WATD-FM (95.9
FM) is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
carrying local news and features for the
South Shore of
(comprising
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
and
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
counties), with an
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
music format. Founded and owned by local entrepreneur Edward Perry and licensed to
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census.
It includes the census-designated places (CDPs) of Marshfield, Marshfield Hills, Ocean Bluf ...
, the station went live on December 6, 1977.
Programming
WATD-FM airs a news program in
morning drive
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
on weekdays, with features from
AP Radio
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
. AC hits from the 1960s-today predominate in the midday hours and in afternoon drive on weekdays, while
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
, alternative,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, and
talk shows
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
fill the rest of the programming week. WATD-FM's midday and afternoon music programming featured a
classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...
format until
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, when the addition of current music shifted the format to adult contemporary. It was later added to the
Nielsen BDS
Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owned ...
AC indicator panel. WATD-FM is one of three AC stations in the
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
market, along with
WMJX
WMJX (106.7 FM) – branded Magic 106.7 – is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. The WMJX studios are ...
and
WPLM-FM
WPLM-FM (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM, "Easy 99.1") is an adult contemporary music station licensed to Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is owned by Plymouth Rock Broadcasting Co. and has a sister AM broadcasting, AM station by the WPLM (AM), same callsign. ...
. The station is currently being simulcast by
WBMS (AM)
WBMS (1460 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station licensed to Brockton, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Edward Perry, Jr. through licensee Marshfield Broadcasting Co., Inc. and is currently simulcasting sister station WATD-FM in Marshfield ...
1460 and its FM translator station in W266DA (101.1)
Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of ...
, a station which Marshfield Broadcasting acquired in 2015 and held the call letters WATD (AM) from 2016 to 2019.
[ ]
WATD-FM also carries live coverage of
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, i ...
football and men's basketball games as well as live broadcasts of local high-school football and boys' basketball games involving high schools in the station's coverage area. WATD-FM has previously broadcast some high-school hockey playoff games over the course of many years.
WATD aired blues for 26 years nightly on "Wide World of Blues" with Peter Black. The program aired for the final time on July 20, 2018.
References
External links
*
*
ATD-FM
Radio stations established in 1977
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Mass media in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Full service radio stations in the United States
{{Massachusetts-radio-station-stub