WVBF

WVBF
City Middleborough Center, Massachusetts
Broadcast area Middleborough/Taunton
Branding AM 1530 WVBF
Slogan Hometown Talk Radio
Frequency 1530 kHz
First air date March 31, 1992[1][2]
Format News/talk, radio reading service
Power 5,000 watts day
940 watts critical hours
4 watts night
Class D
Facility ID 63403
Transmitter coordinates 41°52′56″N 71°3′50″W / 41.88222°N 71.06389°W / 41.88222; -71.06389
(day and night)
41°55′26″N 70°56′7″W / 41.92389°N 70.93528°W / 41.92389; -70.93528
(critical hours)
Callsign meaning Virginia B. Fairbanks, wife of owner of unrelated WVBF (now WROR-FM)[3]
Former callsigns WCEG (1992–1997)
Affiliations IRN-USA Radio News
Massachusetts Reading Network
Owner Steven J. Callahan
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.hometowntalkradio.com

WVBF (1530 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Middleborough Center, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the Middleborough/Taunton area. The station is currently owned by Steven J. Callahan.[4] WVBF carries the Massachusetts Reading Network when not airing local programming. IRN/USA Radio News plays at the top of the hour during locally produced programs.

History

The station went on the air as WCEG on March 31, 1992.[1][2] Original owner Steven J. Callahan sold the station to Metro South Broadcasting, owner of WMSX in Brockton, on January 7, 1993.[5] The new owners dropped WCEG's music programming in favor of a simulcast of WMSX; separate programming was subsequently introduced in Portuguese.[6] However, the station had been silent for several years by 1996, when Callahan reached a deal to repurchase the station.[7][8] Soon after reassuming control on January 5, 1997,[7] Callahan brought WCEG back on the air with radio reading service programming;[6] the call letters were changed to WVBF on March 21, 1997.[9] The WVBF call sign had previously been used by 105.7 FM in Framingham from 1971 until 1993, while broadcasting top 40 and adult contemporary formats; that station is now WROR-FM.

From the station's inception, WCEG/WVBF only broadcast during daytime hours with 1,000 watts;[1] however, 2-watt nighttime service was inaugurated in 2002.[10] In 2006, the station's daytime power was increased to 2,200 watts.[11][12] On August 7, 2007, WVBF began to air several local talk shows from studios in Taunton; these shows moved from WPEP (1570 AM), which was in the process of closing down to accommodate a power increase at WNSH in Beverly. The radio reading service programming continues when talk programming does not air.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bickelhaupt, Susan (May 15, 1992). "The little AM station that thinks it can". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "WCEG reception verification" (PDF). April 1, 1992. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  4. ↑ "WVBF Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  5. ↑ "Application Search Details (1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Fybush, Scott (January 26, 1997). "Back From the Dead...". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Application Search Details (2)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  8. ↑ Fybush, Scott (November 19, 1996). "MusicAmerica Returns". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  9. ↑ "WVBF Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  10. ↑ Fybush, Scott (May 13, 2002). "North East RadioWatch". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  11. ↑ "APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST STATION". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. February 2, 2004. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Application Search Details (3)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  13. ↑ Winokoor, Charles (August 6, 2007). "Local talk radio gets 2nd wind". Taunton Daily Gazette. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
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