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{{short description|Radio station in Erie, Pennsylvania}}
{{Infobox Radio Station
{{Infobox radio station
⚫
| name = WCTL
| city = [[Union City, Pennsylvania]]
| name = WCTL
| area = [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]
| logo = 106.3_WCTL-Erie,_PA.png
| branding = 106.3 WCTL
| logo_size =
| city = [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]
| slogan = "Faith. Family. Fun."
| area = [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]
⚫
| frequency = 106.3 [[Megahertz|MHz]]
| branding = 106.3 WCTL
| format = [[Contemporary Christian]]
⚫
| frequency = 106.3 [[Megahertz|MHz]] {{HD Radio}}
⚫
| erp = 3,400 [[watt]]s
| airdate = April 23, 1967 (as WBVB)<ref name="airdate">{{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1969/1969-BC-YB.pdf|date=1969|work=Broadcasting Yearbook|title=WBVB(FM)|page=B-148 (312)|accessdate=February 21, 2020}}</ref>
| haat = 131 meters
| format = [[Contemporary Christian music|Christian]] [[Adult contemporary music#Hot adult contemporary|hot AC]]
| class = A
⚫
| erp = 860 [[watt]]s
⚫
| facility_id = 28774
| haat = 262.1 [[meter]]s
⚫
| callsign_meaning = '''W'''ith<br>'''C'''hrist<BR> '''T'''here's<BR>'''L'''ife
| owner = Inspiration Time, Inc.
| class = A
⚫
| facility_id = 28774
| webcast = [http://streamdb3web.securenetsystems.net/v5/index.cfm?stationCallSign=WCTL&relocateURL=true&p69833529=true&p56143389=true]
⚫
| callsign_meaning = <u>W</u>ith <u>C</u>hrist, <u>T</u>here's <u>L</u>ife
| website = [http://www.wctl.org/ wctl.org]
| owner = Inspiration Time, Inc.
⚫
|}}
| webcast = [http://player.listenlive.co/61711 Listen Live]
WCTL in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a Christian radio station, which focuses its ministry on "Faith, Family, and Fun." WCTL can be found at FM 106.3 (Erie), FM 105.9 (Downtown Erie), FM 93.1 (Girard), FM 99.1 (North East), and streams live on the Internet at www.wctl.org. WCTL's call letters stand for "With Christ There's Life.” In October 2012, the station celebrated its 45th anniversary of broadcasting. WCTL is owned and operated by Inspiration Time, Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to excellence in Christian media.
| website = {{url|wctl.org}}
| former_callsigns = WBVB (1967–1972)
⚫
| coordinates = {{coord|42.001|N|79.876|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC}}
| translator = 93.1 W226BQ (Girard)<br>{{nowrap|99.1 W256AL (North East)}}<br>105.9 W290BI (Erie)
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
⚫
}}


'''WCTL''' is a Christian radio station on [[106.3 FM]] in [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]. The station is owned and operated by Inspiration Time, Inc.
The station began with the vision of one man and the support of 21 Christian businessmen and pastors who committed themselves to bringing Christian radio to the Erie, PA area in 1967. George Smith, a radio engineer by trade, received a vision that the Erie area needed Christian radio. After poring over topographic maps and spending time in thought and prayer, Smith found out about a small FM station in Union City that had become available. He contacted local pastors in the area and then approached the Full Gospel Businessmen's Association. Eventually, the Inspiration Time board reached agreement to buy the 250-watt FM station in Union City called WBVB and daily operation and management began on October 3 of that year. The station changed call letters to WCTL in January 1972 and increased power to 3,000 watts later that year.


==History==
Twenty years later (March, 1992), the hope of expanding the listening area came to reality with 6,000 watts of power providing a strong signal over the city of Erie and generating new listeners in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Southwestern New York, Northeastern Ohio, and Southern Ontario, Canada. With the power increase came a larger staff and increased listeners and advertisers, necessitating a larger facility more centrally located in Erie County. In October 1993, the current building was purchased on Route 19N/Peach Street in Waterford Township, just 5 1/2 miles south of Interstate 90.


