WSRS began operation as W1XTG in 1940 from Mount Asnebumskit in Paxton, Massachusetts, later moving to 102.7 FM. It was owned by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, along with WTAG. By 1950, it had switched to its current frequency of 96.1 MHz as WTAG-FM. Initially simulcasting WTAG, the station began a separate Beautiful Music format around 1960, playing mostly instrumental cover versions of popular songs, along with Hollywood and Broadwayshow tunes in quarter hour sweeps. It also would play an occasional vocal selection. Knight Quality Stations purchased WTAG-FM from the Telegram & Gazette in 1963. As the newspaper retained ownership of sister station WTAG, Knight was required to change WTAG-FM's call sign. With the concurrent advent of FM stereo broadcasting, the station took the call letters WSRS, which stood for "Worcester's Stereo Radio Station". Knight later purchased WTAG from the Telegram & Gazette in 1987. The station continued to offer an instrumental based easy listening format well into the 1980s. By then, though, WSRS began mixing softer pop songs into the format. By 1982, WSRS was playing one vocalist per quarter-hour. Half were adult contemporary/baby boomer artists, and half were adult standards singers. By 1984, the station was about half vocal and half instrumental. In 1985, WSRS evolved into more of a vocal-based easy-listening format with the instrumentals eliminated, except for hits such as "Music Box Dancer," "Chariots of Fire," "Rise" and "Theme from A Summer Place." In 1986, WSRS cut back on standards artists and evolved into more of a soft adult contemporary sound. By 1989, more uptempo artists were heard, along with Motown and other pop 1960s hits. The DJs also began adding more personality to their presentations. WSRS still played almost no current music. By 1994, WSRS had made the transition to a mainstream adult contemporary station. In 1997, WSRS and WTAG were sold to Capstar Broadcasting. In 1999, as a result of a merger with Chancellor Media, AMFM Broadcasting became the owner of WTAG and WSRS. Clear Channel Communications assumed ownership of the station in a 2000 merger with AMFM. In 2014, Clear Channel was renamed iHeartMedia, Inc. Starting in the early 2000s, WSRS switches to all-Christmas music every mid-November, lasting until Christmas Day. After Christmas 2015, the station re-branded from "96.1 WSRS" to "96-1 SRS". It began using the new slogan of "Today's Variety." Although the old web site address of wsrs.com still worked, 961srs.com was introduced along with a new logo.
HD Radio
In 2004, WSRS began broadcasting in the HD Radio hybrid format, simulcasting the analog audio on its HD1 subchannel. In 2007, it added "Pride Radio," an iHeartRadio LGBTQdance music service, to the WSRS-HD2 subchannel. In 2009, Pride Radio was temporarily replaced by a classic hits type format for a couple of months, then returned for a while. In the early 2010s, the HD2 subchannel began carrying a 1980s classic hits sound. Pride Radio is now heard on the HD2 subchannel of co-owned WBWL in Boston.
