WPRO (AM)

Much of WPRO's weekday lineup is made up of local hosts. Evenings, nationally syndicated programs are heard: The Ben Shapiro Show, CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor and Red Eye Radio. Weekends mostly focus on specialty shows about money, health, pets, home repair, real estate and the law, some of which are paid brokered programming. The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey is heard on Sunday evenings.

WPRO is an affiliate of the New England Patriots Radio Network. It carried Boston Red Sox baseball from 1986 to 2005. In 2006, Red Sox games moved to WEEI-FM (now WVEI-FM).{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Preston & Steve Back on Philly Airwaves|url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2005/050516/nerw.html|access-date=December 12, 2010|newspaper=NorthEast Radio Watch|date=May 16, 2005}}

WPRO has an unusual history, as the station has twice been assigned dual call letters, as WDWF-WLSI (1925–1931) and WPRO-WPAW (1932–1933).

The station was first licensed on June 10, 1924, as WKBF, to Dutee W. Flint in Cranston, Rhode Island.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510008420265&seq=363 "New Stations"], Radio Service Bulletin, July 1, 1924, page 3. It made its formal debut broadcast on June 15, 1924, announcing an initial regular schedule of 7:30 to 8:30 pm. Thursdays; 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Sundays; and, beginning June 23, alternate Mondays from 8:30 to 10:30 pm."WKBF Gives First Radio Programme", Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, June 16, 1924, page 8. The original call sign was randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call letters. In January 1925, the call sign was changed to WDWF, reflecting the owner's initials.

In late 1925, Lincoln Studios began to share ownership of WDWF with Flint. The two owners formed a joint operation, which was assigned the dual callsigns of WDWF-WLSI.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763060&seq=232 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1925, page 6.

In late 1926, an adverse legal ruling temporarily limited the government's ability to regulate radio stations. This led to the formation of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), which starting in early 1927 sought to rationalize the broadcasting band, which in turn led to multiple frequency shifts. An initial May 1927 allocation assigned the station to 680 kHz,[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=60 "List of broadcasting stations issued temporary permits"], Radio Service Bulletin, April 30, 1927, page 6. which was changed to 780 kHz on June 30,[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=87 "Broadcasting Stations Alphabetically by States and Cities"] [Effective June 15, 1927], Radio Service Bulletin, May 31, 1927, page 9. and later that year to 800 kHz,[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106763078&view=1up&seq=110 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, June 30, 1927, page 10. 1090 kHz,[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221818&seq=423 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, October 31, 1927, page 9. and 1150 kHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221818&seq=435 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1927, page 8. In early 1928 the station was shifted to 1210 kHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221818&seq=516 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, February 29, 1928, page 6. On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a major reallocation under the provisions of its General Order 40. The station stayed on 1210 kHz, but now had to share this frequency with Frank Cook Inc.'s WFCI (which became WPAW early the next year), located in Pawtucket.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c021003683&view=1up&seq=243 "Revised list of broadcasting stations, by frequencies, effective 3 a. m., November 11, 1928, eastern standard time"], Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928, to September 30, 1928, page 207.

By 1930, the studios for WDWF and WLSI were located in Providence.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221815&view=1up&seq=180 "Broadcasting Stations, Alphabetically by States and Cities"], Radio Stations of the United States, Edition June 30, 1930, page 158.

The Providence department store Cherry & Webb acquired WDWF-WLSI in September 1931, and changed the stations' callsigns to WPRO.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3221819&seq=539 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, September 30, 1931, page 11. This purchase made Cherry & Webb the third department store in Providence to get into radio broadcasting, after the 1922 launches of Shepard Stores' WEAN (now WPRV, a sister station to WPRO) and The Outlet Company's WJAR (now WHJJ).{{cite web|last=Colletto|first=John|title=Our Rhode Island Radio Heritage|url=https://jrooke.tripod.com/rhodeislandradiohalloffame/id9.html|work=Rhode Island Hall of Fame|access-date=December 7, 2010}} WPRO formally launched on October 16, with an initial daily schedule of 10:30 a.m to 1 p.m. and 8:30 to 11 pm, plus Sundays from 1:30 to 5:30 pm."New Radio Station WPRO Is Opened", (Providence, Rhode Island) Evening Bulletin, October 17, 1931, page 1.

In February 1932, Cherry & Webb purchased WPAW, WPRO's timesharing partner on 1210 kHz in nearby Pawtucket. Following the WPAW acquisition, the consolidated station operated under the dual call sign of WPRO-WPAW.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000842030e&seq=320 "Alterations and corrections"], Radio Service Bulletin, February 29, 1932, page 24. However, on May 15, 1933, after the FRC requested that stations using only one of their dual callsigns drop the one that was no longer in regular use, WPAW was eliminated and the station reverted to just WPRO.[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1933-06-25/ed-1/seq-44/ "Double Call Letters Are Being Eliminated"], Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, June 25, 1933, Part 4, page 6. WPRO moved to its current frequency, 630 kHz, in 1934.{{cite journal|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radex/Radex%2081%2034%2009.pdf|journal=Radex|title=Radio Index Magazine September, 1934|date=September 1934|access-date=December 28, 2015|editor1-first=Fred Clayton|editor1-last=Butler|publisher=The Radex Press|location=Cleveland, Ohio}} It was an affiliate of the short-lived American Broadcasting System in 1935;{{cite journal|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radex/Radex%2086%2035%2002.pdf|journal=Radex|title=Index by Frequency and Dial Numbers|date=February 1935|access-date=December 28, 2015|editor1-first=Fred Clayton|editor1-last=Butler|page=64|publisher=The Radex Press|location=Cleveland, Ohio}} in 1937, the station joined the CBS Radio Network, replacing charter affiliate WEAN.{{cite journal|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radex/Radex%20109%2037%2005.pdf|journal=Radex|date=May 1937|title=North American B.C. Stations by Frequency|access-date=December 28, 2015|editor1-last=Taylor|editor1-first=Page|page=72|publisher=The Radex Press|location=Cleveland, Ohio}}

