WSRO

WSRO (650 AM) is a radio station broadcasting Portuguese programming. Licensed to Ashland, Massachusetts, it serves the MetroWest area. The station is currently owned by Alex Langer. In October 2012, WSRO filed an application for a U.S. Federal Communications Commission construction permit to increase night power to 100 watts.

History

Although the 650 frequency in Ashland has operated since 1997, the license dates back to May 19, 1970, when WSCV in Peterborough, New Hampshire began operations on 1050 kHz. The station was owned by Frank and Beverly Harms of Syracuse, New York, and managed by John Lawrence Scott, who had hosted children's television programs in Syracuse, New York, and had started up an FM sister station, WSLE 92.1 (now WFEX). The station continued to serve Peterborough (later under the call signs of WMDK and WRPT) until 1991, when the station closed down.

In 1995, Alex Langer entered into an agreement to pay the then-owners of the station to return the WRPT license to the Federal Communications Commission in order to upgrade the facilities of his 1060 in Natick, Massachusetts, WBIV (now WQOM). A few months later, he turned around and purchased WRPT outright, and in 1996 applied to move it to 650 in Ashland, Massachusetts.