fbpx
Wikipedia

WMYF (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)

October 28, 2023

WMYF (1380 AM) was the call sign assigned from 1998 to 2016, and the last call sign used on the air, for radio station WPLA in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. The station, which was established in 1960 as WBBX and operated until 2015, served the Seacoast Region. The station was last owned by iHeartMedia.[2] Following call sign changes to WMGE and WPLA—both transferred other iHeartMedia stations, and never used on the air—the station's license was canceled in June 2017.

WMYF
Final logo as "Classic Country 1380"
Broadcast areaSeacoast Region
Frequency1380 kHz
Programming
FormatDefunct
Ownership
Owner
WERZ, WHEB, WPKX, WQSO, WTBU
History
First air date
December 5, 1960 (as WBBX)[1]
Last air date
December 9, 2015
Former call signs
  • WBBX (1960–1985)
  • WAVI (1985–1987)
  • WQMI (1987–1989)
  • WCQL (1989–1995)
  • WTMN (1995–1998)
  • WMYF (1998–2016)
  • WMGE (2016; unused on air)
  • WPLA (2016–2017; unused on air)
Technical information
Facility ID35217
ClassB
Power1,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
43°3′48″N 70°47′9″W / 43.06333°N 70.78583°W / 43.06333; -70.78583 (WPLA)

History edit

Seacoast Broadcasting Corporation was granted a construction permit for a new station on 1380 kHz in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on June 15, 1960, and was assigned the call sign WBBX on June 27.[3] WBBX went on the air December 5, 1960.[1] The station affiliated with ABC Radio in April 1963;[4] in January 1965, WBBX became part of the New Hampshire State Network, which also included WKBK in Keene, WEMJ in Laconia, and WFEA in Manchester.[5]

Sportscaster Curt Gowdy bought WBBX for $316,000 in 1969, adding it to a broadcast group that already included WCCM AM-FM in Lawrence, Massachusetts; KOWB in Laramie, Wyoming; and a minority interest in KFBC AM-TV in Cheyenne, Wyoming, KSTF in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and KTVS in Sterling, Colorado.[6] Under Gowdy, the station programmed contemporary music, with national news supplied by ABC's Information network.[7] Gowdy sold WBBX to J. Harrison Holman's Kressman Broadcasting for $590,000 in 1977;[8] Kressman, in turn, sold it to Earl and Lois Goldstein's Seacoast Broadcasting Company three years later in a $550,000 deal.[9] By 1983, WBBX had moved to an adult contemporary format, with news now being supplied by ABC's Contemporary network.[10]

The Goldsteins sold WBBX to Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation for $485,000 in 1985; principals David and Robert Sassler owned WARE in Ware, Massachusetts.[11] The new owners changed the call sign to WAVI on May 17, 1985,[12] and moved the station to an oldies format; its network affiliation shifted to the ABC Direction Network.[13]

WAVI was silent by 1987, when Ware Communications—by this point owned by Richard L. Sadowsky, who also held a stake in the Precht Communications television station group—sold the station to Windward Communications for $325,000; principal Richard Walsh owned WQMI in York Center, Maine; WQZN and WABK-FM in Gardiner, Maine; and WPNH AM-FM in Plymouth.[14][15] Windward changed the call sign to WQMI on July 23, 1987,[12] again programming an oldies format.[16] WQMI and WQMI-FM were sold to Sunshine Group Broadcasting, owner of WGAN and WMGX in Portland, Maine; WFEA and WZID in Manchester; and WIXY and WAQY in Springfield, Massachusetts, for $3.1 million in 1989;[16] Sunshine renamed the station WCQL on March 13, 1989,[12] with oldies being supplemented with NBC Talknet programming.[17] Talk programming was dropped in October 1991 in favor of a full-time simulcast of WCQL-FM's oldies programming;[18] in January 1992, the station broke from this simulcast to become a sports radio station.[19] That November, WCQL and WCQL-FM turned their ad sales over to WZNN and WWEM, effectively becoming part of a five-station group in the Portsmouth market that also included the newly-launched WXBB.[20]

