Emmanuel Radio adding FM stations

By Tanya Connor
 The Catholic Free Press
Emmanuel Radio will be heard on two new FM frequencies later this year, expanding its coverage in the Worcester radio market.
The two new FM Catholic radio stations are to broadcast both EWTN and local programs, Cindy R. Dorsey, general manager of Emmanuel Radio, said this week.
The Federal Communications Commission awarded licenses for the two stations to the subsidiary of Emmanuel Communications Inc., she said.
She said 99.1 FM WNEB Worcester and 101.1 FM WESO Southbridge will join Emmanuel Radio’s current stations, 1230 AM WNEB Worcester and 970 AM WESO Southbridge.
No date has been set for the new stations to start broadcasting, but it will be in 2018, Mrs. Dorsey said. The FCC allows 18 months for fundraising and acquiring needed equipment, which will include wires and receiver dishes for towers, she said. Money raised at this year’s spring pledge drive, April 4-6, is to help with these costs.
All the stations will be served by the staff and equipment at Emmanuel Radio’s broadcast studio in Worcester, where local programs are produced, she said. Most of the programming comes from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network, of which the stations are affiliates.
The four stations will broadcast the same programs at the same times, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, she said. The programs can also be accessed online at www.1230radio.com and on smartphones via the eCatholic mobile app. Listeners can also “like” 1230AM on Facebook and find 1230AM Emmanuel Radio on Twitter.  
With the addition of the new stations, Emmanuel Radio will cover all of central Massachusetts and northern Connecticut, and be accessible to more than 400,000 people, Mrs. Dorsey said.
“This is a huge development,” she said. “Emmanuel Radio has been able to do this in line with the growth explosion of Catholic radio programming around the country” and in response to listeners’ requests for stronger signals and wider geographic coverage.
“This is God – this is God’s work,” she said.
With the new stations “we’ll be available to a whole new audience of listeners who don’t traditionally listen to AM,” she said. And the new stations will “provide many more opportunities for our local sponsors to reach more of their audiences.”
Mrs. Dorsey expressed gratitude for the support local listeners and sponsors, and the management team at EWTN, have provided since the first station – 1230 AM WNEB – was launched on May 1, 2011.