WKRZ

WKRZ (98.5 MHz, "98.5 KRZ") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Freeland, Pennsylvania, and serving the Wilkes-Barre - Scranton - Northeastern Pennsylvania radio market. It has aired a Top 40/CHR radio format since 1980. The station is owned by Entercom Communications, through licensee Entercom Wilkes-Barre Scranton, LLC.

WKRZ
CityFreeland, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaWilkes-Barre - Scranton - Northeastern Pennsylvania
Frequency98.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding98.5 KRZ
SloganToday's Best Music
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatTop 40 - CHR
SubchannelsHD2: WGGY simulcast (Country) "Froggy 101"
Ownership
OwnerEntercom Communications
(Entercom License, LLC)
WAAF, WGGY, WILK, WILK-FM, WMQX, WODS
History
First air date
1948 (1948) (as WBRE-FM)
Former call signs
WBRE-FM (1948–1980)
Call sign meaning
We're KRaZy!
Technical information
Facility ID34379
ClassB
ERP8,700 watts (analog)
348 watts (digital)[1]
HAAT357 meters (1,171 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°11′56.3″N 75°49′4.7″W
Translator(s)W280FJ (103.9 MHz, Bloomsburg)
Repeater(s)WKRF 107.9 Tobyhanna
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.985krz.com

WKRZ has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 8,700 watts. It broadcasts using HD Radio. The country music programming of sister station WGGY Froggy 101 is heard on its HD2 digital subchannel. The transmitter tower is located in Bear Creek Township at (41°11′56.0″N 75°49′5.0″W).[2] WKRZ programming is simulcast on 107.9 WKRF Tobyhanna, serving the Stroudsburg area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

History

The station first signed on in 1948.[3] The call sign was WBRE-FM, originally licensed to Wilkes-Barre. It was the sister station to WBRE AM 1480 (now WYCK).[4] The WBRE call letters stood for Wilkes BarrE. WBRE-AM-FM evolved through a number of radio formats and by the 1970s was all-news.[5] At first the stations used NBC's NIS (News and Information Service). But 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.[6]

WBRE-FM made a big change in 1980 when it was sold. The new owners added FM stereo, along with a format switch to Top 40/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 "The New 98 & A ½ FM KRZ". The station was sold in 1999 to Entercom Communications.[7]

Entercom received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval in 2003 to move co-owned 103.1 WAMT (now WILK-FM) from Freeland to Avoca. As a condition of the move, Entercom agreed to change the city of license 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.[8] The studios remained in Wilkes-Barre and the transmitter remains in Bear Creek Township.

Stations

One full-power station simulcasts the programming of WKRZ:

Call sign Frequency City of license Facility ID ERP
W		 Height
m (ft)		 Class Transmitter coordinates Service contour
WKRF107.9 FMTobyhanna, Pennsylvania14643830267.7 meters (878 ft)A41°02′39.6″N 75°22′37.7″WCovers Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

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[9] and was off the air but began a simulcast of WKRZ in 1995.[10] Its call sign was changed to WKRF on May 15, 1995.[9]

See also

References
  1. "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. April 9, 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  2. "FM Query Results for WKRZ". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  3. "U. S. FM Stations as of 1948". Archived from the original on 2004-07-29. Retrieved 2004-07-29.
  4. "U. S. AM stations as of 1946". Archived from the original on 1999-01-28. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  5. Northeastern Pennsylvania Radio Answers
  6. "ROCKING LOCAL AIRWAVES MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO, A TEAM OF WACKY RADIO PERSONALITIES LED WKRZ-FM TO BECOME THE AREA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL FM STATION". Times Leader. Wilkes-Barre, PA. April 8, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  7. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page D-478
  8. "NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush". Archived from the original on 2003-12-09. Retrieved 2003-12-09.
  9. "Call Sign History [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  10. Stark, Phyllis (April 29, 1995). "Vox Jox". Billboard. 107 (17): 92.
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