WUPE-FM
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Broadcast area | Berkshire County, Massachusetts and Bennington County, Vermont |
---|---|
Frequency | 100.1 MHz |
Branding | Whoopee |
Programming | |
Format | Classic Hits |
Ownership | |
Owner |
|
WBEC, WBEC-FM, WNAW, WSBS, WUPE | |
History | |
First air date | July 12, 1964 (as WMNB-FM) |
Former call signs | WMNB-FM (1964-1988) WMNB (1988-2006) |
Call sign meaning | Whoopie[1] |
Technical information | |
Facility ID | 4821 |
Class | A |
ERP | 1,150 watts |
HAAT | 158.8 meters (521 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°41′54″N 73°03′52″W / 42.69833°N 73.06444°W |
Repeater(s) | 1110 WUPE (Pittsfield) |
Links | |
Webcast | Listen live |
Website | wupe |
WUPE-FM (100.1 FM) is a Classic Hits radio station owned by Townsquare Media. Licensed to North Adams, Massachusetts, United States, WUPE-FM serves Pittsfield.[2]
History
The station went on the air July 12, 1964[3] as WMNB-FM, owned by the Hardman family along with WMNB (1230 AM) and the North Adams Transcript.[4] The Hardmans sold Northern Berkshire Broadcasting to Donald A. Thurston in 1966;[5] the company became Berkshire Broadcasting after the purchase of WSBS in Great Barrington in 1968.[6] By 1973, WMNB-FM had a beautiful music format, separately-programmed from the AM station[7] (though even at WMNB-FM's inception the two stations did not duplicate more than thirty percent of their programming[4]). The callsign was modified to simply WMNB on January 30, 1988,[8] after the AM station was renamed WNAW. During the mid-1990s, WMNB's format incorporated smooth jazz and soft adult contemporary programming;[9] as a whole, however, it remained one of the few remaining beautiful music stations.[10]
Vox Communications purchased Berkshire Broadcasting in November 2003,[11] with the sale closing in May 2004.[12] The next month, WMNB began simulcasting an oldies genre with another Vox station, WUPE (95.9).[13] The station took the WUPE-FM callsign two years later, as part of a larger shuffle resulting in WBEC-FM moving from 105.5 (now WWEI) to 95.9.[14] WUPE-FM's programming also began to be heard on an AM station in Pittsfield on 1110 AM.[15] Vox transferred most of its stations to Gamma Broadcasting in late 2012.[16] In August 2013, Gamma reached a deal to sell its Berkshire County radio stations, including WUPE-FM, to Reed Miami Holdings;[17] the sale was canceled on December 30, 2013.[18]
WUPE-FM's tower, along with an adjacent cell tower, collapsed on March 29, 2014 as a result of high winds, forcing the station off the air. The station stated that it would resume broadcasting with a temporary antenna by April 1. WUPE's simulcast on 1110 AM in Pittsfield and its web stream were not affected by the tower collapse.[19]
In October 2016, Gamma Broadcasting agreed to sell its stations to Galaxy Communications;[20] the sale fell through, and in 2017 the stations were acquired by Townsquare Media.[21]
See also
References
- ^ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
- ^ "WUPE-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-142. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1965 (PDF). 1965. p. B-74. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1967 (PDF). 1967. p. B-111. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1971 (PDF). 1971. pp. B-99–100. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1974 (PDF). 1974. p. B-100. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ "WUPE-FM Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (November 19, 1996). "MusicAmerica Returns". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (February 19, 1999). "Chaos at 'CVB...and CBC". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (November 10, 2003). "Christmas Keeps Getting Earlier..." NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (May 17, 2004). "Remembering Nick Berg". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (June 28, 2004). "Millennium Adds Two in NJ". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (April 24, 2006). "The Bell Tolls for Diamond Dave". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (April 17, 2006). "WAVM, Living Proof Settle Dispute". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ "Same Principal, New Company For Vox Stations". All Access. October 23, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ "Western Massachusetts Cluster Sold". All Access. August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ Venta, Lance (January 14, 2014). "Pittsfield Cluster Sale Withdrawn". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
- ^ Lindsay, Dick (March 30, 2014). "Providers, broadcasters working to restore service after high winds down towers". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ^ Venta, Lance (October 17, 2016). "Galaxy Communications Acquires Pittsfield Cluster". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ Venta, Lance (July 18, 2017). "Townsquare Media Acquires Six In Massachusetts". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
External links
- Facility details for Facility ID WUPE ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database