 
WMYF's logo under "The Greatest Music Ever Made" branding

Sunshine Group Broadcasting sold WCQL and WCQL-FM to Knight Quality Stations for $16 million in 1994; the deal added the stations to an eight-station group that included WHEB in Portsmouth.[21] Knight changed WCQL's call sign to WTMN on February 19, 1995.[12] Knight Quality Stations announced the sale of its eight New England radio stations, including WTMN, to Capstar Broadcasting Partners in April 1997;[22] upon assuming control in January 1998, the stations were operated by Capstar's Atlantic Star Communications subsidiary.[23] Capstar replaced WTMN's One-on-One Sports programming with Christmas music in December 1998, as part of a transition to the adult standards programming that had recently been dropped by WMYF (1540 AM);[24] the WMYF call sign, for "Music of Your Life", moved to this station on December 1.[12][25]

Capstar and Chancellor Media announced in August 1998 that they would merge (Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst was a major shareholder in both companies);[26] upon the merger's completion in July 1999, the combined company was named AMFM Inc.[27] AMFM was in turn acquired by Clear Channel Communications (forerunner to iHeartMedia) in a deal announced on October 4, 1999,[28] and completed in August 2000.[29]

On November 22, 2010, WMYF changed its format from adult standards to sports, branded as "The Sports Animal" and featuring ESPN Radio programming.[30] WMYF's lineup also included Portland Sea Dogs baseball games.[31] As of October 1, 2013, WMYF had returned to a standards format, with sports programming continuing on sister station WPKX (the former WZNN);[32] by 2015, the station was playing classic country music.[33]

WMYF went silent on December 9, 2015,[34] after losing its transmitter site.[35] The station's programming continued to be available online at its website.[33]

The call sign was changed to WMGE on September 16, 2016,[12] taking on the former call sign of an iHeart station in Miami,[36] and to WPLA on December 14, 2016,[12] swapping with a sister station in Georgia.[37] On May 17, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission informed WPLA that it was in the process of cancelling the station's license for not returning to the air within a year of going silent;[38] the license was canceled on June 29, 2017.[39] The closure of the station, following the 1991 shutdown of WHEB (750 AM), left the city of Portsmouth without any AM radio stations.[33]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-282. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  2. ^ "WPLA Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ "WBBX (WPLA) history cards" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "ABC Radio announces 12 new affiliations" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 22, 1963. p. 66. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "Four N.H. AM's band, name Segal, Stone" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 11, 1965. p. 63. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 3, 1969. p. 42. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  7. ^ 1973 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1973. p. B-126. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  8. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 4, 1977. p. 29. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 29, 1980. p. 58. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984 (PDF). 1984. p. B-163. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  11. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 4, 1985. p. 83. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "WPLA Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  13. ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984 (PDF). 1986. p. B-180. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 13, 1987. p. 85. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  15. ^ "JACOR, Shamrock Score Denver Combos" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 17, 1987. p. 12. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Santa Brings In Big Bagful Of Holiday Season Deals" (PDF). Radio & Records. January 6, 1989. p. 12. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  17. ^ The Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 (PDF). 1990. p. B-199. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  18. ^ "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. October 7, 1991. p. 1. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  19. ^ "Format Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. January 6, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  20. ^ "Elsewhere" (PDF). The M Street Journal. November 4, 1992. p. 8. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  21. ^ "Sillerman Doubles In San Diego With $17 Million For KYXY" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 6, 1994. pp. 6, 8. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  22. ^ "Cash-Rich Capstar Continues Capitalization" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 25, 1997. p. 6. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  23. ^ "Capstar buys New England radio stations". Austin Business Journal. January 9, 1998. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  24. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 11, 1998). "Big Apple's Big Changes, and, We Visit The Midwest". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  25. ^ "Call Letter Changes" (PDF). The M Street Journal. December 9, 1998. p. 6. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  26. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (August 28, 1998). "Chancellor, Capstar ink merger". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  27. ^ "Chancellor/Capstar merger creates AMFM Inc". Austin Business Journal. July 13, 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  28. ^ "Clear Channel, AMFM deal". CNN Money. October 4, 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  29. ^ Variety Staff (August 30, 2000). "Clear Channel brings AMFM into focus". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  30. ^ Fybush, Scott (November 29, 2010). "Entercom to Buy Phoenix's WFNX?". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  31. ^ Fybush, Scott (April 4, 2011). "NERW Special: Baseball on the Radio". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  32. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 16, 2013). "NERW 12/16/2013: Lee's Research Prompts B101 Rebranding". Fybush.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  33. ^ a b c Fybush, Scott (December 14, 2015). "NERW 12/14/2015: Ugly CH-CH-Changes in Hamilton". Fybush.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  34. ^ "Station Search Details".
  35. ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 10, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  36. ^ Fybush, Scott (October 17, 2016). "NERW 10/17/2016: WNRI Survives Midnight SUV Crash". Fybush.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  37. ^ Fybush, Scott (December 19, 2016). "NERW 12/19/2016: NBC Boston Adds Third Signal". Fybush.com. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  38. ^ Doyle, Peter H. (May 17, 2017). "Notification of License Expiration" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  39. ^ "Broadcast Actions" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.

