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WSRS

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Coordinates:42°18′36″N71°54′11″W/ 42.310°N 71.903°W/42.310; -71.903
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For the radio stations in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, formerly known as WSRS and WSRS-FM, seeWEREandWKRK-FM.
WSRS
Broadcast areaCentral Massachusetts
Frequency96.1MHz(HD Radio)
Branding96-1 SRS
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
SubchannelsHD2:WTAGsimulcast (news/talk)
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Ownership
Owner
WTAG
History
First air date
June 17, 1940;84 years ago(1940-06-17)
Former call signs
  • W1XTG (1940–1944)
  • WTAG-FM (1944–1963)
Former frequencies
  • 43.4 MHz (1940–1944)
  • 46.1 MHz (1944–1946)
  • 102.7 MHz (1946–1947)
Call signmeaning
"Worcester's Stereo Radio Station"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35225
ClassB
ERP16,500 watts
HAAT263 meters (863 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
42°18′36″N71°54′11″W/ 42.310°N 71.903°W/42.310; -71.903
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live(viaiHeartRadio)
Website961srs.iheart

WSRS(96.1FM) – branded96-1 SRS– is acommercialradio stationlicensedtoWorcester, Massachusetts,and servingCentral Massachusetts.Owned byiHeartMedia, Inc.,thetransmittersite and studios are located in the Worcester suburb ofPaxton.WSRS broadcasts anadult contemporaryformat, switching toChristmas musicfor much of November and December. The station is the localnetwork affiliatefor theDelilahandEllen Kprograms.

Besides a standardanalog transmission,WSRS broadcasts over twoHD Radiochannels, and streams online viaiHeartRadio.

History

[edit]
1941 General Electric advertisement featuring W1XTG facilities.[2]

WSRS debuted, as experimental FM station W1XTG, on June 17, 1940, at 43.4 MHz. It was owned by theWorcester Telegram & Gazette,which also owned AM stationWTAG,and W1XTG's initial schedule duplicated WTAG from 6:30 a.m. to midnight.[3]W1XTG's transmitter was originally co-located at WTAG's transmitter site inHolden, Massachusetts,later moving to Mount Asnebumskit inPaxton.[4]

In May 1940, theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) had announced the establishment, effective January 1, 1941, of an FM band operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz.[5]The Worcester Telegram Publishing Company filed an application for commercial operation in August, originally for 43.1 MHz, which was modified to 46.1 MHz the following June. However, there was a delay in receiving an authorization, after the FCC began an investigation whether newspaper ownership of radio stations should be restricted.[6][7]Meanwhile, operations continued on 43.4 MHz under the experimental W1XTG authorization. The station's continued schedule of 6:30 a.m. to midnight was "claimed to be the longest FM schedule in the country".[8]

At this time FM was still a new, unproven technology. The station owners put on a series of promotional demonstrations, in conjunction with receiver manufacturersGeneral Electric,Stromberg-Carlson,andZenith.[9][10]The outbreak of World War II resulted in a shortage of available male employees, and W1XTG began to promote the fact that it was now operating with an all-female staff.[11][12]W1XTG's schedule in early 1944 was listed as 8 to 10 p.m. daily, plus 8 to 11 a.m and 3:00 to 5:30 p.m on weekdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. on weekends.[12]

In late 1943, although the FCC's newspaper cross-ownership review was still ongoing, the 1940 application for commercial operation was provisionally approved. Additionally, a waiver was issued to allow the construction to precede, despite a general wartime restriction on most station upgrades.[7]On January 30, 1944, the station's call sign was changed to WTAG-FM, and its frequency assignment to 46.1 MHz.[13]

The FCC later reassigned the original FM band frequencies to other services, and ordered existing stations to move to a new band from 88 to 106 MHz, which was later expanded to 88–108 MHz. During a transition period from the original FM "low band" to the new "high band", some stations for a time broadcast simultaneously on both their old and new frequencies. In 1946, WTAG-FM was authorized to broadcast on 102.7 MHz, which was changed the next year to 96.1 MHz.[14]

WTAG-FM joined theWQXR Networkon July 19, 1959, carrying 65 hours a week of its programming.[15]The station began a separatebeautiful musicformat around 1960, playing mostly instrumentalcover versionsof popular songs, along withHollywoodandBroadwayshow tunes in quarter-hour sweeps. It also would play an occasional vocal selection (often sung by a chorus).

