West Coast Talk Radio

This is the radio station in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. For the station in Grand Theft Auto V, see WCTR 95.6.

The WCTR logo.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, West Coast Talk Radio or WCTR is a talk radio show with many liberals, conservatives, and exotic people. It is owned by Ammu-Nation. Headquartered in Los Santos, WCTR consists of several programs.

Programs

GTA San Andreas

WCTR News: Hosted by Lianne Forget with Richard Burns, which features up-to-date news in the state of San Andreas, often reporting incidents that happened in a mission.
The Tight End Zone: Sports program hosted by Derrick Thackery. As such, Thackery does not actually care as much about the sports he loves than the passions aroused from it.
The Wild Traveler: Travel program hosted by James Pedeaston. For a record, Pedeaston is a child molester wanted in Malaysia and is currently being investigated by the FBI. He enjoys traveling the world and logging some of his most 'exotic' encounters in his travelogue, some of which he accidentally reads on-air to the (unintentional) disgust of listeners. His show appears to be so reviled by his listeners that at one point, he receives no calls at all.
Entertaining America: Entertainment program hosted by Billy Dexter and later Lazlow, featuring various guests. Dexter is accidentally shot in the head by a gun-wielding Jack Howitzer, and after a rather lengthy hiatus (which includes Howitzer's subsequent conviction on WCTR news) is replaced by Lazlow, who is also credited with producing all DJ banters and commercials in-game. There are a few appearances by aspiring rapper Jeffrey "OG Loc" Cross and his manager and secondary antagonist Melvin "Big Smoke" Harris, while also apparently featuring celebrity gangsta rapper Madd Dogg. At one point, Darius Fontaine, the founder of Inversion Therapy, has an argument with Lonely Hearts host Fernando Martinez, which Lazlow repeatedly denies being part of, on-air.
Gardening with Maurice: Gardening show hosted by Maurice. Being obsessed with gardens, Maurice has a rather horny personality; he not only loves his gardens, but his own body as well. For example, he likes to take pictures of both when they are "blossoming." He also offers unorthodox advice and unusual plant suggestions to callers.
I Say/You Say: Political debate show hosted by husband-and-wife liberal-and-conservative team of Peyton Phillips and Mary Phillips. Peyton and Mary are caricatures of their ideologies; Peyton having communist inclinations while Mary plays 'greedy capitalist'. For example, when dealing with a caller that had recently buried the corpses of numerous illegal immigrants in his backyard, Mary advises the caller on how to use the corpses to evade his taxes while Peyton mentions recycling and organ donation. Early shows feature a desperate Lazlow looking for a radio job, asking if he can take Peyton's and stating that he used to be on the radio "back in the day", referring to his jobs as radio talk show host of V-Rock in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Lonely Hearts: Relationship advice program hosted by Christy MacIntyre, featuring Fernando Martinez; he briefly mentions being "chased out" (of Vice City) and alludes to a "Five Alarm Fire".
Area 53: A Coast to Coast AM spoof hosted by Marvin Trill. The show is dedicated to conspiracy theories and UFO sightings. Regardless of in-game development, the player can always hear The Truth promising to Marvin he will bring proof of the aliens' existence, and after completion of Green Goo and possibly End of the Line, he starts claiming in subsequent appearances on-air that he has proof in his hand, a reference to the vial of blob-and-slime he collected in the former mission.

News

Depending on a player's progress through the game's storyline, the segments played on WCTR will change. Thus, during one segment of the game, the player may only hear specific portions of programs not to be heard again as new segments are aired. This phenomenon is prominent in the 'WCTR News', 'Entertaining America', and 'The Wild Traveler' programs. Various intros, outros and comments delivered by Barbara Fox. Several characters from the main game make cameos in the radio programs and advertising.

Across almost the entire in-game storyline, host Lianne Forget ends the bulletin with the pessimistic quotation "This is the end" or "The end is near", but after End of the Line, she unambiguously shows a rather positive attitude, ending with the quotation "This is the end. And a new beginning!"

GTA IV

At least some elements of WCTR existed in the Grand Theft Auto IV continuity, as Entertaining America is mentioned with relation to Lazlow's work on Integrity 2.0.