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In July of 2007, Pastor Jeff York (Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Russell) was contacted by Bob Moore, a broadcast engineer who has worked with several Calvary Chapels across the country in securing construction permits for AM, FM, and low-power FM stations. Bob informed us that for the first time in more than eight years, the FCC would be opening a filing window for full-power FM stations in the non-commercial/educational frequency band. He warned us that competition would be fierce, with thousands of applicants for a small pool of frequencies. Because the FCC would be using a “points” system to resolve conflicts between applications, it could be a decade or more before some applications were granted. After a great deal of prayer we decided to pursue two applications – one in Bradford, PA and one in Tidioute, PA.

 

By December of 2007 we were informed that our Tidioute application was in a group of mutually exclusive applications that stretched from Erie, PA to Vermont.  Our application was in the top ten, but probably not a winner.  However, our Bradford application was only mutually exclusive with one other applicant, which was another Christian radio station.  Our engineer determined that if both applicants would agree to making a small engineering change it would result in both parties applications being approved and construction permits issued.  It was truly a miracle.  We contacted the other party and confirmed that they were willing to make the necessary changes.  Our mutual engineers filed amended applications and we went back to waiting.

 

In January of 2009, almost a year later, the FCC granted a construction permit for a 3.5 kilowatt radio station to broadcast on 90.5 from Bradford, PA.  We then began the long and arduous task of locating a suitable tower, securing a lease, and investigating the equipment we would need to purchase to make WTWT-FM a reality. In February of 2010, our online stream was launched and people began listening to WTWT-FM on the Internet.