WWCR
From HFUnderground
 | |
| Nashville, TN USA | |
|---|---|
| Frequencies | 4840, 5890, 5935, 7490, 7520, 9350, 9980, 12160, 13845 |
| Branding | World Wide Christian Radio |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | Religious, brokered |
| Affiliations | None |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | F.W. Robbert Broadcasting |
| History | |
| First air date | June 1989 |
| Call sign meaning | World Wide Christian Radio (original: World Wide Country Radio) |
| Technical information | |
| Power | 100,000 watts |
| Links | |
| Webcast | WWCR webcast |
| Website | WWCR |
WWCR (World Wide Christian Radio) is a Christian shortwave station located in Nashville, Tennessee. The station has 4 high-power (100 kW) transmitters, allowing it to be heard across the world.
Contents |
Programming
Today, due to its policy of leasing airtime and its loose standards, WWCR has a reputation for being a conservative and ultraconservative station which often focuses on Christianity and government conspiracies.
As of 2007, it is also known to broadcast people selling all sorts of products ranging from magnetic arm bands and ionized water to magic medicines that will cure just about everything that ails you (for a nominal fee) and the standard get-rich-quick/buy gold now schemes.
Frequencies
WWCR has four 100-kW transmitters, one of which is currently off the air. The other three, as of February 26, 2026, broadcast on the following frequencies:
Transmitter 2 (85°):
- 06:00-13:00: 5935 kHz
- 13:00-16:00: 7490 kHz
- 16:00-21:00: 12160 kHz
- 21:00-23:00: 9350 kHz
- 23:00-06:00: 5935 kHz
Transmitter 3 (40°):
- 06:00-13:00: 4840 kHz
- 13:00-01:00: 13845 kHz
- 01:00-06:00: 4840 kHz
Transmitter 4 (90°):
- 06:00-13:00: 5890 kHz
- 13:00-00:00: 9980 kHz
- 00:00-03:00: 7520 kHz
- 03:00-06:00: 5890 kHz
History
WWCR first went on the air in June 1989 as "World Wide Country Radio" before switching to its current evangelical/right-wing format. (It still broadcasts an hour of country music, however.)
In the 1990s, particularly after the Oklahoma City bombing, the station became infamous for its conspiracist, far-right programming, including Mark Koernke, known on radio as "Mark from Michigan" (a proponent of the "black helicopter" conspiracy theory among others) and Kurt Saxon (who gave instructions on how to build a bomb from easily-obtainable materials over the air). After the bombing, Koernke's show was pulled, although it returned to the air within a few weeks.
In 1997, Ted Gunderson, a former FBI agent and a purveyor of the satanic ritual abuse conspiracy theory, hosted a guest on WWCR who claimed that Art Bell was a child molester. Three years later, as he announced his retirement, Bell told listeners on his show (Coast to Coast AM---not a WWCR show) that his son had been kidnapped and raped months before Gunderson's broadcast. He sued WWCR for slander, with the case eventually being settled.
By 2007, the station had hosted:
- Irwin Schiff - Irwin claimed that paying income tax was unconstitutional and so therefore the American citizen was not required to pay it. The Internal Revenue Service thought differently, however, and Schiff was eventually put behind bars for 43 years for income tax evasion.
- The Overcomer Ministry, Brother R.G. Stair - At one time, the church from Walterboro, South Carolina had WWCR's number 4 transmitter dedicated to them, belting out Brother Stair's incoherent, rambling sermons 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Stair has been a frequent target for parodies by the pirate shortwave community. Stair was arrested twice for criminal sexual conduct and pled guilty one time, and in June 2025 (four years after his death) the Overcomer Ministry stopped buying airtime on radio due to it no longer having the donations needed to support its massive purchases.
- Unshackled! - Quite possibly the only radio drama left in the world. The Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, Illinois has been producing shows with the same format for over 50 plus years now. Complete with sappy organ music, Listeners are treated to tales of personal paths to destruction usually brought on by drugs, sex, booze, and rock and roll. Salvation is predictably found at the end and everyone lives happily ever after.
Today, WWCR mostly hosts religious programming.
External links
Some of the info in this article comes from Wikipedia.
