WEBE

WEBE

Westport, Connecticut
Broadcast area	Fairfield County Greater New Haven Central Long Island
Frequency	107.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	WEBE108
Programming
Format	Adult contemporary
Ownership
Owner	Connoisseur Media (Connoisseur Media Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WEZN-FM WFOX WICC WPLR WYBC-FM
History
First air date	September 1, 1962 (1962-09-01)
Former call signs	WMMM-FM (1962–1970) WDJF (1970–1984)
Call sign meaning	phonetically pronounced as "Wee-Bee"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	71389
Class	B
ERP	20,500 watts
HAAT	202 meters (663 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°16′44.3″N 73°11′6.4″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	webe108.com

WEBE (107.9 FM) – branded as WEBE108 – is a commercial adult contemporary music radio station licensed to Westport, Connecticut. Owned by Connoisseur Media, the station serves the Greater New Haven and Fairfield County, Connecticut areas. The WEBE studios are located on Wheelers Farms Road in Milford with other Connoisseur radio stations, while the station's transmitter is located on the Hi-Ho Tower off Booth Hill Road in Shelton (from the FCC website). Besides a standard analog transmission, WEBE broadcasts in HD and is available online.

History

The frequency of 107.9 MHz was originally assigned by the Federal Communications Commission to Westport, Connecticut, under its Table of Allocations. On September 1, 1962, WMMM-FM signed on the air as the FM counterpart to WMMM (now WSHU). WMMM-AM-FM were owned by the Westport Broadcasting Company headed by Sydney J. Flamm. WMMM was a daytimer station. When it went off the air at sunset each evening, WMMM-FM allowed its programming to continue to be heard.

The stations broadcast out of offices and studios located above a deli at 163 Main Street in Westport. The broadcasting antenna for 107.9 FM was located in a residential neighborhood in Wilton. The power was 5,200 watts, a fraction of its current output, with an antenna height above average terrain (HAAT) of only 79 feet, so the broadcast radius of the station was quite limited.

In 1970, WMMM-FM got the new call sign WDJF. The FM station continued to simulcast WMMM for a few more years, and would later switch to an automated adult contemporary format. The station's power was increased to 50,000 watts of power, and relocated to a taller tower.

In 1984, the station was acquired by a company known as "The 108 Radio Company Ltd. Partnership", and would switch the call letters to WEBE. In addition, automation was ended and live DJs handled most air shifts. In 1987, the ownership changed to a company calling itself "WEBE Associates." In 2000, ownership changed again, this time to Nassau Broadcasting LLC. Cumulus Media acquired Nassau Broadcasting in March 2002. Cumulus also owned WICC.

On April 15, 2019, Cumulus Media announced that WEBE and WICC would be swapped to Connoisseur Media, which began operating the stations under a local marketing agreement (LMA) on May 1, 2019. The swap was consummated on June 26, 2019.

HD radio

Cumulus Broadcasting began upgrading its stations to HD Radio broadcasting in 2005. One of the first ten stations to get changed to HD transmission was WEBE. WEBE's HD2 subchannel carries the talk format heard on co-owned WICC.

External links

• WEBE108 official website
• History of Westport Connecticut Radio
• Facility details for Facility ID WEBE ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database