WATR

WATR
City Waterbury, Connecticut
Slogan "News/Talk and Good Time Oldies"
Frequency 1320 kHz
First air date 1934[1]
Format News/Talk/Oldies
Power 5,000 Watts (day)
1,000 Watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 71102
Transmitter coordinates 41°32′12″N 73°01′52″W / 41.53667°N 73.03111°W / 41.53667; -73.03111
Callsign meaning WATeRbury
Owner Estate of Harold Thomas
(WATR, Inc.)
Webcast Listen Live
Website http://www.watr.com/

WATR (1320 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Waterbury, Connecticut. The station is owned by WATR, Inc. It airs a full-service News/Talk plus Oldies music format.[2] It is the oldest privately owned station in the state of Connecticut, never having been sold outside the family of its founder, Harold Thomas (1902–1968).

The station is host to the long-running "Tom Chute & You," the weekday morning drive program hosted by general manager and program director Thomas J. Chute (6-9:30 a.m.) Barbara Davitt, who marked 50 years at WATR in November 2013, hosts "Coffee Break" from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Having debuted in the mid-1960s, it is one of the longest-running shows in radio. Regional broadcasting veteran Larry Rifkin hosts "Talk of the Town," WATR's flagship talk program focusing on local and national issues, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Weekend programming includes the traditional and contemporary sounds of Polish music on "The Zembruski Family Polka Hour." The show's predecessor, "The Polish Eagle Show," originated in 1934 on WATR by bandleader Victor Zembruski (1912–1976). His widow, Sophie Zembruski (1918–2010), hosted the show from 1976 to 2008, at which time the couple's daughter, Loretta Hoxie, took over hosting duties. Nathaniel Zembruski's show, The Zembruski Family Polka Hour succeeded Hoxie in 2013. The Zembruski Family Polka Hour has been on the air for over 3 years and is hosted by the youngest radio broadcaster in the United States. Other weekend programming highlights include the Saturday night "Music Museum," hosted by Jay Crawford; Sunday morning's "Carosello Italiano," a program hosted by Joe Costa featuring music and news from the Italian community; and the Sunday night "Solid Gold Rock & Roll Party," hosted by John Bunnell. The station also carries local high school sports.

WATR once had sister FM and television stations: WATR-FM, which is now Country 92-5 WWYZ, and WATR-TV, now WCCT-TV, formerly WTXX TV 20.

The station has been assigned the WATR call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since it was initially licensed in 1934.[1][3]

References

  1. 1 2 Collins, Michael. "Time Line For Connecticut Broadcasting". Connecticut Broadcaster's Association.
  2. ↑ "Winter 2008 Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. ↑ "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.


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