View source for WCFR

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WCFR
| logo             =
| city             = [[Springfield, Vermont]]
| area             = 
| branding         = 
| frequency        = 1480 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]
| translators      = {{Radio Relay|106.5|W293BH|[[Springfield, Vermont|Springfield]]}}
| repeaters        = 
| airdate          = [[1954 in radio|1954]]
| format           = [[Classic hits]]
| power            = {{ubl|5,000 [[watt]]s day|23 watts night}}
| class            = B
| facility_id      = 4909
| coordinates      = 
| callsign_meaning = Carlo, Frank, and Ruth (Zezza)
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WNIX (1954–1957)|WCFR (1957–1998)|WNBX (1998–2005)}}
| affiliations     = {{ubl|[[Red Sox Radio Network]]|[[Boston Bruins Radio Network]]}}
| owner            = Robert Landry and John Landry
| licensee         = Sugar River Media, LLC
| sister_stations  = {{hlist|[[WCNL]]|[[WCVR]]|[[WNTK-FM]]|[[WUVR]]}}
| webcast          = [http://natrix.sugarrivermedia.com:8000/wcfr.m3u Listen Live]
| website          = [http://www.wcfram1480.com/ wcfram1480.com] 
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}

'''WCFR''' is an [[AM radio]] station licensed to [[Springfield, Vermont]]. It broadcasts a [[classic hits]] format with 5,000 [[watt]]s during the day. Programming is also simulcast on [[Broadcast translator|translator]] '''W293BH''', 106.5 FM. The station carries [[Boston Red Sox]] baseball from the [[Red Sox Radio Network]], and the [[Boston Bruins Radio Network]].

==History==
WCFR was started in 1954 as WNIX. It was purchased by Vermont broadcasting legend Carlos Zezza in the 1950s, renaming the station for the first initials of Zezza's three children in 1957. WCFR enjoyed many years as a successful music station.

Zezza sold WCFR to Sconnix in 1974, who changed the format from [[Top-40]] to [[adult contemporary]]. Zezza's son Frank led a group that purchased the station back from Sconnix in the early 1980s. By this time, WCFR's popularity waned in favor of its FM sister station, WCFR-FM.

The 1990s saw several changes in ownership and WCFR carried various formats through the decade. In September 1998, WCFR changed from [[adult standards]] to a business news format.<ref name="nerw-wcfrbusiness">{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-980904.html|title=One Shoe Drops in Maine...|last=Fybush|first=Scott|date=September 4, 1998|work=North East RadioWatch|accessdate=July 25, 2009}}</ref> Two months later, the station was leased to Brian Dodge, at which point the station switched to a simulcast of the [[Religious broadcasting|religious]] format of his (never actually licensed) [[WWNH]] in [[Madbury, New Hampshire]], under the WNBX callsign.<ref name="nerw-wcfrtownbx">{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-981113.html|title=So Long, WWJY|last=Fybush|first=Scott|date=November 13, 1998|work=North East RadioWatch|accessdate=July 25, 2009}}</ref> Dodge left the station in 2000 after being charged with [[domestic assault]], leaving WNBX silent until new operators could be found.<ref name="nerw-dodgeleaveswnbx">{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-001128.html|title=New Station in Western NY, 1220's Back in Cornwall|last=Fybush|first=Scott|date=November 28, 2000|work=North East RadioWatch|accessdate=July 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="nerw-newwnbxmanagement">{{cite news|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-001218.html|title=Toronto's 740 Returns|last=Fybush|first=Scott|date=December 18, 2000|work=North East RadioWatch|accessdate=July 25, 2009}}</ref>

Bob Vinikoor bought the station in 2001 and switched it to a simulcast of established FM talk station [[WNTK-FM]]. The format was switched to [[oldies]] in 2003 and the WCFR call letters returned in 2005. WCFR switched to [[classic hits]] in 2007 and to adult contemporary in 2009.

On February 3, 2017, WFCR and its FM translator W293BH 106.5 FM were sold to Sugar River Media LLC.  The station was re-branded to The All-New Rewind 106.5/1480 WCFR.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

Former sister station WCFR-FM on 93.5 was sold separately from the AM WCFR in 2001 and was moved to [[Swanzey, New Hampshire]], in 2008 (it is now [[WEEY]]). [[WFYX]] was known as WCFR-FM until owner [[Nassau Broadcasting]], which at one point had planned to sell [[WPLY (defunct)|WPLY]] in [[Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania]], parked the WPLY-FM call letters on 96.3 in [[Walpole, New Hampshire]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{AM station data|4909|WCFR}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|155284|W293BH}}
*{{FXL|W293BH}}

{{Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction Radio}}
{{Classic Hits Radio Stations in Vermont}}

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[[Category:Radio stations in Vermont|CFR]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1954]]
[[Category:1954 establishments in Vermont]]
[[Category:Classic hits radio stations in the United States]]


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