Although WPRO moved from Cranston to Providence soon after Cherry & Webb took over, the station's transmitter site remained in Cranston{{cite book|title=Pierre-Key's Radio Annual|page=383|year=1933|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Annual/1933/US%20Radio%20by%20City%20Pierre%20Keys%20Radio%20Annual%201933-5.pdf#page=46|access-date=December 28, 2015}} until its destruction by the 1938 New England hurricane;{{cite book|last=Scotti|first=R.A.|title=Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938|year=2003|isbn=0-316-73911-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Z0QptpM90MC&q=1938%20Hurricane%20WPRO&pg=PT161|access-date=December 10, 2010}} it then constructed a new transmission facility in East Providence.{{cite web|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=WPRO and its sisters, Providence, RI|url=https://www.fybush.com/sites/2009/site-090807.html|work=Tower Site of the Week|publisher=fybush.com|access-date=December 10, 2010|date=August 7, 2009}} FM service was added on April 17, 1948, with the debut of WPRO-FM (92.3 MHz),{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Market Place|year=1992|page=A-306|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1992/Radio-All-BC-YB-1992-B&W.pdf#page=306|access-date=December 7, 2010}} and a television sister station, WPRO-TV (channel 12), went on the air March 27, 1955.{{cite book|title=Telecasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1955-56|year=1955|page=234|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1955-1956%20TV/TV-YB-1955-1956-TV-Stations.pdf#page=186|access-date=December 11, 2010}}

File:Advertisement for Providence, Rhode Island radio station WPRO (1959).jpg

Cherry & Webb exited broadcasting in April 1959, selling WPRO to Capital Cities Television Corporation, which eventually became Capital Cities Communications. Soon afterward, WPRO ended its CBS Radio affiliation{{cite book|title=Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-62|year=1961|page=B-148|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1961-62/section%20B%20All%20Radio%20%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201961-1962-9.pdf#page=146|access-date=December 11, 2010}} and became Providence's top-rated top 40 station, competing against WICE (now WPVD) and, later, WGNG (now WSJW).{{cite web|last=Ricitelli|first=Dino|title=A History of 630 WPRO|url=http://www.630wpro.com/article.asp?id=477905|work=630WPRO.com|access-date=December 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025123142/http://630wpro.com/article.asp?id=477905|archive-date=October 25, 2010|url-status=dead}} The station's studios were moved to the transmitter location in East Providence in 1974; WPRO's previous studio location, which until then had also continued to house what had become WPRI-TV even after that station was sold by Capital Cities in 1967, was then donated to public television station WSBE-TV. That same year, WPRO-FM adopted its own top 40 format, and the AM side began a gradual evolution to adult contemporary that would continue through the remainder of the decade. During the 1980s, the station again began to shift its format by gradually adding talk shows to its schedule; it also became an affiliate of ABC Radio by 1984,{{cite book|title=Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985|year=1985|page=B-237|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1985/B-Radio-All-BC-YB-1985.pdf#page=237|access-date=December 11, 2010}} two years before ABC was purchased by Capital Cities. WPRO discontinued its remaining music programming on March 20, 1989, moving to an all-talk format.

Capital Cities/ABC sold WPRO to Tele-Media in 1993; this put the station under common ownership with WLKW (the former WEAN) and WWLI. Tele-Media, in turn, sold its stations to Citadel Broadcasting in 1997.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Snow, Snow, and More Snow|url=http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-970403.html|access-date=December 11, 2010|newspaper=North East RadioWatch|date=April 3, 1997}} WPRO added its simulcast on WEAN-FM on March 11, 2008.{{cite news|last=Fybush|first=Scott|title=Signal Shuffle in Rhode Island|url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2008/080317/nerw.html|access-date=December 11, 2010|newspaper=NorthEast Radio Watch|date=March 17, 2008}} Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.{{cite news|title=Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2011/09/16/cumulus-now-owns-citadel-broadcasting.html|access-date=September 16, 2011|newspaper=Atlanta Business Journal|date=September 16, 2011}}

WPRO's longest-serving on-air staff member was Salty Brine, who served as the station's morning host from 1943 until April 28, 1993. Other former WPRO voices include sportscaster Bryan Fustukian (as Vik Armen). New York media personalities who previously worked at WPRO include WMCA "Good Guy" Jack Spector, CBS staff announcer Hal Simms, and former Providence mayor Buddy Cianci until his death on January 27, 2016.

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{AM station data|64843|WPRO}}

• [https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=66319 FCC History Cards for WPRO] (covering 1924–1980 as WKBF / WDWF / WDWF-WLSI / WPRO / WPRO-WPAW / WPRO)

{{Providence Radio}}

{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Rhode Island}}

{{Cumulus Media}}

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PRO (AM)

Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1924

Category:1924 establishments in Rhode Island

Category:Cumulus Media radio stations