{{short description|Public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin}} {{about|the American FM radio station|the German river|Wern}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox radio station | name = WERN | logo = Wisconsin Public Radio Logo.png | city = [[Madison, Wisconsin]] | country = US | area = [[Madison metropolitan area]] | frequency = {{Frequency|88.7|[[MHz]]}} {{HD Radio}} | translators = {{ubl|{{Radio Relay|90.5|W213CE|Madison|HD2}}|{{Radio Relay|107.9|W300BM|Madison|HD2}}}} | airdate = {{Start date|1947|03|30}} | format = [[Public radio]] and [[talk radio|talk]] | subchannels = HD2: WPR Music | erp = 20,500 watts | haat = {{convert|385|m|ft|sp=us}} | class = B | licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] | facility_id = 63030 | coordinates = | callsign_meaning = "Wisconsin Educational Radio Network" | former_callsigns = WHA-FM (1947–1974) | network = [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] | affiliations = {{hlist|[[NPR]]|[[American Public Media|APM]]|[[Classical 24]]}} | owner = [[Wisconsin Educational Communications Board]] | sister_stations = [[WHA (AM)|WHA]] | webcast = [https://www.wpr.org/ways-to-listen Listen live] | website = [https://www.wpr.org wpr.org] }}
'''WERN''' (88.7 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[non-commercial educational station|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 (broadcasting)|flagship]] of WPR's News Network alongside [[WHA (AM)|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;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=95 |title="HD Radio Guide for Madison, Wisconsin" |access-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-date=November 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105230002/http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=95 |url-status=dead }}</ref> its HD-2 [[digital subchannel]] carries the WPR Music network and feeds [[Broadcast relay station|FM translators]] W213CE (90.5 FM) and W300BM (107.9 FM).
==History== The station signed on the air on March 30, 1947 as WHA-FM.<ref>[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.</ref> It was the first FM station in the network that would become Wisconsin Public Radio. It took its call sign Dyk sister station [[WHA (AM)|WHA]] (970 AM). At first, WHA-FM simulcast WHA's mix of classical music, news, university lectures and public affairs shows. Originally, WHA was a [[daytimer]]. When it had to go off the air at sunset, 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wpr.org/about/hd_innovation.cfm |title=Wisconsin Public Radio - A History of Broadcast Innovation |access-date=January 21, 2012 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629160017/http://www.wpr.org/about/hd_innovation.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Because WHA-FM/WERN began broadcasting before current maximum levels were set by the [[Federal Communications Commission]], the station's signal is [[grandfather clause|grandfathered]]. It runs at a higher power for its [[height above average terrain]] (HAAT) than would be permitted today.
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 nighttime coverage switched to the all-classical WPR Music network after this realignment occurred.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the new WPR! |url=https://www.wpr.org/new |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=WPR |language=en-US}}</ref> The change substantially improved coverage of NPR news programming in Madison. WHA had begun nighttime operations in 1987, but must reduce its power to all-but unlistenable levels at night. For decades, WPR made up for this gap in coverage with translators, fringe coverage from neighboring stations, and later HD Radio subchannels. In contrast, WERN penetrates further into south-central Wisconsin, and into buildings, than the two translators. This allows WPR News to be heard at full power 24 hours a day on a strong signal covering much of Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, including parts the [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]] area and parts of [[Milwaukee metropolitan area|Metro Milwaukee]].
==See also== * [[Wisconsin Public Radio]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.wpr.org/ Wisconsin Public Radio] *{{FM station data|63030|WERN}} *{{FCC-LMS-Facility|83023|W213CE}} *{{FMXL|W213CE}}
{{Madison Radio}} {{NPR Wisconsin}}
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[[Category:Radio stations in Wisconsin|ERN]] [[Category:Wisconsin Public Radio]] [[Category:NPR member stations]] [[Category:Public radio stations in the United States]] [[Category:Radio stations established in 1947]]