WCAT (1390 AM) was a commercial

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 radio ...

licensed to

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, United States, and serving the Burlington-Plattsburgh area. The station was last owned by Radio Broadcasting Services, Inc., part of the Champlain Media Group. It aired a

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

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, ...

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

on co-owned 103.3 FM WWMP in Waterbury. According to FCC records, WCAT's 445-foot tower #1 is the tallest man-made structure in the State of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. WCAT broadcast at 5,000

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 Wa ...

s around the clock, with a non-directional signal by day. But to protect other stations on

AM 1390 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1390 kHz: 1390 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * LR11 in La Plata, Buenos Aires * LRA6 in Valle de Uspallata, Mendoza (960 kHz. Defunct?) Guatemala (Channel 86) * ...

at night when AM radio waves travel farther, it used a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

after sunset. WCAT's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

was located off Intervale Road in Burlington. Studios and offices were on Water Tower Circle in Colchester, Vermont. WCAT also aired on an FM

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

, W252CJ, at 98.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, to give listeners the option to hear the station in FM stereo.

History

The station 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 ...

as WDOT on April 19, 1954, on the AM 1400 frequency at 1,000 watts of power. 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,

, and was allowed to broadcast with 5,000 watts of power both daytime and nighttime. The station used a three-tower directional antenna at night to protect 1390 co-channels in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

(

WFBL WFBL (1390 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York and owned by Wolf Radio, Inc. It serves Syracuse and its suburbs, with studios and offices located on Smokey Hollow Road in Baldwinsville. Since September 2017 the statio ...

), Presque Isle, Maine (

WEGP WEGP (1390 AM) is a radio station in Presque Isle, Maine. The station airs a Catholic talk format as an affiliate of Relevant Radio, and is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc. WEGP's transmitter is off Chapman Road in Presque Isle. It is the most po ...

), and

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

( WPLM). The station changed its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

to WKDR on June 1, 1993. The WKDR calls originated on the AM 1070 frequency, licensed to

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

(which now operates as WJMP), 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 WCAT on August 21, 2006. WCAT, as a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

station, switched affiliations from

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

on January 1, 2011. The ESPN

affiliation 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 ...

has moved to FM 101.3

WCPV WCPV (101.3 FM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a country music radio format. Licensed to Essex, New York, United States, the station serves the Champlain Valley of New York and Vermont. Although licensed to Essex, New York, many li ...

. Through much of 2011, WCAT broadcast a sports talk format

with

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

s WRSA (1420 AM) and

WFAD WFAD (1490 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Middlebury, Vermont, United States. The station is owned by Radio Broadcasting Services, Inc. and is part of The Point, a network of five FM stations and one AM station, as well as four associat ...

(1490 AM) as "Fox Sports Vermont." By the end of the year, it had switched to an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

music format simulcast with co-owned

WIFY WIFY (93.7 FM) is an adult album alternative formatted radio station that is part of The Point radio network. Licensed to Addison, Vermont, United States, the station serves the Middlebury, Vermont, Burlington, Vermont- Plattsburgh, New York a ...

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field *Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York * ...

as "Cruisin' 93.7." On September 1, 2014, WCAT (with sister station WRSA) dropped the simulcast with WIFY and switched to a

comedy radio Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be con ...

format. The two stations returned to oldies in July 2015. In early January 2017, WCAT and WRSA both went dark. The oldies format relocated to

AM 1070 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1070 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission classifies 1070 AM as a United States and Canadian clear-channel frequency. KNX in Los Angeles and CBA in Moncton, New Brunswick Mo ...

WPLB, which several months earlier had been sold by WCAT owner Northeast Broadcasting. On January 9, 2017, WCAT returned to the air, launching a business news format, also heard on FM translator 98.3 and co-owned 1420 WRSA. WCAT's license was surrendered on November 1, 2022.

Translator

WCAT programming was broadcast on the following

References

External links

VAB Website
*

WCAT Radio Tower The WCAT Radio Tower, at , is the tallest man-made structure in Vermont. It is located in Burlington, Vermont. It broadcasts at 5000 Watts. WCAT was the only radio station that had a radio tower within the city limits of Burlington. There is a se ...

FCC Station Search Details for DWCAT
(Facilty ID: 73613)
FCC History Cards for WCAT
(covering 1953-1981 as WDOT) {{Burlington-Plattsburgh Radio CAT Radio stations established in 1954 Radio stations disestablished in 2022 1954 establishments in Vermont 2022 disestablishments in Vermont Defunct radio stations in the United States CAT