WTOS (AM)

WTOS (910 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bangor, Maine, United States. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting.^[2] WTOS broadcasts a mainstream rock format, simulcast with WTOS-FM (105.1 FM) in Skowhegan and WTUX (101.1 FM) in Gouldsboro.

WTOS

Simulcasting WTOS-FM Skowhegan
Bangor, Maine
Broadcast area	Bangor
Frequency	910 kHz
Branding	105 & 101 TOS
Programming
Format	Mainstream rock
Ownership
Owner	Blueberry Broadcasting (Blueberry Broadcasting, LLC)
Sister stations	WBAK, WBFB, WBFE, WKSQ, WVOM-FM
History
First air date	January 1924; 100 years ago (1924-01)
Former call signs	WABI (1924–2009) WAEI (2009–2016) WABK (2016–2019)
Call sign meaning	Top of Sugarloaf (transmitter location for WTOS-FM)
Technical information^[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	3670
Class	B
Power	5,000 watts day 210 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	44°46′51″N 68°44′54″W / 44.78083°N 68.74833°W / 44.78083; -68.74833 (WTOS)
Translator(s)	105.3 W287DM (Bangor)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.wtosfm.com

WTOS's studios and offices are on Target Industrial Circle in Bangor. The transmitter is off Wilson Street in Brewer.^[3] The station broadcasts at 5,000 watts during the day. To protect other radio stations on AM 910 at night, it reduces power to 210 watts. The station uses a non-directional antenna at all times.

History

Early years

The station was first licensed in May 1923 on 1250 kHz, to the Bangor Railway & Electric Company.^[4] The original call letters, WABI, were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call letters.

It is Maine's oldest radio station still on the air today. Several other stations, including WMB in Auburn^[5] and WPAY in Bangor,^[6] were licensed prior to WABI but have since ceased operations, with WMB being deleted two months before WABI's licensing.^[5]

Initially the station had a very limited schedule, with a first reported broadcast on January 13, 1924, of the Sunday service of the First Universalist Church.^[7][8] Starting on the evening of November 19, 1924, WABI began weekly Wednesday night broadcasts, and was reported to be "the first radio station in Maine to broadcast a regular program".^[9]

The station was briefly deleted in September 1925,^[10] but then relicensed on October 14, 1925, again as WABI on 1250 kHz, to the First Universalist Church.^[11] Under the First Universalist Church, WABI only broadcast on Sundays.^[12] In 1927, the newly formed Federal Radio Commission assigned WABI to 770 kHz, which was changed to 1200 kHz on November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the FRC's General Order 40.

By 1930, the station was owned by Pine Tree Broadcasting Corporation.^[13] In 1932, it was again transferred to the First Universalist Society.^[14] The station was owned by Community Broadcasting Service by 1935.^[15]

CBS Radio

In 1939, it became Bangor's CBS network affiliate, replacing WLBZ (620 AM, now WZON), which affiliated with the NBC Red Network.^[16] During the early 1940s, WABI again changed frequencies; the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement moved the station to 1230 kHz in 1941.^[17] WABI carried CBS's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio". In 1942, it began broadcasting at its current frequency of 910 kHz.^[18]

Originally, Community Broadcasting Service was controlled by Frederick B. Simpson.^[18] However, in 1949, health problems forced him to retire and sell WABI to a partnership between former Maine governor Horace A. Hildreth and Murray Carpenter.^[19] By then, the station had joined ABC.^[19] It swapped affiliations with WGUY (1450 AM, now off the air).^[20][21] Hildreth became the sole owner in 1953, when Carpenter sold his stake in WABI and bought WGUY.^[22] That year, WABI-TV was launched.

1960s and 1970s

On March 15, 1961,^[23] an FM sister station was put on the air at 97.1 MHz. Initially, WABI-FM (now WBFB) simulcast much of the AM station's programming. Around this time, the ABC affiliation was dropped in favor of the Mutual Broadcasting System.^[24] WABI had already carried some Mutual programming for a decade, in addition to ABC.^[25] It returned to ABC in 1964.^[26]

Community Broadcasting Service merged with Journal Publications in 1971 to form Diversified Communications.^[27] The company's broadcasting division retained the Community Broadcasting Service name until 1982, when WABI was transferred to Diversified directly.^[28] The station had a contemporary hits format by 1973, when WABI-FM broke away from the simulcast and became WBGW, a country music station.^[29] Over time, the station shifted from contemporary hits to a full service middle of the road format.

