WCCT-FM
WCCT-FM is a radio station on 90.3 FM in Harwich, Massachusetts, United States. It is the radio station of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School and broadcasts from a transmitter site on the campus.
Frequency | 90.3 MHz |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | Cape Cod Regional Technical High School |
History | |
First air date | September 1989 |
Call sign meaning | Cape Cod Tech |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 8574 |
ERP | 640 watts |
HAAT | 38 m (125 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°42′39.6″N 70°4′33.6″W |
The station has not operated since 2014, when it ceased rebroadcasting WBUR-FM of Boston. It had not produced its own programming since 2011.
History
On November 18, 1987, Cape Cod Tech filed with the Federal Communications Commission to build a new high school radio station on 90.3 FM. The high school envisioned the station as an educational tool for students in speech and journalism.[1] The FCC granted CCT a construction permit on October 27, 1988, and the station, known as WCCT-FM, began broadcasting in September 1989, debuting in the 1989–90 school year.[2] It was part of the now-defunct hotel and business management shop.[3]
In 1992, it was one of three campus stations on Cape Cod to begin rebroadcasting the programming of WBUR-FM, an NPR station in Boston, under agreement, joining WKKL in Barnstable and WSDH in Sandwich. The idea was hatched by a local resident who noted both the poor signal of WBUR in the area and the underutilization of the WCCT facility.[4] WBUR programming aired during most of the day and around the clock when the school was on summer vacation,[4] with Cape Cod Tech output preempting the Boston public radio outlet from 1 to 2 p.m. on weekdays in 1992[5] and three hours a day by 1996. As part of the arrangement, WCCT exchanged its original transmitter, dating to 1945, for a new one furnished by WBUR, which also provided other technical support.[6][4] The school's engineering shop maintained and repaired the equipment, much of which was donated.[6] The station's broadcasts suffered from playing a format that had comparatively little interest to students, with a small and dated record library[7] that included records from the 1960s and 1970s, classical music and old-time radio shows.[3]
Student DJs ceased broadcasting on WCCT-FM in 2011.[3] Three years later, WBUR informed the station that it was terminating the agreement on September 30, 2014.[8] The move came after the station built a new and much more powerful station of its own, WBUH, at 89.1 FM, in nearby Brewster, in May 2014.[9]
References
- Sutherland, Scott (December 3, 1987). "Cape Cod Technical High School applies for FM station license". The Cape Cod Chronicle. p. 7.
- "Cape Cod Regional Technical High School District" (PDF). 1990 Annual Reports - Town of Dennis. 1990. p. 142. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- Laub, Noah (April 5, 2018). "Remembering 90.9 [sic] FM, WCCT". Tech Talk. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- Maroney, Edward F. (June 25, 1992). "Cape Tech radio station hosts WBUR signal". The Cape Cod Chronicle. p. 3.
- "Cape Tech is on the air". The Cape Cod Chronicle. November 5, 1992. p. 29.
- Pollock, Alan (October 17, 1996). "Making (Air) Waves--And Gaining Confidence". The Cape Cod Chronicle. p. 7.
- Basile, John (November 25, 1999). "Out-of-town programming collides with students' training ground". The Register. pp. 4, 5.
- "Cape Cod Regional Technical High School District School Committee, Minutes of Meeting held Thursday, August 28, 2014" (PDF). August 28, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- Venta, Lance (May 23, 2014). "WBUR Debuts New Cape Cod Signal". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
External links
- WCCT in the FCC FM station database
- WCCT on Radio-Locator
- WCCT in Nielsen Audio's FM station database