Issue link: http://southshoremagazine.uberflip.com/i/987785
31 TheSouthShoreMagazine.com When Ed Perry and his late wife, Carol, first went about creating a radio station in the early 70s, several people declared that a radio station in Marshfield would never survive. Naysayers derided the concept, and some even tried to block its construction. Forty years later, 95.9 FM WATD is one of the most respected stations in the state. For the past ten years, WATD has won the Associated Press' "Bay State Award" for best local news operations, and it is one of the few radio stations to have won five Edward R. Murrow Awards for national news excellence. Part of WATD's success is due to its sense of duty to the community. Perry, still the owner, considers having a license to operate a radio station to be a great privilege. There is a finite amount of radio frequencies, so there are limited licenses available. "If you're operating on a public medium and have a license to use the airwaves, you owe it to the public to do the programming that's going to benefit them," says Perry. WATD honors that privilege by consistently providing reliable, quality content. Aside from delivering the news, weather, sports and music, WATD keeps the public apprised about relevant topics with its wide variety of talk shows and specialty evening shows. Not a week goes by that the station doesn't receive a thank you from someone about a program that touched, helped or informed them in some way. Perry values the way that radio gives people a wide-ranging platform and a voice. When famous author, storyteller and solo- performer Jay O'Callahan of Marshfield arranged to read his story "Forged in the Stars" as a fundraiser for the Marshfield National Historical Society, a snowstorm threatened the event. WATD arranged a live broadcast of the performance so that those without tickets or those fearing the weather might still hear it. It was such a hit that O'Callahan did his own show on WATD, hosting writers who read from their own works. The writers were truly grateful; it meant so much to take what they love and bring it to the public. photo credit: John Shea by Erica Ford The South Shore's Radio Station: 40 Years & Counting