WCIB


WCIB, known as "Cool 102", is a classic rock-leaning classic hits radio station licensed to Falmouth, Massachusetts, playing music from the 1960s through the 1980s. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. It serves the Cape Cod and New Bedford-Fall River markets, and had significant listenership in the Providence, Rhode Island market prior to a 2014 signal change.

History

The WCIB call letters stand for Cape and Islands Broadcasting, the original company that signed the station on in August 1970.
For several years, WCIB programmed a top-40 format. But by late 1974, after losing the top-40 battle to WCOD-FM, the station switched to an "Adult Gold" format. The station was later home to an adult contemporary format known as "Lite 102 WCIB", owned by Boston radio personality Larry Justice. After a short stint as "Country Thunder 101", the station was rebranded by its new owner, Al Makkay, as Cool 102, which quickly established itself as the market's ratings leader. Makkay Broadcasting sold WCIB, with its sister stations WRZE and WCOD-FM, to Qantum Communications in 2003 for $32M.
On May 15, 2014, Qantum Communications announced that it would sell its 29 stations, including WCIB, to Clear Channel Communications, in a transaction connected to Clear Channel's sale of WALK AM-FM in Patchogue, New York to Connoisseur Media via Qantum. The transaction was consummated on September 9, 2014.
WCIB programs Christmas music during the holiday season. The station usually makes this change in the last week of November, but in 2017 did so on November 1; iHeartMedia Cape Cod market manager Allison Davis said that "Given the general malaise around the country, we decided this was the right time to launch a feel-good format."

Signal reduction and coverage change

On August 6, 2014, Clear Channel filed a contingent application with WCIB, WBWL and WWBB in an effort to eliminate the directional pattern of WBWL in nearby Boston. The application called for the reduction of WCIB's signal from a full 50,000 watts down to 13,000 watts with a directional null away from Boston. The application was approved on October 6, 2014, and the facility was put on the air December 9, 2014. In August 2015, WCIB reduced their power to 12,000 watts to become a B1 radio station.