WCAI

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For the former Indian Women's Cricket Association, see Women's Cricket Association of India.
WCAI
Broadcast areaHyannis, Massachusetts
Cape Cod
Frequency90.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingCAI
Programming
FormatNon-commercial; National Public Radio
SubchannelsHD2: WCRB simulcast
Ownership
OwnerWGBH Educational Foundation
History
First air date
September 25, 2000[1]
Call sign meaning
"Cape and Islands"
Technical information
Facility ID8566
ClassB1
ERP12,500 watts
HAAT73.5 meters (241 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°26′16″N 70°36′50″W / 41.43778°N 70.61389°W / 41.43778; -70.61389 (WCAI)
Repeater(s)89.7 WGBH-HD3 (Boston)
See also § Simulcasts
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.capeandislands.org

WCAI (90.1 FM) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, WNAN (91.1 FM) in Nantucket, and WZAI (94.3 FM) in Brewster, are NPR member radio stations serving the Cape Cod and Islands area of southeast Massachusetts. They broadcast primarily news and information programming and are owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston. WCAI's studios are located at 3 Water Street in Woods Hole (a census-designated place in Falmouth) and its transmission facilities are located in Tisbury, Massachusetts.

The station was founded by independent radio producer Jay Allison and his organization, Atlantic Public Media, with construction and operation duties assigned to WGBH, and first went on the air in 2000; Atlantic Public Media has also produced local programming for the station. (WNAN went on the air on March 15, 2000) Coverage for WCAI and WNAN didn't reach all of Cape Cod and the nearby islands, however, and in 2005 the third signal, WZAI, went on the air. In addition, an online stream of the station is available.

In 2007, the station won the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, often called the Pulitzer Prize of broadcast journalism, for a 20-part series called "Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands". The series was produced and reported by Sean Corcoran, and it highlighted numerous poverty issues in a region that often is thought of as playground for the rich. WCAI was the only radio station to win the award that year.

In 2020, the station rebranded as CAI, as part of a larger rebranding underwent by WGBH (which similarly dropped "W" from its branding organization-wide).[2]

Apart from being owned by WGBH, there is no connection between the Cape and Islands NPR stations and WNCK in Nantucket, which formerly simulcast WGBH's primary radio service and later WCRB, a classical music station owned by WGBH. WCAI itself carries WCRB's programming on its second HD Radio channel, which was added in late 2013 after WCAI boosted its power.[3]

WCAI logo used until August 2020.

Simulcasts[edit]

Call sign Frequency City of license Facility ID ERP
W 		Height
m (ft) 		Class Transmitter coordinates Call sign meaning First air date
WNAN 91.1 FM Nantucket, Massachusetts 8600 2,300 64 m (210 ft) A 41°17′6″N 70°8′39″W / 41.28500°N 70.14417°W / 41.28500; -70.14417 (WNAN) Nantucket March 15, 2000[4]
WZAI 94.3 FM Brewster, Massachusetts 162458 4,700 113.4 m (372 ft) A 41°46′31″N 70°0′38″W / 41.77528°N 70.01056°W / 41.77528; -70.01056 (WZAI) variation of WCAI June 7, 2005[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 2, 2000). "Spinning the Dial in Connecticut". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  2. ^ "A New Name and a New Look". WCAI. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  3. ^ "WCAI Increases Transmitter Strength, Reaching more than 200k New Listeners". WCAI. January 28, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 17, 2000). "Clear Channel Spins Again". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  5. ^ Fybush, Scott (June 13, 2005). "A Great Day in Alpine, N.J." North East RadioWatch. Retrieved March 15, 2015.

External links[edit]

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