WCTK (98.1 FM, "Cat Country 98.1") is a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

- formatted

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 ...

serving

Southern New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of ...

, with studios in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, and transmitter in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

. The station is owned by

Hall Communications Hall Communications, Inc. is a broadcasting company based in Lakeland, Florida. The company currently owns 17 radio stations in Polk County, Florida; eastern Connecticut; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Burlington, Vermont. History The company w ...

History

WCTK was originally WFMR and had an authorized power of 20 kilowatts. It went on the air December 9, 1946; during the inaugural program, Massachusetts governor

Maurice J. Tobin Maurice Joseph Tobin (May 22, 1901July 19, 1953) was an American politician serving as Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, the Governor of Massachusetts, and United States Secretary of Labor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and a liberal that ...

said that WFMR was the first new FM station to sign on in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1973, WFMR changed its callsign to WMYS, with an

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 ...

and

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. On July 28, 1989, the station switched formats to country followed by a call sign change to WCTK on August 24, 1989. 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 Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

metro. On February 1, 2019, WCTK began being simulcast on sister station

WPVD WPVD (1290 AM) is a public radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. It is owned by Rhode Island Public Radio. The station simulcasts WNPN 89.3 FM. WPVD transmits with 400 watts by day, 16 watts by night, using a one-tower omnidirectional a ...

(1450 AM) in

West Warwick, Rhode Island West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census. West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...

, after that station dropped its

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

affiliation. 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.

References

External links

* *
1948 list of FM radio stations, including WFMR
CTK Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 New Bedford, Massachusetts Mass media in Bristol County, Massachusetts 1946 establishments in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-radio-station-stub