The 106.3 license began operations as WBVB, licensed to [[Union City, Pennsylvania|Union City]], on April 23, 1967.{{r|airdate}} The call letters came from the original owners, William E. Baker and Virgil A. Brown.<ref name="hc">{{FCC letter|hcards=yes|letterid=80500|callsign=WCTL}}</ref> The four-month-old FM outlet would go through a major transformation when a group of 21 Christian businessmen and pastors, organized as Inspiration Time, Inc., became a part-owner of the Bee Bee Broadcasting Company on October 3, 1967<ref name="hist">{{cite web|url=https://www.wctl.org/about/history/|work=WCTL|title=History|accessdate=February 21, 2020}}</ref> (with FCC approval obtained in early 1968); when Inspiration Time bought the station outright in 1971, it changed the call letters to the present WCTL on February 1, 1972; a power increase from 435 to 3,000 watts followed that April.{{r|hc}} A translator in Erie was first established in 1978.{{r|hist}}
Along with dozens of concerts and special events over the years, WCTL hosted a Christian music single-day festival on Labor Day weekend for six years. “Kingdom Bound by the Bay” was a free-to-listeners event that featured a full day of national artists and local talent performing in an outdoor amphitheatre along Lake Erie. The event was discontinued due to escalating costs and weather concerns but remains the source of many fond memories for listeners and staff alike.


The station grew again in the early 1990s when it increased its power to 6,000 watts. A translator was also briefly put into service in [[Oil City, Pennsylvania|Oil City]]{{r|hist}} before it was displaced by a [[WRQI|new full-service FM station]]. More translators were built in North East, [[Warren, Pennsylvania|Warren]], and [[Jamestown, New York]]; the Warren and Jamestown translators, as well as [[WYVL]] in [[Youngsville, Pennsylvania|Youngsville]], a station that had been donated to Inspiration Time by original WBVB owner Baker at his death,{{r|hist}} were sold to the Calvary Church of Russell in 2012 and now operate as a separate Christian radio station.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.fybush.com/nerw-9172012-shark-sighting-on-long-island/|first=Scott|last=Fybush|work=NorthEast Radio Watch|title=NERW 9/17/2012: Shark Sighting on Long Island|date=September 17, 2012|accessdate=February 21, 2020}}</ref>
Since the mid-80s, WCTL has provided live coverage of high school football contests as a service to the community, expanding from single team coverage to multiple schools in 1993. In April 2007, WCTL won the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Award for Excellence in Broadcasting for “Outstanding Radio Coverage of a Local Sporting Event” for live play-by-play coverage of the AAA High School Football State Championship Game on December 15, 2006.The award would be won again in 2008 and 2009 as the quality of WCTL’s live football coverage continued to be recognized.


In 2017, in conjunction with WCTL's 50th anniversary, Inspiration Time conducted a capital fundraising campaign to fund the purchase of radio station [[WZTE]] from [[Mercyhurst University]] in order to change its community of license to Union City. By maintaining a station licensed to Union City, WCTL would be able to change its city of license to Erie and move its signal closer to the population center of [[Erie County, Pennsylvania|Erie County]]. The FCC granted construction permits for the project; on January 2, 2019 construction was completed, and program testing began on the new WCTL facility near the intersection of [[U.S. Route 19 in Pennsylvania|US 19]] and [[Interstate 90 in Pennsylvania|Interstate 90]].
In addition to seasonal coverage of high school football and semiannual on-air fundraisers, the station hosts highly anticipated annual events, including a spring women’s conference since 2009 and family comedy events since 2006. Along with these events, the station is celebrating 45 years of radio ministry with special activities throughout 2013.

Since the mid-1980s, WCTL has provided live coverage of high school football contests as a service to the community, expanding from single team coverage to multiple schools in 1993.

==Translators==
WCTL has translators in towns in either direction along the shore of Lake Erie. The Girard translator is owned by Girard Alliance Church.