External links edit

  • FCC Station Search Details: DWPLA (Facility ID: 35217)
  • FCC History Cards for WPLA (covering 1958-1980 as WBBX)


   

This article about a radio station in New Hampshire is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

October 28, 2023
wmyf, portsmouth, hampshire, wmyf, 1380, call, sign, assigned, from, 1998, 2016, last, call, sign, used, radio, station, wpla, portsmouth, hampshire, united, states, station, which, established, 1960, wbbx, operated, until, 2015, served, seacoast, region, stat. WMYF 1380 AM was the call sign assigned from 1998 to 2016 and the last call sign used on the air for radio station WPLA in Portsmouth New Hampshire United States The station which was established in 1960 as WBBX and operated until 2015 served the Seacoast Region The station was last owned by iHeartMedia 2 Following call sign changes to WMGE and WPLA both transferred other iHeartMedia stations and never used on the air the station s license was canceled in June 2017 WMYFFinal logo as Classic Country 1380 Portsmouth New HampshireBroadcast areaSeacoast RegionFrequency1380 kHzProgrammingFormatDefunctOwnershipOwneriHeartMedia Capstar TX LLC Sister stationsWERZ WHEB WPKX WQSO WTBUHistoryFirst air dateDecember 5 1960 as WBBX 1 Last air dateDecember 9 2015Former call signsWBBX 1960 1985 WAVI 1985 1987 WQMI 1987 1989 WCQL 1989 1995 WTMN 1995 1998 WMYF 1998 2016 WMGE 2016 unused on air WPLA 2016 2017 unused on air Technical informationFacility ID35217ClassBPower1 000 wattsTransmitter coordinates43 3 48 N 70 47 9 W 43 06333 N 70 78583 W 43 06333 70 78583 WPLA History editSeacoast Broadcasting Corporation was granted a construction permit for a new station on 1380 kHz in Portsmouth New Hampshire on June 15 1960 and was assigned the call sign WBBX on June 27 3 WBBX went on the air December 5 1960 1 The station affiliated with ABC Radio in April 1963 4 in January 1965 WBBX became part of the New Hampshire State Network which also included WKBK in Keene WEMJ in Laconia and WFEA in Manchester 5 Sportscaster Curt Gowdy bought WBBX for 316 000 in 1969 adding it to a broadcast group that already included WCCM AM FM in Lawrence Massachusetts KOWB in Laramie Wyoming and a minority interest in KFBC AM TV in Cheyenne Wyoming KSTF in Scottsbluff Nebraska and KTVS in Sterling Colorado 6 Under Gowdy the station programmed contemporary music with national news supplied by ABC s Information network 7 Gowdy sold WBBX to J Harrison Holman s Kressman Broadcasting for 590 000 in 1977 8 Kressman in turn sold it to Earl and Lois Goldstein s Seacoast Broadcasting Company three years later in a 550 000 deal 9 By 1983 WBBX had moved to an adult contemporary format with news now being supplied by ABC s Contemporary network 10 The Goldsteins sold WBBX to Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation for 485 000 in 1985 principals David and Robert Sassler owned WARE in Ware Massachusetts 11 The new owners changed the call sign to WAVI on May 17 1985 12 and moved the station to an oldies format its network affiliation shifted to the ABC Direction Network 13 WAVI was silent by 1987 when Ware Communications by this point owned by Richard L Sadowsky who also held a stake in the Precht Communications television station group sold the station to Windward Communications for 325 000 principal Richard Walsh owned WQMI in York Center Maine WQZN and WABK FM in Gardiner Maine and WPNH AM FM in Plymouth 14 15 Windward changed the call sign to WQMI on July 23 1987 12 again programming an oldies format 16 WQMI and WQMI FM were sold to Sunshine Group Broadcasting owner of WGAN and WMGX