WEZR (780

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 an AM radio station in

Rumford, Maine Rumford is a New England town, town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Rumford is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Ru ...

. The station is owned by Stan Bennett, through licensee Bennett Radio Group, LLC. The station airs a

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

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, ...

History

The station went on the air August 21, 1953, as WRUM, associated with the ''Rumford Daily Times'' newspaper. It 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 as ...

to WLLB on November 21, 1997, and to WTME on July 11, 2001. WTME's programming was previously

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

with WCNM (1240 AM) in Lewiston and WKTQ (1450 AM) in South Paris. WCNM switched to

CNN Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...

in July 2001 and is now

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

station WIGY, while WKTQ became

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

station WOXO in August 2016 and is now WPNO, a simulcast of WEZR. On March 8, 2017, WTME changed its format to

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

, with programming from

NBC Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of ...

. As a sports station, it carried

Portland Pirates The Portland Pirates were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). Their home arena was the Cross Insurance Arena in downtown Portland, Maine. The franchise was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks ...

hockey, and

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

baseball. On weekday mornings and middays, some

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

programs were also heard. WTME, along with its sister stations, went off the air March 29, 2020, citing financial considerations that included expected reduction in advertising revenue attributed to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The stations had been up for sale following the death of owner Dick Gleason in February 2019. A sale of the Gleason Media Group stations to Bennett Radio Group was announced in May 2020, and was consummated on August 5, 2020, at a sale price of $500,000. On August 9, 2020, WTME changed its call letters to WIGY, and returned to the air on August 19, 2020, as a hot adult contemporary station, once again simulcast with WEZR (the former WCNM) and WPNO (the former WKTQ). It changed its callsign to the current WEZR on September 7, 2020. In 2021, the format shifted to classic hits, as "105.5 & 96.9 WIGY". On October 26, 2021, WEZR and W252DS, along with WPNO and its translator, split from the simulcast with WIGY and flipped to

, branded as "The Patriot".Patriot Debuts In Maine
Lance Venta, Radio Insight, October 26, 2021.

References

External links

* * * EZR (AM) Radio stations established in 1953 1953 establishments in Maine Rumford, Maine Conservative talk radio Talk radio stations in the United States {{Maine-radio-station-stub