WKRZ

WKRZ
Freeland, Pennsylvania;
Broadcast area	Wilkes-Barre - Scranton - Northeastern Pennsylvania
Frequency	98.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	98.5 KRZ
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Contemporary hit radio
Subchannels	HD2: Country music (WGGY); HD3: Family Life Network;
Affiliations	Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	Audacy, Inc.; (Audacy License, LLC, as Debtor-in-Possession);
Sister stations	WAAF; WGGY (HD2); WILK; WILK-FM; WLMZ-FM; WLMZ;
History
First air date	1948 (as WBRE-FM)
Former call signs	WBRE-FM (1948–80)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	34379
Class	B
ERP	8,700 watts (analog); 348 watts (digital);
HAAT	357 meters (1,171 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°11′56.3″N 75°49′4.7″W / 41.198972°N 75.817972°W
Translator(s)	103.9 W280FJ (Bloomsburg); HD3: 92.5 W223CC (Wilkes-Barre); HD3: 97.5 W248BP (Scranton)
Repeater(s)	107.9 WKRF (Tobyhanna)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen live (via Audacy)
Website	www.audacy.com/985krz

WKRZ (98.5

Wilkes-Barre - Scranton - Northeastern Pennsylvania radio market. It has aired a Top 40/CHR radio format since 1980. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc.

, through licensee Audacy License, LLC.

WKRZ has an

Stroudsburg area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey

.

History

The station first

signed on in 1948.^[4] The call sign was WBRE-FM, originally licensed to Wilkes-Barre. It was the sister station to WBRE (1480 AM, now WYCK).^[5] The WBRE call letters stood for Baltimore Radio Exchange for the original owner, the Baltimore family, and not Wilkes-Barre like commonly thought. WBRE-AM-FM evolved through a number of radio formats and by the 1970s, was all-news.^[6] At first, the stations used NBC'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.^[7]

WBRE-FM made a big change in 1980 when it was sold. The new owners added

Entercom Communications.^[8]

Entercom received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval in 2003 to move co-owned WAMT (103.1 FM, 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.^[9] 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
WKRF	107.9 FM	Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania	14643	830	267.7 meters (878 ft)	A	41°02′39.6″N 75°22′37.7″W / 41.044333°N 75.377139°W / 41.044333; -75.377139 (WKRF)	Covers 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^[10] and was off the air but began a simulcast of WKRZ in 1995.^[11] Its call sign was changed to WKRF on May 15, 1995.^[10]

Signal note

WKRZ is short-spaced to WYCR Rocky 98.5 (licensed to serve York-Hanover, Pennsylvania) as they operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is 110 miles as determined by FCC rules.^[12] The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to current FCC rules is 150 miles.^[13]

References

^ "Facility Technical Data for WKRZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. April 9, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ "FM Query Results for WKRZ". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ "U. S. FM Stations as of 1948". Archived from the original on July 29, 2004. Retrieved July 29, 2004.
^ "U. S. AM stations as of 1946". Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
^ Northeastern Pennsylvania Radio Answers
^ "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 March 6, 2017.
^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page D-478
^ "NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush". Archived from the original on December 9, 2003. Retrieved December 9, 2003.
^ ^a ^b "Call Sign History [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ Stark, Phyllis (April 29, 1995). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 17. p. 92.
^ "Reference points and distance computations. 47 CFR § 73.208". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
^ "Minimum distance separation between stations. 47 CFR § 73.207(b)(1)" (PDF). fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 30, 2022.

External links

Official website
WKRZ in the FCC FM station database
WKRZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
WKRF in the FCC FM station database
WKRF in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

[1] "Facility Technical Data for WKRZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.

[2] "FCC 335-FM Digital Notification [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. April 9, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

[3] "FM Query Results for WKRZ". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

[4] "U. S. FM Stations as of 1948". Archived from the original on July 29, 2004. Retrieved July 29, 2004.

[5] "U. S. AM stations as of 1946". Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved January 25, 2020.

