WTRI (1520 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Brunswick, Maryland Brunswick is a city in southwestern Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The city is located on the north bank of the Potomac River; Loudoun County, Virginia occupies the opposite shore. The population of Brunswick was 7,762 at the 2020 c ...

, serving Southern Frederick County, Maryland and Northern

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun ...

. WTRI is owned by Hasmukh Shah and airs a

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

n format of

Bollywood music Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with danc ...

and talk in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and Punjabi. WTRI is a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, required to go off the air at sunset because

AM 1520 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1520 kHz: 1520 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WWKB in Buffalo, New York, and KOKC in Oklahoma City share Class A status on 1520 AM. Argentina * LRI721 in Chascomús, B ...

is a clear channel frequency, reserved for Class A

WWKB WWKB (1520 AM) is a commercial radio station in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts a sports betting radio format and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. Most programming is from the co-owned BetQL Radio Network, with some shows from CBS Sports R ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, and KOKC in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. By day, WTRI broadcasts with 17,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s from a tower off 13th Avenue in Brunswick. Programming is also heard on an FM

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

, 101.7 W269DH in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northeas ...

History

WTRI first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air on October 2, 1966. It aired a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format and transmitted with 250

s, required to go off the air at sunset. WTRI was owned by the

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspira ...

organization based in nearby

, from 1986 to 1991. The LaRouche organization sold the failing station and it switched to a local music format in 1992.Patrick McGuire, "The Little Station That Could", ''Baltimore Sun'', February 28, 1993
/ref> On October 1, 2007, WTRI flipped to brokered Spanish language programming. The station's former "Vegas Radio" adult standards format was abandoned at that time. As of March 3, 2009, WTRI was effectively

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

, though no silent transmission application was filed with the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

. On April 8, 2009, WTRI began carrying a

Classic Country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format under the branding "Radio Earl." In January 2010, the "Radio Earl" format was abandoned in favor of leasing the station's signal to nearby

WTHU WTHU (1450 AM) is an oldies formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Thurmont, Maryland Thurmont is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,935 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the northern part ...

, a Christian talk and teaching AM radio station. In September 2010, the station ceased operations, and after October 2010, was off the air. In January 2011, WTRI began broadcasting Spanish language music as "Radio La Grande 1520." On May 18, 2011 WTRI began carrying "KHZ Network" with eclectic pop music also carried on Maryland stations

WKHZ WKHZ (1460 AM) is a radio station licensed to Easton, Maryland, United States. The station is owned by Radio Broadcast Communications, Inc. In October, 2010, the station was transferred from its former owner, First Media Radio, LLC to Radio Br ...

, WYRE and

WAMD (AM) WAMD is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting on 970 kHz based in Aberdeen, Maryland. The station is owned by Bill Parris. Reception for WAMD is northern Harford County. The station's radio format is predominantly Top 40. WAMD is part ...

. In September 2011, the station again went silent. In May 2012, WTRI began relaying the South Asian programming from "Radio Asia" based in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. As of March 3, 2013, the station was again silent. In May 2014, after repeated fines for going silent without permission, the station fell into receivership by order of the Federal Communications Commission. WTRI was off the air and in receivership until it was bought for $275,000 in May 2015 by Hasmukh Shah, who also owns WXMC in New Jersey. Shah began broadcasting the "Radio Asia" format on WTRI, airing a variety of

Filmi Filmi ("of films") music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Indian cinema. In cinema, music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playba ...

and

, along with talk in

and Punjabi. The purchase was consummated on August 6, 2015, at a price of $275,000.

Translator

In addition to the main station, WTRI is relayed by one translator.

References

External links

{{Daytime-only radio stations in Maryland TRI Frederick County, Maryland Radio stations established in 1966 1966 establishments in Maryland TRI