Knight Quality Stations purchased WTAG-FM from theTelegram & Gazettefor $50,000 in 1963; the sale separated the station from WTAG, but brought it into common ownership withWEIMinFitchburgand several New Hampshire stations.[16]As the newspaper retained ownership of WTAG, Knight was required to change WTAG-FM'scall sign.With the recent advent of FM stereo broadcasting, the station took the call letters WSRS, for "Worcester's Stereo Radio Station",[4]concurrent with the sale's completion on December 30, 1963.[14]In 1987, Knight would sell WEIM[17]and purchase WTAG from theTelegram & Gazette.[18]

WSRS continued to offer an instrumental basedeasy listeningformat well into the 1980s, when it began mi xing softer pop songs into the format. By 1982, the station was playing one vocalist per quarter-hour. Half wereadult contemporary/baby boomerartists, and the rest wereadult standardssingers. By 1984, the station was about half vocal and half instrumental. In 1985, WSRS evolved into more of a vocal-based easy listening format with the instrumentals eliminated, except for hits such as "Music Box Dancer","Chariots of Fire","Rise"and"Theme from A Summer Place".

In 1986, WSRS cut back on standards artists and evolved into more of asoft adult contemporarysound. By 1989, more uptempo artists were heard, along withMotownand other pop 1960s hits. The DJs also began adding more personality to their presentations. WSRS still played almost no current music.

By 1994, WSRS had made the transition to a mainstream adult contemporary station. In 1997, WSRS and WTAG, along with Knight Quality's other New England stations, were sold to Capstar Broadcasting Partners;[19][20]upon assuming control in January 1998, the stations were operated by Capstar's Atlantic Star Communications subsidiary.[21]In 1999, as a result of a merger with Chancellor Media (Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furstwas a major shareholder in both Capstar and Chancellor),[22]AMFM Inc. became the owner of WTAG and WSRS.Clear Channel Communicationsassumed ownership of the station in a 2000 merger with AMFM.[23][24]In 2014, Clear Channel was renamediHeartMedia, Inc.

Starting in the early 2000s, WSRS switched to all-Christmas musicevery mid-November, lasting until Christmas Day. After Christmas 2015, the station re-branded from "96.1 WSRS" to "96-1 SRS" (no longer saying the decimal point or the W).

HD Radio

[edit]

In 2004, WSRS began broadcasting in theHD Radiohybrid format, simulcasting the analog audio on its HD1 subchannel. In 2007, it added "Pride Radio",a Clear Channel-produceddance musicservice aimed at theLGBTQcommunity, to the WSRS-HD2 subchannel. In 2009, Pride Radio was temporarily replaced by aclassic hitsformat for a couple of months, then returned for a while. In the early 2010s, the HD2 subchannel began carrying a 1980s classic hits sound.

Pride Radio is now heard on the HD2 subchannel of co-ownedWBWLinBoston.[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WSRS".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^General Electric advertisement(featuring W1XTG),Broadcasting,May 5, 1941, page 56.
  3. ^"Worcester FM Fulltime",Broadcasting,July 1, 1940, page 65.
  4. ^ab"Tower Site of the Week: Asnebumskit Hill (and Little Asnebumskit), Paxton, Mass.by Scott Fybush, March 13–20, 2003.ArchivedOctober 30, 2007, at theWayback Machine
  5. ^"FCC Order No. 67",Federal Register,May 25, 1940, page 2011.
  6. ^"FCC Starts Newspaper Ownership Drive",Broadcasting,March 24, 1941, page 7.
  7. ^ab"FCC Grants FM CP to Newspaper",Broadcasting,December 13, 1943, page 12.
  8. ^"WTAG's FM Station",Broadcasting,March 10, 1941, page 46.
  9. ^"Spot News: Worcester",FM,December 1941, page 20.
  10. ^"FM and Sweaters",Broadcasting,November 24, 1941, page 20.
  11. ^"Behind the Mike: Virginia Atkinson',Broadcasting,December 20, 1943, page 44.
  12. ^ab"F - M: W1XTG"by Harold Schrock,DX Almanac,Number 1, 1944, page 34.
  13. ^"WTAG-FM Now Commercial",Broadcasting,January 31, 1944, page 63.
  14. ^abFCC History Cards for WSRS(FCC.gov)
  15. ^"Media reports"(PDF).Broadcasting.July 27, 1959. p. 56.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  16. ^"Changing hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.October 21, 1963. p. 60.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  17. ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.May 25, 1987. pp. 73–74.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  18. ^"Changing Hands"(PDF).Broadcasting.June 15, 1987. p. 64.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  19. ^"Stations in the U.S.: Massachusetts: Worcester",Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook(2000 edition), page D-217.
  20. ^"Cash-Rich Capstar Continues Capitalization"(PDF).Radio & Records.April 25, 1997. p. 6.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  21. ^"Capstar buys New England radio stations".Austin Business Journal.January 9, 1998.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  22. ^Littleton, Cynthia (August 28, 1998)."Chancellor, Capstar ink merger".Variety.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  23. ^"Clear Channel, AMFM deal".CNN Money.October 4, 1999.RetrievedMarch 28,2022.
  24. ^"Clear Channel brings AMFM into focus".Variety.August 30, 2000.RetrievedApril 8,2022.
  25. ^"PrideRadio".Archivedfrom the original on December 24, 2019.RetrievedDecember 20,2019.
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