{{RadioTranslators
⚫
| callsign = WCTL

| call1 = W256AL
| freq1 = 99.1
| city1 = North East, Pennsylvania
| fid1 = 141622
| watts1 = 200
| haat1 = -0.2
| class1 = D
| notes1 =

| call2 = W226BQ
| freq2 = 93.1
| city2 = Girard, Pennsylvania
| fid2 = 141643
| watts2 = 38
| haat2 = 4.6
| class2 = D
| notes2 =

| call3 = W290BI
| freq3 = 105.9
| city3 = Erie, Pennsylvania
| fid3 = 141612
| watts3 = 180
| haat3 = 262
| class3 = D
| notes3 =
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{official website|http://www.wctl.org/}}
*{{official website|http://www.wctl.org/}}
*{{FM station data|WCTL}}
*{{FM station data|28774|WCTL}}


{{Erie Radio}}
{{Erie Radio}}

⚫
{{coord|42.001|N|79.876|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}


[[Category:Radio stations in Erie, Pennsylvania|CTL]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Erie, Pennsylvania|CTL]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1967]]

Latest revision as of 10:29, 12 July 2024

WCTL
Broadcast areaErie, Pennsylvania
Frequency106.3 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding106.3 WCTL
Programming
FormatChristian hot AC
Ownership
OwnerInspiration Time, Inc.
History
First air date
April 23, 1967 (as WBVB)[1]
Former call signs
WBVB (1967–1972)
Call sign meaning
With Christ, There's Life
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID28774
ClassA
ERP860 watts
HAAT262.1 meters
Transmitter coordinates
42°00′04″N 79°52′34″W / 42.001°N 79.876°W / 42.001; -79.876
Translator(s)93.1 W226BQ (Girard)
99.1 W256AL (North East)
105.9 W290BI (Erie)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewctl.org

WCTL is a Christian radio station on 106.3 FM in Erie, Pennsylvania. The station is owned and operated by Inspiration Time, Inc.

History

[edit]

The 106.3 license began operations as WBVB, licensed to Union City, on April 23, 1967.[1] The call letters came from the original owners, William E. Baker and Virgil A. Brown.[3] The four-month-old FM outlet would go through a major transformation when a group of 21 Christian businessmen and pastors, organized as Inspiration Time, Inc., became a part-owner of the Bee Bee Broadcasting Company on October 3, 1967[4] (with FCC approval obtained in early 1968); when Inspiration Time bought the station outright in 1971, it changed the call letters to the present WCTL on February 1, 1972; a power increase from 435 to 3,000 watts followed that April.[3] A translator in Erie was first established in 1978.[4]

The station grew again in the early 1990s when it increased its power to 6,000 watts. A translator was also briefly put into service in Oil City[4] before it was displaced by a new full-service FM station. More translators were built in North East, Warren, and Jamestown, New York; the Warren and Jamestown translators, as well as WYVL in Youngsville, a station that had been donated to Inspiration Time by original WBVB owner Baker at his death,[4] were sold to the Calvary Church of Russell in 2012 and now operate as a separate Christian radio station.[5]

In 2017, in conjunction with WCTL's 50th anniversary, Inspiration Time conducted a capital fundraising campaign to fund the purchase of radio station WZTE from Mercyhurst University in order to change its community of license to Union City. By maintaining a station licensed to Union City, WCTL would be able to change its city of license to Erie and move its signal closer to the population center of Erie County. The FCC granted construction permits for the project; on January 2, 2019 construction was completed, and program testing began on the new WCTL facility near the intersection of US 19 and Interstate 90.

Since the mid-1980s, WCTL has provided live coverage of high school football contests as a service to the community, expanding from single team coverage to multiple schools in 1993.

Translators

[edit]

WCTL has translators in towns in either direction along the shore of Lake Erie. The Girard translator is owned by Girard Alliance Church.

Broadcast translators for WCTL
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
W256AL 99.1 FM North East, Pennsylvania 141622 200 −0.2 m (−1 ft) D LMS
W226BQ 93.1 FM Girard, Pennsylvania 141643 38 4.6 m (15 ft) D LMS
W290BI 105.9 FM Erie, Pennsylvania 141612 180 262 m (860 ft) D LMS

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "WBVB(FM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1969. p. B-148 (312). Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WCTL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ a b

    FCC History Cards for WCTL

  4. ^ a b c d "History". WCTL. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Fybush, Scott (September 17, 2012). "NERW 9/17/2012: Shark Sighting on Long Island". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
[edit]
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