WBCQ (SW)

WBCQ

City of license	Monticello, Maine
Broadcast area	North America & Europe
Branding	WBCQ The Planet
Slogan	"Free Speech Radio"
Frequency	15420 kHz 9330 kHz 7490 kHz 5110 kHz
First air date	September 8, 1998
Format	Variety
Power	50,000 Watts
Transmitter coordinates
Callsign meaning	Weiner Broadcasting Company Q
Owner	Allan Weiner
Website	wbcq.com

WBCQ is a shortwave radio station operating at Monticello, Maine, USA. The station is owned and operated by Allan Weiner, who also owns and operates WXME (AM) 780 kHz and WBCQ-FM 94.7 MHz at the shortwave site. WBCQ began operation in 1998 with just the WBCQ-1 transmitter on 7415 kHz. WBCQ's shortwave antennas are all beamed directionally: primarily at 245 degrees, and secondarily at 65 degrees.

Since its inception, Weiner has held fast to a philosophy that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, and has run the station on this basis as a trustee of the public airwaves. Accordingly, WBCQ often subsidizes shows by varying groups of religious and political entities, as well as by individuals playing various forms of music, novelty records, audiobooks and self-recorded material.

Otherwise, the station also transmits numerous talk shows and other programs produced by commercial networks as well as former pirate radio broadcasters, such as Weiner himself and his erstwhile collaborators.

Unlike Weiner's former pirate radio stations, now relegated to well-documented history, WBCQ and its AM and FM sister stations are licensed by the FCC under his own name.

Frequencies

• WBCQ-4: 5110 kHz (60m band)
• WBCQ-1: 7490 kHz (41m band; WBCQ's only frequency in standard AM mode A3E)
• WBCQ-3: 9330 kHz (31m band)
• WBCQ-2: 15420 kHz (19m band)

Former frequencies

• WBCQ-4: 5100 & 5105 kHz
• WBCQ-3: 9340 & 9335 kHz
• WBCQ-2: 17495 & 18910 kHz
• WBCQ-1: 7415 kHz

Notable shows

• "Radio Newyork International" Sundays at 20:00 Eastern times on 5110
• "Allan Weiner Worldwide" Fridays at 20:00 Eastern times on all frequencies
• "Le Show" with Harry Shearer, Sundays at 19:00 Eastern times on 7490

External links

• WBCQ's official website
• Chronology for WBCQ
• Signal Coverage for 7490
• WBCQ's Program Schedule
• FCC information for WBCQ (not up-to-date)