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WWEI
Broadcast areaSpringfield, Massachusetts
Frequency105.5 MHz
BrandingSportsRadio 105.5 WEEI-FM
Programming
FormatSports radio
AffiliationsWEEI Sports Radio Network
ESPN Radio
Westwood One
Ownership
Owner
WEEI-FM
History
First air date
October 1967 (as WQRB-FM)
Former call signs
WVEI-FM (2006–2011)
WBEC-FM (1979–2006)
WQRB (1968–1979)
WQRB-FM (1967–1968)
Call sign meaning
similar to WEEI
Technical information
Facility ID11295
ClassA
ERP720 watts horizontal
706 watts vertical
HAAT280 meters (920 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
42°14′29.3″N 72°38′55.3″W / 42.241472°N 72.648694°W / 42.241472; -72.648694 (NAD83)
Links
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteWWEI-FM site within WEEI-FM website

WWEI (105.5 FM; "SportsRadio 105.5") is a radio station in Easthampton, Massachusetts, serving Springfield with a sports radio format. The station is owned by Entercom Communications. Most programming is provided by Boston sister station WEEI-FM.

History

The 105.5 MHz frequency used by WWEI was originally allocated to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where it signed on in October 1967[1] as WQRB-FM.[2] It was co-owned with WBEC (1420 AM), though it offered its own programming;[2] this was a middle-of-the-road format by 1972.[3] The station became WBEC-FM in 1979, upon adopting an album-oriented rock format.[4] During the 1980s, the station shifted to more of a contemporary hit radio format.[1]

Vox Media acquired the WBEC stations in 2002.[5] Two years later, to accommodate then-sister station WNYQ (now WQSH)'s move to Malta, New York, Vox filed to move WBEC-FM to Easthampton in 2004.[6] Vox then put the station up for sale, and after an unsuccessful attempt to sell it to Pamal Broadcasting,[7] it was sold to Entercom in 2006.[8] WBEC-FM signed off from Pittsfield that May,[9] with the format and call letters moving to 95.9 FM (a former frequency of WUPE-FM) at that time.[10] The current incarnation of the station signed on as WVEI-FM from Easthampton on October 26.[11] The call letters were changed to WWEI on September 14, 2011.[12]

On June 13, 2012 it was announced that WWEI would carry UMass Minutemen football and UMass Minutemen basketball games. In the event of conflicts with Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics broadcasts, station manager David Oldread said "his station would prefer to keep UMass as the priority." It is not known yet whether the Celtics or Sox games would air on WHYN (560 AM) during such conflicts. As part of the deal, every Thursday at 7pm, WWEI airs The Coaches Show hosted by UMass Football analyst Matt Goldstein (with interviews with head UMass Football coach and head UMass Basketball coach) over WEEI programming. Also, every Friday at 7pm during Springfield Falcons hockey season, WWEI airs The Old Time Hockey Show, which discusses the Falcons, the Boston Bruins, and the NHL.[13]

WWEI formerly carried Fox Sports Radio in the overnight hours, even after parent station WEEI switched to ESPN Radio in 2009; at that time, ESPN programming was heard in Springfield on WHLL. At midnight on January 1, 2013, WWEI assumed the ESPN Radio affiliation. (WHLL is now a CBS Sports Radio affiliate.)

References

  1. ^ a b Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-143. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Broadcasting Yearbook 1968 (PDF). 1968. p. B-103. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  3. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 (PDF). 1973. p. B-96. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 (PDF). 1980. p. C-108. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  5. ^ Fybush, Scott (July 29, 2002). "Vox buys WBEC (Really!)". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  6. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 6, 2004). "WAQX-Stern Feud Escalates". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  7. ^ Fybush, Scott (May 1, 2006). "Unanswered Questions in Boston". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009. The deal with Pamal was never consummated…
  8. ^ Fybush, Scott (February 20, 2006). "WEEI heads west with WBEC-FM buy". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  9. ^ Fybush, Scott (May 8, 2006). "Sox & Entercom: So Happy Together?". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  10. ^ Fybush, Scott (April 17, 2006). "WAVM, Living Proof Settle Dispute". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  11. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 30, 2006). "CC Cutbacks in Rochester Claim Five Jobs". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  12. ^ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  13. ^ "105.5 FM WWEI Springfield talks details on new UMass football, basketball broadcast agreement". Masslive. The Springfield Republican. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
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