WERN

WERN (88.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Madison, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and is the flagship of WPR's "NPR News and Classical Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming.

WERN

Madison, Wisconsin
Frequency	88.7 MHz
Programming
Format	Public radio, Classical music, News
Subchannels	HD2: All Classical HD3: Ideas (Talk)
Affiliations	Wisconsin Public Radio, NPR, American Public Media
Ownership
Owner	Wisconsin Educational Communications Board
Sister stations	WHA
History
First air date	1947
Former call signs	WHA-FM (1947-1974)
Call sign meaning	Wisconsin Educational Radio Network (early branding for network)[1]
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	63030
Class	B
ERP	20,500 watts
HAAT	385 meters (1,263 ft)
Translator(s)	HD3: 90.9 W215AQ (Madison)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Stream
Website	Wisconsin Public Radio

The station first signed on in 1947, as the first FM station in what would become Wisconsin Public Radio. It was originally known as WHA-FM, after its AM sister, WHA; it became WERN in 1974.

Since Ideas Network flagship WHA must reduce its power to an all-but-unlistenable level at night, WERN airs a simulcast of the Ideas Network on its HD3 channel. This is used to feed a low-powered translator at 90.9 FM for non-HD Radio listeners.[2] WERN's position on the low end of the FM dial, relatively high transmitter location and power allow for a large coverage area which affords WPR's News/Classical network a strong signal across Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois including well into the Rockford area and Metro Milwaukee.