WRPS

WRPS
City of license Rockland, Massachusetts
Frequency 88.3 MHz
First air date February 1974
Format High School
ERP 105 watts, Stereo
HAAT 42 meters (138 feet)
Class A
Facility ID 57299
Transmitter coordinates 42°07′43″N 70°55′01″W / 42.12861°N 70.91694°W
Callsign meaning Rockland Public Schools
Owner Rockland Public Schools
Website WRPS Radio 88.3FM

WRPS (88.3 FM) is a high school radio station licensed to serve Rockland, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Rockland Public Schools and operated by the staff and students of Rockland High School. It airs a combination high school/Hot AC music format in Stereo.[1]

The station was assigned the WRPS call letters by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),[2] and began operations in February 1974.

Alumni

In 1980, the late legendary Boston broadcaster Fred B. Cole hosted a show every weekday afternoon playing big band records from his personal collection.[3] Also in 1980, Dave Stewart of WCBS-FM (101.1), New York City began his career at WRPS while attending Junior High School in Rockland. He had been the late-night host at WPLJ (95.5) since 1989 until 2011. He is now the overnight host on 'CBS-FM (101.1) in New York. In 1981 7th grader Kevin Keleher, mentored by the late legendary Boston broadcaster Fred B. Cole began his tenure at WRPS-FM. Kevin worked closely with Dave Stewart, Fred B. Cole, and station manager Steve Budd to form a solid broadcast team. While Dave Stewart went on to Emerson and the "bright lights of Broadway", Kevin left WRPS is 1984 and went on to perform in Boston rock bands in the 1990s. He hosted a Sunday morning Blues radio program "Blues Hangover", in 2003, on WBOR 91.1 FM in Brunswick, ME. In 2003, James "Couzy" Anderson, a future TV broadcaster currently serving in the United States Air Force began announcing Play-by-play for the Rockland High School football team, which began a tenure of over 1,000 hours of announcing, 200 plus games and hosted a sports talk show weekly until graduation in 2007.

References

  1. ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  2. ↑ "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  3. ↑ Marquard, Bryan (2007-12-11). "Fred B. Cole, 92; mouthpiece of big-band era". The Boston Globe.

External links