in Portland Maine WFEA and WZID in Manchester and WIXY and WAQY in Springfield Massachusetts for 3 1 million in 1989 16 Sunshine renamed the station WCQL on March 13 1989 12 with oldies being supplemented with NBC Talknet programming 17 Talk programming was dropped in October 1991 in favor of a full time simulcast of WCQL FM s oldies programming 18 in January 1992 the station broke from this simulcast to become a sports radio station 19 That November WCQL and WCQL FM turned their ad sales over to WZNN and WWEM effectively becoming part of a five station group in the Portsmouth market that also included the newly launched WXBB 20 nbsp WMYF s logo under The Greatest Music Ever Made brandingSunshine Group Broadcasting sold WCQL and WCQL FM to Knight Quality Stations for 16 million in 1994 the deal added the stations to an eight station group that included WHEB in Portsmouth 21 Knight changed WCQL s call sign to WTMN on February 19 1995 12 Knight Quality Stations announced the sale of its eight New England radio stations including WTMN to Capstar Broadcasting Partners in April 1997 22 upon assuming control in January 1998 the stations were operated by Capstar s Atlantic Star Communications subsidiary 23 Capstar replaced WTMN s One on One Sports programming with Christmas music in December 1998 as part of a transition to the adult standards programming that had recently been dropped by WMYF 1540 AM 24 the WMYF call sign for Music of Your Life moved to this station on December 1 12 25 Capstar and Chancellor Media announced in August 1998 that they would merge Hicks Muse Tate amp Furst was a major shareholder in both companies 26 upon the merger s completion in July 1999 the combined company was named AMFM Inc 27 AMFM was in turn acquired by Clear Channel Communications forerunner to iHeartMedia in a deal announced on October 4 1999 28 and completed in August 2000 29 On November 22 2010 WMYF changed its format from adult standards to sports branded as The Sports Animal and featuring ESPN Radio programming 30 WMYF s lineup also included Portland Sea Dogs baseball games 31 As of October 1 2013 WMYF had returned to a standards format with sports programming continuing on sister station WPKX the former WZNN 32 by 2015 the station was playing classic country music 33 WMYF went silent on December 9 2015 34 after losing its transmitter site 35 The station s programming continued to be available online at its website 33 The call sign was changed to WMGE on September 16 2016 12 taking on the former call sign of an iHeart station in Miami 36 and to WPLA on December 14 2016 12 swapping with a sister station in Georgia 37 On May 17 2017 the Federal Communications Commission informed WPLA that it was in the process of cancelling the station s license for not returning to the air within a year of going silent 38 the license was canceled on June 29 2017 39 The closure of the station following the 1991 shutdown of WHEB 750 AM left the city of Portsmouth without any AM radio stations 33 References edit a b Broadcasting amp Cable Yearbook 1999 PDF 1999 p D 282 Retrieved February 8 2012 WPLA Facility Record United States Federal Communications Commission audio division WBBX WPLA history cards PDF CDBS Public Access Federal Communications Commission Retrieved April 9 2023 ABC Radio announces 12 new affiliations PDF Broadcasting April 22 1963 p 66 Retrieved April 10 2023 Four N H AM s band name Segal Stone PDF Broadcasting January 11 1965 p 63 Retrieved April 10 2023 Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting December 3 1969 p 42 Retrieved April 10 2023 1973 Broadcasting Yearbook