At one time, WASR was an
adult standards station, carrying
Citadel Media's
Timeless service. It also tried
conservative talk with little success. On February 24, 2020, new station manager Eric Scott changed the format to
variety hits with some local
talk including a live call in show at noon, a local sports show on Friday afternoons, and a live
Catholic Mass Sunday mornings. WASR also carried the
WTPL-produced talk show
Good Morning New Hampshire, hosted by Jack Heath. At the end of 2023, Eric Scott retired and WASR contracted with consultant J. R. Russ Programming & Research to assist in the day to day programming. Among Russ' accomplishments was a focusing and re-branding of the station to "971 The Shore" to take advantage of the resort area known as the "Seven Lakes Region" with the slogan of "It's BETTER on the Shore". Music programming was skewed to lean more
classic rock with a
classic hits,
yacht rock and
oldies blend that was "tempo-flowed". In May of that year the
syndicated Todd Newton Morning Show from SuiteRadio was added with the initial sponsorship of a septic service company and branding the show as "The only morning show sponsored by poop" which generated considerable market publicity. Russ was the consistent voice of imaging, commercials, promos and features always with a local "Lakes Region" focus. In June 2024, the $75,000 sale of WASR from Winnipesaukee Radio Station to Dirk Nadon's Lakes Media, owner of
WWLK-FM and
WLKZ, was announced. That August, Lakes Media purchased for $7,500 a second translator for WASR: W241AJ (96.1), which had been owned by
New Hampshire Gospel Radio. In addition to WWLK-FM and WLKZ, Lakes Media owned a station in
Jefferson, New Hampshire: WCGY-FM 97.3, which signed on as country music station "Mountain Country 97.3" on July 26, 2022. On September 11, 2024, WASR replaced "The Shore" classic hits format with a
simulcast of WCGY-FM as "Mountain Country 97". ==Translators==