Adult standards

Diversified announced in 1993 that it would put most of its broadcasting properties, including WABI and what had become WYOU-FM, up for sale.^[30] While it would retain WABI-TV following the collapse of a deal to sell it to Vision Communications,^[31] the radio stations were sold to Bangor Radio Corporation.^[30][32]

Bangor Radio switched WABI to an adult standards format.^[33] The station affiliated with Transtar Radio Networks, carrying its AM Only service, airing a mix of standards and soft oldies, with news from CNN's radio network.^[34] A year later, WABI and its FM station, now called WWBX, were sold to Gopher Hill Broadcasting.^[35]

Clear Channel ownership

Clear Channel Communications signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Gopher Hill in early 2001.^[36] A few weeks later, it bought WABI and WWBX.^[37]

In 2005, Clear Channel switched WABI to a talk radio format, complementing its other talk station, WVOM (103.9 FM).^[38] During this time, programs included a simulcast of WVOM's morning show, Maine in the Morning, hosted by longtime WABI personality George Hale, as well as Dr. Joy Browne, Clark Howard, Dr. Laura, and Coast to Coast AM. The standards format returned two years later.^[39]

Sports radio

Clear Channel announced on November 16, 2006 that it would sell its Bangor stations after the company was bought by private equity firms.^[40] Clear Channel's Bangor cluster was sold to Blueberry Broadcasting in 2008.^[41] Blueberry again dropped WABI's standards format on September 1, this time for sports talk provided by Boston's WEEI. The station also began to once again simulcast with 97.1, renamed WAEI-FM.^[42] Though WABI carried WEEI's talk shows, most game broadcasts were not aired on the station. To reflect the new format, on February 24, 2009, the WABI call letters were dropped after over 84 years and became WAEI.^[43]

Blueberry Broadcasting ended WAEI's affiliation with WEEI on January 11, 2010.^[44][45] WEEI programming was replaced with Fox Sports Radio.^[45][46] Blueberry cited a breach of contract.^[45] WAEI moved exclusively to the AM dial on February 6, 2012, when WAEI-FM (which had swapped dial positions with WBFB on September 1, 2011 and moved to 104.7 FM) became classic hits station WBAK.^[47]

As a sports radio station, in addition to Fox Sports Radio programming, the station aired the syndicated Imus in the Morning^[48] and The Jim Rome Show.^[45] Other programming included Downtown with Rich Kimball, a locally produced sports talk show hosted by Rich Kimball.^[49] Kimball later moved to WEZQ. WAEI also aired NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races, which are now carried by WBAN, and Maine Black Bears basketball and baseball games, which now air on WGUY.

Classic hits

On September 1, 2013, WAEI was taken off the air. Blueberry officials told the Bangor Daily News "We have not made any final decisions regarding what’s going to happen with that radio station."^[50] In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the company stated that it intended to sell the station, and that if a buyer was not found, the license would be surrendered.^[51]

On August 28, 2014, WAEI returned to the air, simulcasting classic hits-formatted WABK-FM from Gardiner.^[52] On May 13, 2015, WAEI went silent due to a transmitter failure.^[53] On March 3, 2016, WAEI again returned to the air, once again simulcasting WABK-FM.^[54] WAEI changed its call sign to WABK on July 26, 2016.^[43] (The WABK call letters had originally been on AM 1280 in Gardiner for about five decades; that station was sold in 2014 and switched its call sign to WJYE.)

WTOS-FM simulcast

On January 11, 2019, WABK switched to a simulcast of Skowhegan-based mainstream rock station WTOS-FM, under the new WTOS call letters.^[55] Thanks to WTOS’ FM translator, WTOS-FM now has another FM signal in Bangor at 105.3, for listeners who have trouble receiving the principal FM signal at 105.1 FM.

