WUPE-FM

Broadcast area Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Branding Whoopee
Slogan Classic Hits
Repeater(s) W277CJ-FM
Format Classic Hits
ERP 1,150 watts
HAAT 153 meters
Class A
Facility ID 4821
Callsign meaning Whoopie[1]
Former callsigns WMNB-FM (1964-1988)
WMNB (1988-2006)
Owner Gamma Broadcasting, LLC
(Berkshire Broadcasting Co., Inc.)
Sister stations WBEC, WBEC-FM, WNAW, WSBS, WUPE
Webcast Listen Live
Website wupe.com

WUPE-FM (100.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to North Adams, Massachusetts, USA, WUPE-FM serves the Pittsfield area. The station is owned by Gamma Broadcasting.[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] One month later, WMNB began to simulcast an oldies format with another Vox station, WUPE (95.9).[13] The station took the WUPE-FM callsign two years later, as part of a larger shuffle that resulted 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]

The Current line up on WUPE is "Whoopee in the Morning" with Cheryl Adams, Middays Eric Greene, Afternoon Drive Todd Lee, Mike Harvey Nights.

References

  1. ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  2. ↑ "WUPE-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-142. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Broadcasting Yearbook 1965 (PDF). 1965. p. B-74. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1967 (PDF). 1967. p. B-111. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1971 (PDF). 1971. pp. B–99–100. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1974 (PDF). 1974. p. B-100. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  8. ↑ "WUPE-FM Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  9. ↑ Fybush, Scott (November 19, 1996). "MusicAmerica Returns". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  10. ↑ Fybush, Scott (February 19, 1999). "Chaos at 'CVB...and CBC". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  11. ↑ Fybush, Scott (November 10, 2003). "Christmas Keeps Getting Earlier...". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  12. ↑ Fybush, Scott (May 17, 2004). "Remembering Nick Berg". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  13. ↑ Fybush, Scott (June 28, 2004). "Millennium Adds Two in NJ". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  14. ↑ Fybush, Scott (April 24, 2006). "The Bell Tolls for Diamond Dave". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  15. ↑ Fybush, Scott (April 17, 2006). "WAVM, Living Proof Settle Dispute". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Same Principal, New Company For Vox Stations". All Access. October 23, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Western Massachusetts Cluster Sold". All Access. August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  18. ↑ Venta, Lance (January 14, 2014). "Pittsfield Cluster Sale Withdrawn". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  19. ↑ Lindsay, Dick (March 30, 2014). "Providers, broadcasters working to restore service after high winds down towers". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
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