Diemazz

WKRZ / WKRF
City of license	WKRZ: Freeland, PA WKRF: Tobyhanna, PA
Broadcast area	WKRZ: Scranton/|Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton WKRF: Stroudsburg
Branding	98.5 KRZ
Slogan	"Today's Best Music"
Frequency	WKRZ: 98.5 MHz (FM) (Also on HD Radio) 98.5 HD-1 (WKRZ) 98.5 HD-2 (All Comedy Radio) WKRF: 107.9 MHz (FM)
First air date	1948
Format	Top 40
ERP	WKRZ: 8,700 Watts WKRF: 840 Watts
Class	WKRZ: B WKRF: A
Callsign meaning	WKRaZy
Former callsigns	WBRE-FM
Owner	Entercom Communications
Website	http://www.wkrz.com/

WKRZ, "98.5 KRZ", is a radio station licensed to Freeland, Pennsylvania serving the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton radio market at 98.5 MHz FM. The station radio format is Top 40 which it has broadcast in the market since 1980. The station has always used some branding of "KRZ", a shortened form of its call letters, for its on air promotion. The present owners of WKRZ, Entercom Communications, received FCC approval in 2003 to move WAMT (103.1 MHz FM) from Freeland to Avoca, Pennsylvania which required Entercom to change the city of license of WKRZ from Wilkes-Barre to Freeland due to the FCC rules about the "loss of local service" to Freeland because of the WAMT move^[1].

WKRZ is broadcasting in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system from iBiquity^[2]. The main program is simulcast on 98.5 HD-1 in digital^[2]. Comedy programming can be heard on 98.5 HD-2 on the secondary digital multicasting stream^[2].

History

The radio station now known as WKRZ, first signed on the air in 1948^[3] as WBRE-FM from Wilkes-Barre. It was the FM sister station to then WBRE AM at 1340 kHz^[4] also located in Wilkes-Barre. WBRE-FM evolved through a number of radio formats ending up with an all News format during the 1970s^[5]. The station, up to that point, broadcast in FM mono since its start in 1948. Due to consistently low audience ratings in the area^[6], WBRE-FM made a big change in 1980 when it was sold with the new owners switching to FM Stereo, a dramatic format switch to Top 40 music, along with the call sign change to the present WKRZ. WKRZ-FM has been broadcasting a Top 40 music format since 1980. It debuted as 98 1/2 KRZ-FM. It went by 98 1/2 to differentiate itself from WILK 980 which was Top 40 at the time and called itself AM98. It was originally supposed to be called Krazy 98 as its sister station was WAQY Wacky 102 Springfield Mass. WKRZ-AM programming was split from the FM and became Music Of Your Life and got strong ratings; WKRZ-AM was sold in 1987 becoming WYCK, a simulcast of WICK Scranton. WYCK lost the lease on its tower site in Kingston. A new tower was built near the VA Medical Center east of Wilkes-Barre; WYCK could not provide city grade coverage to Wilkes-Barre with its new relocated transmitter site; the new city of license is Plains.

WKRF Simulcast

WKRF is a simulcast of WKRZ on 107.9 MHz FM. WKRF's city of license is Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, and can be heard in the Stroudsburg, PA area and throughout extreme eastern sections of Pennsylvania and some sections of extreme northwestern New Jersey. These are areas where the signal from WKRZ 98.5 MHz cannot reach.

References

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