WCRN (830 AM) is a radio station in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, owned by

Carter Broadcasting Carter Broadcasting is a New England based broadcasting group owned by Ken Carberry. Its headquarters are in Braintree, Massachusetts. Currently-owned stations Massachusetts (2 stations) *WACE/730: Chicopee (sale to Holy Family Communications ...

. The station broadcasts with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts and can be heard from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, and from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

(during the day). The signal is directional, pointed away from such other stations at 830 kHz as WCCO in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. After sunset, WCRN's signal is made further directional towards the east; as a result, it is not clearly audible in Western Massachusetts after sunset. The station bills itself as "Radio Central", with a

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 ...

format. The station simulcasts news from

WFXT WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpi ...

(channel 25) in the mornings, airs locally-based

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot com ...

in middays, and runs music from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s at night as "North Star Music". The station's owner, Carter Broadcasting, is owned by the Carberry family. Kurt Carberry is the vice president and general manager.

History

WCRN signed on December 5, 1994, carrying

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

programming from the Carter Radio Network, based out of then-sister station

WROL WROL (950 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Salem Media Group. Most of WROL's programming is Religious broadcasting, religious including local ministers as well as national radio ...

in Boston. In December 2000, this was abandoned in favor of a

big band 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 ...

format, "Swing 830". The format was changed to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

, via ABC Radio's

The True Oldies Channel Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel (also known more recently as ''The True Oldies Channel: Greatest Hits'') is a radio network begun in the spring of 2004. Originally distributed by ABC Radio Networks via satellite, the service plays a hybrid ol ...

, in August 2004, and then to the current talk format on May 8, 2006. WCRN Full Service Radio 830 logo

In 2000, the station was allowed to increase its daytime power from 5,000 watts to the current 50,000 watts. Nighttime power was also increased from 5,000 watts to 50,000 watts on April 4, 2007, just in time for the first

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

night game of the season. WCRN was the flagship for the

Worcester Tornadoes The Worcester Tornadoes were a professional baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States. The Tornadoes were a member of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent baseball league which ...

independent-league baseball team during the 2005 and 2010 seasons. The station is also an affiliate of the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

network for football and men's basketball broadcasts. From 2007 through 2009, and since 2011, WCRN has shared the Worcester affiliation of the

Boston Red Sox Radio Network The Boston Red Sox Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 54 radio stations which carry English language coverage of the Boston Red Sox, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lawrence, Massachusetts station ...

with WEEI/

WEEI-FM WEEI-FM (93.7 Hertz, MHz) – branded SportsRadio 93.7 WEEI-FM – is a commercial Sports radio, sports Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned b ...

satellite station WVEI, an arrangement made in order to take advantage of WCRN's then-new 50,000-watt night signal to serve areas of

MetroWest MetroWest is a cluster of cities and towns lying west of Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financia ...

that had difficulty receiving either WVEI itself or the team's then-flagship, WRKO, particularly at night (when most Red Sox games are played), with WVEI selling local advertising on both stations. The two stations replaced WTAG, which had carried Sox games for 40 years. WVEI became the sole Red Sox affiliate in Worcester in 2010, but WCRN returned to the Red Sox network in 2011.

References

External links

* {{News/Talk Radio Stations in Massachusetts CRN News and talk radio stations in the United States Oldies radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Massachusetts