| City of license | Newburyport, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Branding | The Legends |
| Frequency | 1450 kHz |
| First air date | 1957 |
| Format | Adult Standards/Nostalgia |
| Power | 1,000 watts (unlimited) |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 15338 |
| Callsign meaning | NewBuryPort |
| Former callsigns | WCEA, WNCG[1] |
| Owner | Port Broadcasting LLC |
| Website | http://www.wnbp.com/ |
WNBP (1450 AM, "The Legends") is a radio station licensed to serve Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA. The station is owned by Westport Communications Limited Partnership. It airs an Adult Standards/Nostalgia music format.[2]
The station was assigned the WNBP call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on January 18, 1991.[1]
WNBP signed on the air in 1957 as a daytime only station at 1470 AM, owned by Puritan Broadcasting of Lynn Massachusetts. Puritan also owned WLYN 1360 AM and WLYN-FM 101.7 among stations in Brattleboro, VT and Nashua, NH. In 1982 the station moved to 1450 on the dial, added nighttime operation and changed call letters to WCEA. In 1987 the call letters were changed to WNCG; they were returned to WNBP in 1991.
Through the late 70s, 80s and 90s the station changed hands several times. In 1985 it was purchased by long time WBZ-AM, Boston, newscaster Ted Larsen and Dan Friel for $195.000. They changed the call signs to WNCG for "We're Newburyport,The Coast and Gloucester,Your Coastal Home Companion." In 1987 they sold the station to New Hampshire broadcaster Win Damon for $425,000 until being purchased in 1992 by Radio Newburyport LLC owned by Robert "Doc" Fuller for $225,000. Fuller along with partner J.J. Jeffrey owned several other stations under their company name Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting. WNBP was a sole venture of Fuller with his longtime friend Al Mozier as General Manager. Although J.J. Jeffrey was not part of the ownership, his voice was used for all the recorded imaging and promotional announcements. From 1992 to 2001, many improvements to the station were made by Fuller and Mozier including purchasing all new studio equipment, Audisk and later Air-Traffic-Control automation, new BE-1 transmitter and installing a new tower and ground system at the transmitter site on Ferry Road in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
In September 2004, Radio Newburyport LLC (Robert Fuller, president) announced a deal had been reached to sell WNBP to Westport Communications LP (Todd Tanger, managing member) for a reported sale price of $500,000.[3] The deal was brokered by Frank Boyle of Frank Boyle and Associates. At the time of the sale, Westport Communications owned only one other station, WBOQ (104.9 FM).[4] WNBP's studios were relocated to nearby Beverly, Massachusetts, but the station still focused its local news and community coverage on the greater Newburyport area.[5]
In March 2009 WNBP was sold by Westport Communications to Port Broadcasting, LLC. (owned by Carl Strube, Peter Falconi and Robert Couture) The station began broadcasting from new downtown Newburyport studios on March 13. The format remains the same.
Former WBOQ DJ Jacky Ankeles debuted on WNBP on October 18, 2010, with a show running weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.