WERN
Public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin
title: "WERN" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-wisconsin", "wisconsin-public-radio", "npr-member-stations"] description: "Public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin" topic_path: "general/radio-stations-in-wisconsin" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WERN" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | WERN |
| logo | Wisconsin Public Radio Logo.png |
| city | Madison, Wisconsin |
| country | US |
| area | Madison metropolitan area |
| frequency | |
| translators | |
| airdate | |
| format | Public radio and talk |
| subchannels | HD2: WPR Music |
| erp | 20,500 watts |
| haat | 385 m |
| class | B |
| licensing_authority | FCC |
| facility_id | 63030 |
| callsign_meaning | "Wisconsin Educational Radio Network" |
| former_callsigns | WHA-FM (1947–1974) |
| network | Wisconsin Public Radio |
| affiliations | |
| owner | Wisconsin Educational Communications Board |
| sister_stations | WHA |
| webcast | Listen live |
| website | wpr.org |
| :: |
| name = WERN
| logo = Wisconsin Public Radio Logo.png
| city = Madison, Wisconsin
| country = US
| area = Madison metropolitan area
| frequency =
| translators =
| airdate =
| format = Public radio and talk
| subchannels = HD2: WPR Music
| erp = 20,500 watts
| haat = 385 m
| class = B
| licensing_authority = FCC
| facility_id = 63030
| coordinates =
| callsign_meaning = "Wisconsin Educational Radio Network"
| former_callsigns = WHA-FM (1947–1974)
| network = Wisconsin Public Radio
| affiliations =
| owner = Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
| sister_stations = WHA
| webcast = Listen live
| website = wpr.org
WERN (88.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Madison, Wisconsin, United States, and serving the Madison metropolitan area. It is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and the co-flagship of WPR's News Network alongside WHA. The studios are on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Vilas Communication Hall, 821 University Avenue in Madison.
The transmitter is located at the Madison Community Tower, located adjacent to South Pleasant View Road on Madison's southwest side in the Junction Ridge neighborhood. WERN broadcasts using HD Radio technology; its HD-2 digital subchannel carries the WPR Music network and feeds FM translators W213CE (90.5 FM) and W300BM (107.9 FM).
History
The station signed on the air on March 30, 1947. It was the first FM station in the network that would become Wisconsin Public Radio. The call sign was WHA-FM, co-owned with its sister station, WHA (970 AM). At first, the two stations simulcast their programming, a mix of classical music, news, university lectures and public affairs shows. Originally WHA 970 was a daytimer station. When it had to go off the air at night, 88.7 WHA-FM continued its programming.
By the late 1960s, WHA-FM began airing some programming that was separate from 970 AM. Eventually, simulcasting was reduced and the FM station sought its own identity. The call letters became WERN in 1974.
Because WHA-FM/WERN began broadcasting before current maximum levels were set by the Federal Communications Commission, the station's signal is grandfathered. It runs at a higher power for its height above average terrain (HAAT) than would be permitted today. It covers a large area which affords WPR News a strong signal across Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois including the Rockford area and Metro Milwaukee.
As part of a major realignment of WPR's offerings which took effect on May 20, 2024; WHA and WERN became the flagships of the WPR News Network, successor to the Ideas Network. Two low-powered translators that served to improve WHA's coverage when that station dramatically reduces its power at sunset aired the all-classical WPR Music network after this realignment occurred. The change substantially improved coverage of NPR news programming in Madison, since WERN penetrates further into south-central Wisconsin, and into buildings, than the two translators.
References
References
- ""HD Radio Guide for Madison, Wisconsin"".
- [https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/C%20Section%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-6.pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1977'' page C-233], [[Broadcasting & Cable]]. Retrieved Aug. 25, 2023.
- "Wisconsin Public Radio - A History of Broadcast Innovation".
- "Welcome to the new WPR!".
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