WACE (730 kHz) is a currently silent

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...

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 radi ...

broadcasting a mixed Christian radio and infomercial

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 was compelle ...

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 ...

Chicopee, Massachusetts Chicopee ( ) is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 55,560, making it the second-largest city in Western Massachusetts after Springfield. ...

, United States, the station served the Springfield

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 ...

and has been permitted to identify itself as "Chicopee-Springfield" since 1969. The station was owned by Carter Broadcasting.

History

On December 1, 1946, WACE 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 ...

the air. It was owned by the Regional Broadcasting Company on Chicopee Street in Chicopee. WACE was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, broadcasting at 1,000

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 ...

s by day. But because

AM 730 730 AM is a Mexican and Canadian clear-channel frequency. XEX Mexico City and CKAC Montreal are the Class A stations on 730 kHz. The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 730 kHz: Argentina * Radio Concepto in Buenos A ...

is a clear channel frequency, reserved for CKAC in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

and

XEX XEX may refer to Radio stations *XEX-TDT (channel 14, virtual 5) in Altzomoni, Méx. *XEX-AM, 730 kHz in Mexico City *XEX-FM, 101.7 MHz in Mexico City Other uses * Xor–encrypt–xor (XEX), a (tweakable) mode of operation of a block cipher. ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, WACE had to sign-off at sunset to prevent interference. In the 1960s the power was increased to 5,000 watts but still as a daytime-only station, though its pre-sunrise power of 8 watts enabled the station to be heard as far away as Hartford, Connecticut, due to the transmitter's location on the banks of the Connecticut River. (In 1986 the station was allowed to operate at 8 watts at night as well.) At full power the signal could be heard as distantly as Rhode Island. During the 1970s, the station broadcast a popular

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 ...

format. Among its personalities were Charlie (Ahl) Day, later of

WCBS-FM WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Man ...

in New York and

WOMC WOMC (104.3 FM, "104.3 WOMC") is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan. It airs a classic hits radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The transmitter and studios are both located on American Drive off 11 Mile Road in Southfield, M ...

in Detroit, and Mike Adams, for many years a popular sports-talk radio and TV host in Boston. The station also featured a 3-hour morning news block anchored by Day and Don Yankee. In 1977, Ace Broadcasting bought the station. As music listening shifted to FM radio, the new owners tried an all-news radio format, as a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

. The news format didn't last very long and by 1980, WACE was airing religious programming, where national preachers bought blocks of time on the station to discuss their faith and seek donations. On May 1, 2022, WACE went off the air, and filed a STA to relocate to a new transmitter site, which will be on the tower that WMAS-FM, WHLL and W251CT uses. In August 2022, Holy Family Communications, a Roman Catholic broadcaster operating as

The Station of the Cross The Station of the Cross is a network of Catholic radio stations owned and operated by Holy Family Communications. It is an affiliate of the EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American ba ...

, agreed to purchase the station.Station sales week of 8/19
/ref>

References

External links

{{Religious Radio Stations in Massachusetts

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Radio stations established in 1946 Chicopee, Massachusetts 1946 establishments in Massachusetts