WCTL is a Christian radio station on
106.3 FM
The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on FM broadcasting, FM frequency 106.3 MHz:
Argentina
* Aleluya in Buenos Aires
* Centro (Oberá), Centro in Oberá, Misiones
* Gamba (radio station), Gamba in Córdoba
* Güemes (ra ...
in
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
. The station is owned and operated by Inspiration Time, Inc.
History
The 106.3 license began operations as WBVB, licensed to
Union City, on April 23, 1967. The call letters came from the original owners, William E. Baker and Virgil A. Brown.
The four-month-old FM outlet would go through a major transformation when a group of 21 Christian businessmen and pastors, organized as Inspiration Time, Inc., became a part-owner of the Bee Bee Broadcasting Company on October 3, 1967
(with FCC approval obtained in early 1968); when Inspiration Time bought the station outright in 1971, it changed the call letters to the present WCTL on February 1, 1972; a power increase from 435 to 3,000 watts followed that April. A translator in Erie was first established in 1978.
The station grew again in the early 1990s when it increased its power to 6,000 watts. A translator was also briefly put into service in
Oil City before it was displaced by a
new full-service FM station. More translators were built in North East,
Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
, and
Jamestown, New York
Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamestown is the largest pop ...
; the Warren and Jamestown translators, as well as
WYVL
WYVL is a radio station airing a Christian Contemporary Music format, licensed to Youngsville, Pennsylvania, broadcasting on 88.5 MHz FM. The station is owned by Calvary Chapel of Russell, Pennsylvania.
WYVL also airs blocks of Christian Ta ...
in
Youngsville, a station that had been donated to Inspiration Time by original WBVB owner Baker at his death, were sold to the Calvary Church of Russell in 2012 and now operate as a separate Christian radio station.
In 2017, in conjunction with WCTL's 50th anniversary, Inspiration Time conducted a capital fundraising campaign to fund the purchase of radio station
WZTE
WZTE is a Broadcasting, broadcast radio station licensed to Union City, Pennsylvania, serving Erie County, Pennsylvania, Erie County, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Crawford County, and Warren County, Pennsylvania, Warren County in Pennsylvania a ...
from
Mercyhurst University
(Seize the day)
, former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012)
, established =
, type = Private university
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)
, endowment = $31.8 million
, faculty = 136 full-time
, administrat ...
in order to change its community of license to Union City. By maintaining a station licensed to Union City, WCTL would be able to change its city of license to Erie and move its signal closer to the population center of
Erie County. The FCC granted construction permits for the project; on January 2, 2019 construction was completed, and program testing began on the new WCTL facility near the intersection of
US 19
U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie.
The highway's southern ...
and
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
.
Since the mid-1980s, WCTL has provided live coverage of high school football contests as a service to the community, expanding from single team coverage to multiple schools in 1993.
Translators
WCTL has translators in towns in either direction along the shore of Lake Erie. The Girard translator is owned by Girard Alliance Church.
References
External links
*
*
{{Erie Radio
CTL
1967 establishments in Pennsylvania
Radio stations established in 1967