WCAZ (1510

kHz 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 uni ...

) is a

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country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

formatted AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

, licensed to

Carthage, Illinois Carthage is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 2,490 as of the 2020 census. Carthage is best known for being the site of the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith, who founded the Latter Day Saint ...

. Because the station shares the same frequency as

clear-channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a talk radio radio format, format. The radio studio, studios are in Nashvill ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, WCAZ broadcasts only during the daytime. However, its FM translator, W256DZ on 99.1 MHz, also provides nighttime operation.

History

Establishment in Macomb

This station was first licensed in 1947, as WKAI in

Macomb, Illinois Macomb () is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, about southwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the c ...

. However, the station has traditionally traced its history to the original WCAZ, which was first licensed in Carthage in 1922. On June 1, 1984, WKAI's call letters were changed to WLRB."Call Sign History"
(Facility ID Number: 60017), FCC.gov. For a time, WLRB carried the

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

radio network, but

Jones Radio Networks Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio su ...

divested it in favor of its own

Jones Standards Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio suc ...

format. As

Dial Global Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The c ...

acquired Jones, the "Jones Standards" network was dissolved and "

America's Best Music America's Best Music is the on-air branding of a soft oldies and adult standards 24-hour radio network, formerly known as AM Only. The service is syndicated by Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media. It was one of the original Transtar Ra ...

" took its place. WLRB later switched to

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

programming. WLRB was owned by Prairie Radio Communications/WPW Broadcasting, Inc. until January 2009, when it was bought by Nancy Foster's Colchester Radio, Inc. to become part of Prestige Communications. Effective November 30, 2015, WLRB and five sister stations were sold to Fletcher Ford's Virden Broadcasting Corporation at a purchase price of $725,000. The station changed its call sign to WYEC on August 31, 2016.

Move to Carthage as WCAZ

On April 21, 2017, the license and call letters of the original WCAZ (AM 990) in Carthage were cancelled and the station deleted 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 ...

, due to an unpaid fine, that had been levied a decade earlier for failure to file a timely license renewal application. This station continued to make regular broadcasts as "WCAZ", thus technically becoming an unlicensed

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station, until it ended operations on December 31, 2017. A group effort was organized to restore a local station in Carthage. Effective September 24, 2018, WYEC and its translator W226CH were sold by Virden Broadcasting to Hancock County Broadcasting, LLC for $75,000. The new owners changed the station's call sign to WCAZ, and flipped the format from talk to full-service classic country on the same day. The station was relocated to Carthage, with its daytime power of 1,000 watts reduced to 330 watts, and the critical hours operation at 250 watts eliminated. Translator W226CH was also moved to Carthage, and in 2020 transferred to 99.1 MHz, resulting in a call sign change to W256DZ. In May 2022, this new WCAZ held a 100-year anniversary celebration, tracing its history back to the May 15, 1922 initial license date of the original WCAZ."WCAZ to celebrate 100 years on May 14"
''Hancock County (Illinois) Journal-Pilot'', May 3, 2022.

References

External links

*
FCC History Cards for WCAZ
(covering 1946-1980 as WKAI) *
W256DZ
on Radio-Locator {{coord, 40, 24, 31, N, 91, 10, 13, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title CAZ (AM) Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Illinois CAZ Country radio stations in the United States