WBRK (AM)
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WBRK (1340 AM) is a radio station
licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) 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 part ...
to serve
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...
. The radio station is owned by WBRK, Inc. It airs a classic hits
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. The station was assigned the callsign WBRK by the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
. WBRK transmits 1,000 watts non-directional. Programming is also heard on
FM translator 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 tr ...
s W246DM on 97.1
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
and W230CP on 93.9 MHz.


History

WBRK was the Berkshires' first radio station, signing on the air on February 20, 1938. It used radio studios located on "Bank Row" in downtown Pittsfield. As with many stations of that era, the spacious studios allowed for live performances by the
big bands A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
and
orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
of the day. It was also an
affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
of the
CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
, airing its dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "
Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...
". On February 5, 1954, the company founded the only commercial television station to call the Berkshires home, with WMGT Channel 19. The television station, with a tower on
Mount Greylock Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,489 feet (1,063 meters). Located in the northwest region of the state, it is part of the Taconic Mountains, a geologically distinct range from the nearby Berkshire Mountains, Berkshire ...
, was later sold and eventually evolved into WCDC-TV, a
satellite 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 ...
of
WTEN WTEN (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Albany, New York, United States, serving the Capital District, New York, Capital District as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is a sister s ...
in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
. It was shut down in 2017. WBRK had a middle of the road format for much of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It transitioned to
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...
in the 1990s formerly carried
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
games, as well as local sports broadcasts. It also airs some
CBS Sports Radio Infinity Sports Network is an American sports radio network. It debuted as CBS Sports Radio with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. Infinity Sports Network is programmed by Audacy, Inc ...
programming, including
Jim Rome James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, '' The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by Westwood One. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on r ...
and
Doug Gottlieb Douglas Mitchell Gottlieb (born January 15, 1976) is an American basketball analyst, sports talk radio host and college basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Gottlieb played NCAA c ...
. From 1941 to 1960, Dan Healy worked as a sports broadcaster for WBRK.


Translators


References


External links

* * ( Guide to reading History Cards)
BRK The 65xx family of microprocessors, consisting of the MOS Technology 6502 and its derivatives, the WDC 65C02, WDC 65C802 and WDC 65C816, and CSG 65CE02, all handle interrupts in a similar fashion. There are three hardware interrupt signals common ...
Classic hits radio stations in the United States Mass media in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Pittsfield, Massachusetts Radio stations established in 1938 1938 establishments in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-radio-station-stub