radio station

(AM-1370). In 1952, the missionary couple Don and Ruth Luttrell moved to

, Puerto Rico."CEM: 40 Years and Beyond" (Anniversary Booklet: CEM, Inc.). Don Luttrell was a pioneer missionary pilot and evangelist. When they arrived, their main purpose was to evangelize by means of rallies and Bible study courses. As time passed, the Luttrells felt the need for a more effective tool that could reach the Caribbean more quickly. In 1956, they started what became the first full-time Christian radio station in Puerto Rico. It was named WIVV, or "West Indies Voice of Victory," CEM Archives, San Juan PR because its intended coverage area included the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

. WIVV broadcast a mixture of prerecorded Bible teaching from the USA and local sources, along with music, news, and weather reports. In time, WIVV and its associated ministries consolidated into what became known as Calvary Evangelistic Mission. ;WBMJ: The Rock Radio Network

(AM-1190) was founded in the 1960s by the comedian and musician

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

.The early WBMJ San Juan, Puerto Rico 1190
/ref> In its early years,

was a secular music station. Passing through different hands and managements, it eventually rose to become one of the top rock-music stations in the island of Puerto Rico. To its fans, WBMJ was known affectionately as "The Rock." In 1985, WBMJ passed into the hands of Calvary Evangelistic Mission. Shortly thereafter, its programming changed to an all-Christian teaching format with a mixture of live and prerecorded material similar to was what already broadcasting on

. With two radio stations, Calvary Evangelistic Mission made the decision to broadcast mostly from WBMJ and to combine the two stations into one radio network. After an on-air contest to adopt a new name, listeners chose the moniker "The Rock" for the new network. The name became a bridge from WBMJ's history as a rock station and Jesus Christ's claim of himself as the Rock in Matthew 16:18. ;WCGB

(AM-1060) was founded in 1967 by Grace Broadcasters, Inc. The station was built in Juana Díaz. WCGB was an all-Spanish station with a Christian emphasis, but slightly secular in programming. For example, the station covered local sports, news, and politics, and it aired secular music. Yet the management also made sure that every hour of programming contained something with a religious context. For many years, the management of The Rock had desired to reach the Western side of Puerto Rico and Ponce. In 2004, Grace Broadcasters sold WCGB to Calvary Evangelistic Mission. When WCGB joined The Rock, its programming changed to a bilingual teaching format almost identical to what was already airing on

and

. Most of the programming today on WCGB originates from The Rock's main studios in

. However, WCGB retains a four-hour bloc of its own programming every weekday morning between the hours of 9 AM to 1 PM. This programming can be listened to live on a separate live stream through the Network's website.

The Rock Today

Today, The Rock Radio Network is the only

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

radio network in

. Its programming is split between English during the morning and daytime, and Spanish during the evening hours. The Rock airs a mixture of Christian teaching and family-centered programs, along with Christian music and

Salem Radio Network Salem Radio Network is a United States-based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group. Network information Salem Rad ...

Satellite News. It airs a combination of well-known Christian figures such as Tony Evans (The Urban Alternative),

Charles Stanley Charles Frazier Stanley (born 1932) is Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after serving as senior pastor for 49 years. He is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries, which widely broadcasts his sermons through te ...

(In Touch),

Luis Palau Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, and

Nancy Leigh DeMoss Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (born September 3, 1958), also known as Nancy Leigh DeMoss, is a bible teacher and public speaker. In 2015, DeMoss married best-selling author and a former president of Thomas Nelson Publishers Robert Wolgemuth. References ...

(Revive Our Hearts). Also, The Rock actively seeks local program producers in English and in Spanish that meet its stated purpose. These programs include the live Saturday-night Spanish program "Pulpito Reformado" with Pastor Carlos Cruz Moya, and the English program "Comfort Ye My People" with local pastor Jason Dennett, among many others. With this mix of programming, the network serves Puerto Ricans that speak Spanish as a first language, as well as the large community of Puerto Ricans who are fluently bilingual. In addition, The Rock touches the strong presence of English-speaking Americans, Europeans, and other ethnic groups that live and vacation in Puerto Rico.

serves the US and British

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

, which are primarily English speaking. The Rock has been upgrading its studio and transmitter facilities. 2007 saw a new transmitter for WCGB and a new WinJock automation system at the hub in San Juan. In 2008, The Rock was just finishing an ambitious overhaul of

, with a new transmitter and a new building on Vieques. Recently, The Rock added all-Spanish programming Saturday nights. The Network also expanded its weekday Spanish programming from 12:00 midnight to 1:30 a.m. In 2020 - 2021, The Rock began broadcasting on the FM dial, growing to three FM repeater frequencies by early 2022. The repeaters broadcast the same programming as their respective stations. In addition, The Rock makes all its local programming available for free download through the Media Center on its website. In 2016 the ministry launched a mobile app for the Android and iOS platforms that contains all the Media Center content, as well as the live streams. The Rock has increased its web presence through podcasting on platforms like iTunes and through making web-exclusive content to complement its on-air programming.

Funding

The Rock Radio Network is a division of Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. (CEM), which is a 501(c)(3) IRS registered nonprofit. The Rock is also supported by donations, which come in several ways. First, some of the program support the costs associated with their airtime. CEM accepts donations from listeners, friends, outside groups like churches and businesses, and estates. The Rock holds an annual "Sharathon" fundraiser, which supplies a small portion of the annual budget.Calvary Evangelistic Mission "News and Quotes" Issue May, 2010 , Sent to all CEM donors

References

External links

The Rock Radio Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Radio Network Radio stations in San Juan, Puerto Rico Christian radio stations in the United States