WCKL
| City of license | Catskill, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Mid-Hudson Region |
| Frequency | 560 kHz |
| First air date | 1970 |
| Power | 1,000 watts (day) 43 watts (night) |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 63526 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Callsign meaning | W CatsKilL |
| Owner | Family Broadcasting and Media |
WCKL (560 AM) is a radio station licensed to Catskill, New York, USA, to broadcast at 560 kHz, the station serves the Hudson Valley area from Albany to Kingston. Currently owned by Family Broadcasting and Media, a front for longtime broadcast scofflaw Brian Dodge with a pending application to Ebony Media...which is made up of the same people as FB&M. Earlier the station had sold to Clear Channel in a $4.3 million package deal which included WCKL, WCTW, WHUC and then-WTHK (now WZCR).[1]
WCKL has been primarily been off-the-air for several years, primarily due to non payment of transmitter site rent to I Heart Media. They have been silent since March 10, 2015 but was granted on March 9th 2016 STA (Special Temporary Authority) to use a temporary site at 25% power from a long wire antenna. That STA expires June 9.[2] WCKL's 2008 and 2014 license renewal applications claimed the station has not been off the air for more than 30 days. This appears to be untrue and has attracted FCC attention as neither application has yet been granted.
During the 1970s & 1980s, the station was locally programmed with an Adult Contemporary 'full-service' format, featuring long-time morning host Guy Patrick Garraghan (formerly heard on WRIP until his death in 2010). In the 1990s, it featured a satellite-delivered pop standards format, and then briefly a simulcast of local co-owned FM station WZCR. In 2003, The Black United Fund of New York purchased the license for $100,000 (with original studios and the transmitter site being retained by seller, Clear Channel Communications) with plans to air a talk format aimed at the African-American community in the Albany area.[3]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=63952
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
