WCIR-FM is a Contemporary Hit Radio

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

 formatted broadcast

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...

 radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 licensed to Beckley, West Virginia

Beckley, West Virginia

Beckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...

, USA, serving Southern West Virginia. WCIR-FM is owned and operated by Southern Communications.

Coverage area

The station has an effective radiated power

Effective radiated power

In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...

 of 5,000 watt

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

s, but the height above average terrain

Height above average terrain

Height above average terrain is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is actually much more important than effective radiated power in determining the range of broadcasts...

 of the station is 452 meters (1484 feet), meaning the station broadcasts farther than a typical 5,000 watt radio station that broadcasts at normal height. As a result the station can be heard as far as Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

.

History

WCIR-FM was named after WCIR-AM (Now WBKW) in 1971. WCIR-AM was a former Christian Contemporary radio station, hence the Christianity In Radio call letter meaning. The station is owned by Southern Communications. The radio station was a religious format until 1976, when it was changed to top-40 and known as 103-CIR. When the station flipped formats, announcers were Shane Randall (Southern) in the mornings, Dan Robins in mid-days, Bob Cannon in afternoons, Jack Daniels in nights and Jacque Baily doing overnights. The station reached #1 status for quite a few years with this format.

External links

• 103 CIR Online