[6] Northeastern Pennsylvania Radio Answers

[7] "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 March 6, 2017.

[8] Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010 page D-478

[9] "NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush". Archived from the original on December 9, 2003. Retrieved December 9, 2003.

[WKRF-10] "Call Sign History [WKRZ]". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

[11] Stark, Phyllis (April 29, 1995). "Vox Jox". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 17. p. 92.

[12] "Reference points and distance computations. 47 CFR § 73.208". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 30, 2022.

[13] "Minimum distance separation between stations. 47 CFR § 73.207(b)(1)" (PDF). fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 30, 2022.

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v t e Audacy, Inc.
AM radio stations	KAMP KCBS KCSP KDKA KFH KFXX KIFM KIKK KILT KJCE KMBZ KMOX KMTT KNSS KNX KRLD KWOD KXNT KYW KYYS WAAF WAMO** WAOK WAXY WBBM WBEN WCBS WCCO WEEI WFAN WGR WHLL WILK WINS WJFK WJZ WLMZ WMC WMFS WORD WPHT WQAM WRNL WROC WRVA WSCR WSSP WTEM WTIC WVEI WWJ WWKB WWL WWWL WWWS WXYT WYRD
FM radio stations	KALC KALV-FM KAMX KBZT KCBS-FM KDGS KDKA-FM KEYN-FM KEZK-FM KFBZ KFRC-FM KFRG KFTK-FM KGMZ-FM KGON KHMX KHTP KILT-FM KISW KITS KJKK KKDO KKHH KKMJ-FM KKWF KLLC KLOL KLUC-FM KMBZ-FM KMLE KMNB KMVK KMXB (HD3) KNDD KNRK KNSS-FM KNX-FM KOOL-FM KQKS KQMT KQRC-FM KRBQ KRBZ KRLD-FM KROQ-FM KRSK KRTH KRXQ KSEG KSFM KSON KSPF KSWD KTWV KUDL KVIL (HD2) KWFN KWJJ-FM KXFG KXQQ-FM KXSN KYCH-FM KYKY KYXY KZJK KZPT WBBM-FM WBEB WBEE-FM WBGB WBMX WBTJ WBZA WBZZ WCBS-FM WCFS-FM WCMF-FM WDAF-FM WDCH-FM† WDOK WDSY-FM WDZH WEEI-FM WEZB WFAN-FM WFBC-FM WFUN-FM WGGY WHHL WIAD WILK-FM WINS-FM WIP-FM WJFK-FM WJMH WJZ-FM WKBU WKIS WKRK-FM WKRZ WKSE WKTK WKXJ WLFP WLIF WLKK WLMG WLMZ-FM WLND WLYF WLZL WMAS-FM WMFS-FM WMHX WMJX WMMM-FM WMXJ WMYX-FM WNCX WNEW-FM WNVZ WOCL WOGL WOLX-FM WOMC WOMX-FM WPAW WPGC-FM WPHI-FM WPOW WPTE WPXY-FM WQAL WQMG WQMP WRCH WROQ WRVQ WRVR WRXL HD2 WRXR-FM WSFS WSKY-FM WSMW WSPA-FM WSTR WTDY-FM WTIC-FM WTPT WTVR-FM WUSN WUSY WVEE WVEI-FM WVKL WWBX WWDE-FM WWEI WWL-FM WWMX WXBK WXRT WXSS WXYT-FM WYCD WYRD-FM WZGC WZMX
Radio Networks	BetQL Network Infinity Sports Network* Sabres Hockey Network New York Yankees Radio Channel Q
Digital properties	Audacy Cadence13 Eventful Pineapple Street Studios Play.it
See also	CBS Radio List of radio stations
* = Formerly CBS Sports Radio, Audacy operated as producer with distribution handled by Westwood One. ** = Audacy operates pursuant to a local marketing agreement with Martz Communications Group. † = Operated by Bloomberg L.P. pursuant to a time brokerage agreement.

History

Stations

Signal note

See also

References

External links