Translators

Broadcast translator for WTOS

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	FID	ERP (W)	Class	Transmitter coordinates	FCC info
W287DM	105.3 FM	Bangor, Maine	202176	250	D	44°46′50.9″N 68°44′51.9″W / 44.780806°N 68.747750°W / 44.780806; -68.747750 (W287DM)	LMS

Former logos

   

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WTOS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. "WTOS Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
3. Radio-Locator.com/WTOS-AM
4. "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1923, page 3.
5. Mishkind, Barry (October 15, 2008). "The Oldest Stations in the United States by State". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
6. "A Chronology of AM Radio Broadcasting 1900-1960".
7. "Clippings for Maine People", Waterville (Maine) Morning Sentinel, January 16, 1924, page 4.
8. "Maine Folk, Fact and Fancy: Earl Dow of Rockport", Portland (Maine) Press Herald, January 19, 1924, page 8.
9. "Radio Broadcasts: Station WABI, Bangor, Opens", Lewiston (Maine) Evening Journal, November 21, 1924, page 15.
10. "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, October 1, 1925, page 8.
11. "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, November 2, 1925, page 3.
12. "No Reduction of WCSH Power". Lewiston Evening Journal. September 12, 1928. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
13. "U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1930". History of American Broadcasting. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
14. Butler, Fred Clayton, ed. (May 1932). (PDF). Radex. Cleveland, Ohio: The Radex Press: 72. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
15. Butler, Fred Clayton, ed. (September 1935). (PDF). Radex. Cleveland, Ohio: The Radex Press: 102. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
16. Taylor, Page, ed. (October 1939). (PDF). Radex. Teaneck, New Jersey: The Radex Publishing Company: 72. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
17. La Rocque, Ray, ed. (January 1942). (PDF). Radex. Teaneck, New Jersey: The Radex Publishing Company: 59. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
18. Broadcasting Yearbook 1943 (PDF). 1943. p. 100. Retrieved June 1, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
19. "Hildreth Partner In Radio Station WABI". Sun Journal. Lewiston, Maine. September 15, 1949. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
20. Broadcasting Yearbook 1949 (PDF). 1949. p. 142. Retrieved June 2, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
21. Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 (PDF). 1950. p. 162. Retrieved June 2, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
22. Broadcasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1954 (PDF). 1954. p. 163. Retrieved June 2, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
23. (PDF). 1989. p. B-133. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
24. Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 (PDF). 1963. p. B-81. Retrieved June 3, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
25. Broadcasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1952 (PDF). 1952. p. 155. Retrieved June 3, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
26. (PDF). 1965. p. B-68. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
27. "Publication Firm, TV Unit Merge". Bangor Daily News. January 21, 1971. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
28. "Application Search Details (1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
29. (PDF). 1974. p. B-93. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
30. Kekacs, Andrew (December 15, 1993). "Upheaval in Bangor Radio, TV". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
31. "Hildreth heirs to keep WABI-TV". Bangor Daily News. May 28, 1994. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
32. "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
33. Fybush, Scott (October 9, 1996). "Meet the New 'FNX..." New England RadioWatch. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
34. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-199
35. Fybush, Scott (July 10, 1997). "On and Off the Air". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
36. Fybush, Scott (April 4, 2001). . New England RadioWatch. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
37. Fybush, Scott (April 16, 2001). "Clear Channel Buys Two in Maine". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
38. "Big Box Radio static" (letter to the editor). Bangor Daily News. October 19, 2005. Retrieved June 3, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
39. Neff, Andrew (December 19, 2007). "Hale wins regional award; studio named in his honor". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 3, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
40. Fybush, Scott (November 20, 2006). "Dark Days All Around". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
41. Fybush, Scott (May 5, 2008). "The Sales Market Heats Up". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
42. (PDF) (Press release). Entercom Communications. August 20, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-06. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
43. "Call Sign History (WTOS)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
44. Heslam, Jessica (January 14, 2010). "Lawrence pastor 'proud' of Conan O'Brien". Boston Herald. Retrieved January 14, 2010. "Unfortunately, our affiliate in Bangor chose to end its contract with us (Tuesday)," said WEEI program director Jason Wolfe.
45. Neff, Andrew (January 16, 2010). "Bangor stations drop WEEI". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved January 17, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
46. "Bangor Affiliates Drop WEEI Programming". All Access. January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
47. . Radio-Info.com. February 6, 2012. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
48. "Sports Round up". Radio-Info.com. February 1, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
49. Mahoney, Larry (August 26, 2011). "New radio sports talk show in Bangor features Rich Kimball". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
50. McCrea, Nick (September 20, 2013). "Bangor AM sports radio station taken off air; company official says its future undecided". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
51. "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 10, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
52. "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. August 28, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
53. "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. May 15, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
54. "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 1, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
55. WTOS Expands Into Bangor Radioinsight - January 14, 2019

External links

• Official website
• WTOS in the FCC AM station database
• WTOS in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• W287DM in the FCC FM station database
• W287DM at FCCdata.org