Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
WCRU
WCRU (960 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Dallas, North Carolina and serving the Charlotte metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by the Truth Broadcasting Corporation. WCRU carries a mix of national and local pastors. National hosts include Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll and Adrian Rogers.
By day, WCRU is powered at 10,000 watts. But at night, to protect other stations on 960 AM, WCRU greatly reduces power to 500 watts. A directional antenna is used at all times. The radio studios and transmitter are on Robinson-Clemmer Road in Dallas. Programming is also heard on two FM translator stations: W253CV 98.5 in Davidson, North Carolina, and W289BO 105.7 in Pineville, North Carolina.
On January 1, 1963, the station first signed on with the call sign WAAK. The original city of license was Concord with 1,000 watts daytime and nighttime.
Fred Whitley, owner of WGTL in neighboring Kannapolis had applied for this frequency as a daytime-only station in Dallas to keep new competition out of his market. He won the construction permit for the station in Dallas, took the call letters WAAK off the top of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) call sign list, refurbished WGTL's studio, buying the audio board from WSJS-TV, and put the old WGTL console in Dallas.
William E. Rumple was the Chief Engineer of the station for the entire time that Fred Whitley owned it. Whitley ran the station on a break-even basis for about 25 years. In the mid-1980s he sold it to the Marlow Brothers from New Jersey.
The new ownership made sweeping changes to the station, switching it from Easy Listening and Middle of the Road music, which aired during the Whitley years, to an Adult Top 40 sound. Another tower was added to allow the station to broadcast at night.
The establishment of several Top 40 stations in the Charlotte market eroded the listenership of WAAK. By 1990, the station was sold again and moved to a Christian radio format. Several ownership changes took place over the next decade.
In December 2002, WAAK was sold to The Zybek Media Group. Zybek flipped it to a talk radio format. The call letters were changed to WZRH with the moniker "The Z-Monster". The new owners immediately filed for a power increase in an attempt to place a stronger signal over the city of Charlotte. The initials ZRH of WZRH stood for Zachary Richard Howerton, son of owners Rick and Beth Howerton.
Hub AI
WCRU AI simulator
(@WCRU_simulator)
WCRU
WCRU (960 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Dallas, North Carolina and serving the Charlotte metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by the Truth Broadcasting Corporation. WCRU carries a mix of national and local pastors. National hosts include Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll and Adrian Rogers.
By day, WCRU is powered at 10,000 watts. But at night, to protect other stations on 960 AM, WCRU greatly reduces power to 500 watts. A directional antenna is used at all times. The radio studios and transmitter are on Robinson-Clemmer Road in Dallas. Programming is also heard on two FM translator stations: W253CV 98.5 in Davidson, North Carolina, and W289BO 105.7 in Pineville, North Carolina.
On January 1, 1963, the station first signed on with the call sign WAAK. The original city of license was Concord with 1,000 watts daytime and nighttime.
Fred Whitley, owner of WGTL in neighboring Kannapolis had applied for this frequency as a daytime-only station in Dallas to keep new competition out of his market. He won the construction permit for the station in Dallas, took the call letters WAAK off the top of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) call sign list, refurbished WGTL's studio, buying the audio board from WSJS-TV, and put the old WGTL console in Dallas.
William E. Rumple was the Chief Engineer of the station for the entire time that Fred Whitley owned it. Whitley ran the station on a break-even basis for about 25 years. In the mid-1980s he sold it to the Marlow Brothers from New Jersey.
The new ownership made sweeping changes to the station, switching it from Easy Listening and Middle of the Road music, which aired during the Whitley years, to an Adult Top 40 sound. Another tower was added to allow the station to broadcast at night.
The establishment of several Top 40 stations in the Charlotte market eroded the listenership of WAAK. By 1990, the station was sold again and moved to a Christian radio format. Several ownership changes took place over the next decade.
In December 2002, WAAK was sold to The Zybek Media Group. Zybek flipped it to a talk radio format. The call letters were changed to WZRH with the moniker "The Z-Monster". The new owners immediately filed for a power increase in an attempt to place a stronger signal over the city of Charlotte. The initials ZRH of WZRH stood for Zachary Richard Howerton, son of owners Rick and Beth Howerton.