WCAT (AM)

WCAT
City Burlington, Vermont
Broadcast area Burlington-Plattsburgh area
Branding Burlington Big Cat
Frequency 1390 kHz
Translator(s) 98.3 W252CJ (Burlington)
First air date April 1954 (as WDOT)
Format Oldies, Classic country
Power 5,000 watts (day)
5,000 watts (night)
220 watts (FM translator)
Class B
Facility ID 73613
Transmitter coordinates 44°29′47.00″N 73°12′49.00″W / 44.4963889°N 73.2136111°W / 44.4963889; -73.2136111
Callsign meaning University of Vermont CATamounts
Former callsigns WDOT (1954-1993)
WKDR (1993-2002)
WVAA (2002-2006)
Owner Radio Broadcasting Services, Inc.
Sister stations WFAD, WIFY, WIXM, WRSA, WTWK, WWMP
Webcast Listen Live
Website wcat98.com

WCAT (1390 kHz, "WCAT Channel 98") is an AM radio station licensed to Burlington, Vermont, USA, and serving the Burlington-Plattsburgh area. The station is owned by Radio Broadcasting Services, Inc.[1] and airs an oldies format, including pop hits and some country songs from the 1950s and '60s. According to FCC records, WCAT's tower #1 is the tallest man-made structure in the state of Vermont.[2]

WCAT broadcasts at 5,000 watts around the clock, with a non-directional signal by day. But to protect other stations on AM 1390 at night when AM radio waves travel farther, it uses a directional antenna after sunset. WCAT's transmitter is located off Intervale Road in Burlington.[3]

WCAT also airs on an FM translator, W252CJ, at 98.3 MHz, to give listeners the option to hear the station in FM stereo.[4] The station images itself as "WCAT Channel 98," which refers to its FM translator's dial position.

History

The station first signed on as WDOT on April 19, 1954 on the AM 1400 frequency at 1,000 watts of power.[5] WDOT was Burlington's top-40 radio station for years and also an affiliate of the ABC Contemporary Radio Network. The station later moved to its current frequency, AM 1390, and was allowed to broadcast with 5,000 watts of power both daytme and nighttime. The station uses a three tower directional antenna at night to protect 1390 co-channels in Syracuse, New York (WFBL), Presque Isle, Maine (WEGP), and Plymouth, Massachusetts (WPLM).

WCAT's previous logo as an ESPN Radio affiliate

The station changed its call sign to WKDR on June 1, 1993. The WKDR calls originated on the AM 1070 frequency, licensed to Plattsburgh, New York (which now operates as WTWK), and the move benefited WKDR, since its previous position operates only in the daytime, protecting the former 50,000-watt clear channel (1-B) station, CBA in Moncton, New Brunswick.

The station changed its call letters to WVAA on September 24, 2002, and to the current WCAT on August 21, 2006.[6]

WCAT, as a sports radio station, switched affiliations from ESPN Radio to Fox Sports Radio on January 1, 2011; the ESPN affiliation has moved to 101.3 WCPV.[7] Through much of 2011, WCAT broadcast a sports talk format in simulcast with sister stations WRSA (1420 AM) and WFAD (1490 AM) as "Fox Sports Vermont". By the end of the year, it had switched to an oldies music format in simulcast with WIFY as "Cruisin' 93.7".

On September 1, 2014 WCAT (with sister station WRSA) changed their format from a simulcast with WIFY to comedy. The two stations switched back to oldies in July 2015. [8]

References

  1. ↑ "WCAT Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ↑ http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProASRLookup.php?tabSearchType=ASR+Search&sASR=1042292
  3. ↑ http://radio-locator.com/info/WCAT-AM
  4. ↑ http://radio-locator.com/info/W252CJ-FX
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-216
  6. ↑ "WCAT Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  7. ↑ Donoghue, Mike (December 21, 2010). "Fox Sports joins Champlain Valley radio market". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  8. ↑ Oldies back on 1390 Burlington & 1420 St. Albans
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