WKRZ (98.5 FM, "98.5 KRZ") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Freeland, Pennsylvania Freeland is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was originally called Birbeckville, South Heberton, and Freehold. Freeland is south of Wilkes-Barre and northeast of Hazleton. It was incorporated as a borough on September ...

, and serving the

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Carbon ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. It has aired a Top 40/CHR

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

since 1980. The station is owned by

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

, through licensee Audacy License, LLC. WKRZ has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) of 8,700

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s. The station broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

; the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

programming of sister station

WGGY WGGY (101.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Froggy 101") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Scranton, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a country music format. WGGY uses HD Radio, and broadcasts an Adult Albu ...

(''Froggy 101'') is heard on its HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

and

Family Life Network The Family Life Network is a Christian radio network simulcasting via FM stations across Western and Central New York, as well as northern Pennsylvania from flagship station WCIK. It is owned and operated by the larger Family Life Ministries o ...

is heard on its HD3 digital subchannel. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

is located in Bear Creek Township at (). WKRZ programming is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

on WKRF (107.9 FM) in Tobyhanna, serving the

Stroudsburg Stroudsburg is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It lies within the Pocono Mountains, Poconos region, approximately five miles (8 km) from the Delaware Water Gap at the confluence ...

area of Pennsylvania and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

History

The station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

in 1948. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

was WBRE-FM, originally licensed to

. It was the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to WBRE (1480 AM, now

WYCK Wyck may refer to: * WYCK, a Pennsylvanian AM broadcasting radio station *Wyck, Hampshire, a village in England *Wyck House, a historic house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *Wyck (Maastricht) Wyck (; li, Wiek ) is a neighbourhood in Maastricht, ...

). The WBRE call letters stood for Baltimore Radio Exchange for the original owner, the Baltimore Family, Not Wilkes-BarRE like commonly thought. WBRE-AM-FM evolved through a number of radio formats and by the 1970s, was

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

. At first, the stations used

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's NIS (News and Information Service). When that was discontinued, it ran the all-news format with its own staff. WBRE-FM, up to that point, broadcast in FM mono since its start in 1948. The station's audience was loyal but the ratings were not great. WBRE-FM made a big change in 1980 when it was sold. The new owners added

FM stereo FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capa ...

, along with a format switch to

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

/ CHR music, and with the call sign change to the present WKRZ. WKRZ has been a Top 40 station since 1980, branded at first as ''98½ FM KRZ''. The station was sold in 1999 to

Entercom Communications Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

. Entercom received

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) approval in 2003 to move co-owned WAMT (103.1 FM, now

WILK-FM WILK-FM (103.1 MHz, "WILK Newsradio") is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Avoca, Pennsylvania. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WILK-FM extends its broadcast range throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania with three full-power repeaters: WILK ...

) from Freeland to Avoca. As a condition of the move, Entercom agreed to change the

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...

of WKRZ from Wilkes-Barre to Freeland due to FCC concerns about the "loss of local service" to Freeland because of the WAMT move. In practice, the only change was the legal

station identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...

. The studios remained in Wilkes-Barre and the transmitter remains in Bear Creek Township.

Stations

One full-power station

s the programming of WKRZ: This station was originally assigned the WPMR call sign on November 29, 1989. The call sign was changed to WPMR-FM on March 11, 1992 and was off the air but began a simulcast of WKRZ in 1995. Its call sign was changed to WKRF on May 15, 1995.

Signal note

WKRZ is short-spaced to

WYCR WYCR (98.5 FM, "Rocky 98.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve York-Hanover, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Forever Media, through licensee FM Radio Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts a classic rock format. Its broadcast tower ...

''Rocky 98.5'' (licensed to serve

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Pennsylvania) as they operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is 110 miles as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

rules is 150 miles.

References

External links

* * * {{CHR-T40 Pennsylvania KRZ Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 Audacy, Inc. radio stations

History

Stations

Signal note

See also

References

External links