PDF 1973 p B 126 Retrieved April 10 2023 Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting July 4 1977 p 29 Retrieved April 10 2023 Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting September 29 1980 p 58 Retrieved April 10 2023 Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1984 PDF 1984 p B 163 Retrieved April 10 2023 Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting February 4 1985 p 83 Retrieved April 10 2023 a b c d e f g WPLA Call Sign History United States Federal Communications Commission audio division Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook 1984 PDF 1986 p B 180 Retrieved April 10 2023 Changing Hands PDF Broadcasting April 13 1987 p 85 Retrieved April 10 2023 JACOR Shamrock Score Denver Combos PDF Radio amp Records April 17 1987 p 12 Retrieved April 10 2023 a b Santa Brings In Big Bagful Of Holiday Season Deals PDF Radio amp Records January 6 1989 p 12 Retrieved April 10 2023 The Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 PDF 1990 p B 199 Retrieved April 10 2023 Format Changes PDF The M Street Journal October 7 1991 p 1 Retrieved April 10 2023 Format Changes PDF The M Street Journal January 6 1992 p 1 Retrieved April 10 2023 Elsewhere PDF The M Street Journal November 4 1992 p 8 Retrieved April 10 2023 Sillerman Doubles In San Diego With 17 Million For KYXY PDF Radio amp Records April 6 1994 pp 6 8 Retrieved April 10 2023 Cash Rich Capstar Continues Capitalization PDF Radio amp Records April 25 1997 p 6 Retrieved April 9 2023 Capstar buys New England radio stations Austin Business Journal January 9 1998 Retrieved March 28 2022 Fybush Scott December 11 1998 Big Apple s Big Changes and We Visit The Midwest North East RadioWatch Retrieved April 9 2023 Call Letter Changes PDF The M Street Journal December 9 1998 p 6 Retrieved April 10 2023 Littleton Cynthia August 28 1998 Chancellor Capstar ink merger Variety Retrieved April 9 2023 Chancellor Capstar merger creates AMFM Inc Austin Business Journal July 13 1999 Retrieved April 9 2023 Clear Channel AMFM deal CNN Money October 4 1999 Retrieved April 9 2023 Variety Staff August 30 2000 Clear Channel brings AMFM into focus Variety Retrieved April 9 2023 Fybush Scott November 29 2010 Entercom to Buy Phoenix s WFNX NorthEast Radio Watch Retrieved April 9 2023 Fybush Scott April 4 2011 NERW Special Baseball on the Radio NorthEast Radio Watch Retrieved April 10 2023 Fybush Scott December 16 2013 NERW 12 16 2013 Lee s Research Prompts B101 Rebranding Fybush com Retrieved April 10 2023 a b c Fybush Scott December 14 2015 NERW 12 14 2015 Ugly CH CH Changes in Hamilton Fybush com Retrieved April 10 2023 Station Search Details Notification of Suspension of Operations Request for Silent STA CDBS Public Access Federal Communications Commission December 10 2015 Retrieved October 9 2016 Fybush Scott October 17 2016 NERW 10 17 2016 WNRI Survives Midnight SUV Crash Fybush com Retrieved April 10 2023 Fybush Scott December 19 2016 NERW 12 19 2016 NBC Boston Adds Third Signal Fybush com Retrieved April 10 2023 Doyle Peter H May 17 2017 Notification of License Expiration PDF CDBS Public Access Federal Communications Commission Retrieved July 5 2017 Broadcast Actions PDF Federal Communications Commission July 5 2017 Retrieved July 5 2017 External links editFCC Station Search Details DWPLA Facility ID 35217 FCC History Cards for WPLA covering 1958 1980 as WBBX nbsp nbsp This article about a radio station in New Hampshire is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title WMYF Portsmouth New Hampshire amp oldid 1168275753, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.