One Year Anniversary
February 6, 2020
Here we are February 2020. And it’s our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of broadcasting on 540-AM!
Last year February 4, I remember receiving the call from our FCC attorney letting me know that – after 6 months of waiting on the FCC – they finally granted Divine Mercy Radio the owner’s license of the WETC station 540-AM. No one had to tell me the news twice! Within the hour, we were on the air!
When I first had the idea of a local Catholic radio station way back in 2007, my goal was to find a station that would cover Raleigh. But as always, God had a much much better plan. No, not just Raleigh, but every town from Danville, VA all the way to Jacksonville NC. Over 3 million potential listeners. And now, Divine Mercy Radio is THE largest Catholic radio station in North Carolina. THIS was Our Glorious Savior’s Plan.
We’ve had such a blessed first year. For one, we’re paying our bills, which is no small feat. Because of generous listeners, we have been bringing His Love, His Mercy, and His Message to thousands of souls for over a year, and with the grace of God, we will continue to do so for many, many years. My thanks to all of our donors! I know I say this often, but… we really couldn’t do this without YOU!
Also this year, Divine Mercy Radio began doing a few remote broadcasts. What exactly is that? Well, let’s say you have an event at your parish that you would like to have broadcast live on our 540-AM station. We go there, set up our equipment, and, with microphone in hand, we talk to the folks – like your pastor, the event coordinators, the vendors and the attendees. And it’s always a great time! Contact us if you have a special event at your parish coming up.
Although I love a million things about this station, one thing none of us likes, is our nighttime coverage. WETC 540-AM is licensed to broadcast at 10,000 watts during the day, but when the sun goes down, so does our licensed power. In fact, it goes down to 500 watts. That’s quite a drop. So…
We’re going to fix that! We asked our engineers to look into how many watts the FCC would allow us to broadcast at night. The answer – 4,400 watts! A huge improvement over 500.
Our engineers drew up the exhibits, and in late January our FCC attorney submitted the application. (FYI - this won’t be an overnight fix.) The FCC will take 3 to 4 months to review and approve the changes, then it will be another 3 – 4 months for engineers to implement the changes.
Did I mention the cost? $25,000. If you have an extra $10 or $50 or $1000 to send us, we will put it to good use. Go to Catholic540.org and click on DONATE. Nothing goes to me, and nothing goes to our volunteers. Every cent of your gift goes to the needs of the station.
Remember Lent begins soon – Ash Wednesday is the 26th of this month. I hope you will all have a beautiful and blessed Lenten season.
Sincerely,
Cecelia Flanary, Director of Divine Mercy Radio
Underwriting
Finally, if you own a local business or know someone who does, please let them know about the Catholic 540-AM • Divine Mercy Radio Underwriting program. We feature :30 second announcements on our air about our Business Underwriters. Underwriting helps companies promote their products and services while also raising critical money for our station’s operations. Underwriting support may be tax deductible. To learn more about Underwriting, click here.
As always, please pray for us and God bless you. Thanks!!!
Welcome to Catholic 540AM • Divine Mercy Radio
Divine Mercy Radio is a lay apostolate dedicated to sharing the truth, beauty, love and joy of the Catholic faith through the medium of radio in North Carolina. Divine Mercy Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through LIVE internet streaming here at CATHOLIC540AM.ORG.
Click on the LISTEN button above and join us!
Our goal to expand our broadcast area in North Carolina over AM radio became a reality on February 4, 2019. WETC-AM now reaches a potential audience of over 3 million people in Eastern and Central North Carolina!
Your continued donations are critical for the daily operating costs of this listener supported station to deliver the word of God to a vast majority of North Carolina! We could not do this without YOU. See the map below for a picture of our radio broadcast area!
Click here to see the many ways to donate. We need you now! God bless you for your generosity!
After moving to Wake Forest from Long Island a few years ago, I began to sense that the Lord was calling me to apply to the seminary to discern the priesthood. However, I was afraid to heed His call. I was comfortable working as a teacher and I didn’t want my life to change. However, Jesus was persistent and would keep calling me for the next six years. I would listen to Divine Mercy Radio every day while driving to work and I kept hearing stories about the priesthood and listeners speaking about their own vocational struggles. One day, I heard a young man discussing his decision to apply to the seminary and how happy he was that he did. I knew that I couldn’t run from Jesus any longer. As a seminarian for the Diocese of Raleigh, I am truly grateful for Divine Mercy Radio for giving me the courage to apply to the seminary. May our Lord bless Divine Mercy Radio and may Our Blessed Mother watch over all who listen to this remarkable radio station!
