WNBP

WNBP
City Newburyport, Massachusetts
Broadcast area Boston, Massachusetts
Branding Bloomberg 106.1
Frequency 1450 kHz
Translator(s) 106.1 W291CC (Newburyport)
First air date 1957 (at 1470)
Format Business News (WRCA simulcast)
Power 1,000 watts (unlimited)
Class C
Facility ID 15338
Transmitter coordinates 42°49′23″N 70°51′42″W / 42.82306°N 70.86167°W / 42.82306; -70.86167
Callsign meaning W NewBuryPort
Former callsigns WNBP (1957–1982)
WCEA (1982–1987)
WNCG (1987–1991)[1]
Former frequencies 1470 kHz (1957–1982)
Affiliations Bloomberg Radio
Operator Bloomberg, L.P.
Owner Port Broadcasting LLC
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.wnbp.com
www.bloombergradio.com

WNBP (1450 AM, 106.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States and serving the Boston market. The station is owned by Port Broadcasting LLC. The station carries financial news from Bloomberg Radio.[2] WNBP is simulcast on a 90-watt FM translator at 106.1 MHz, W291CC, transmitting from Amesbury.

The station was assigned the WNBP call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on January 18, 1991.[1]

History

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, Vermont and Nashua, New Hampshire. In 1982 the station moved to 1450 kHz, added nighttime operation and changed call letters to WCEA. In 1987 the call letters were changed to WNCG; they returned to WNBP in 1991.

WNBP's logo as "The Legends"

Through the late 1970s, '80s and '90s the station changed hands several times. In 1987 it was purchased by longtime WBZ 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 1989 they sold the station to New Hampshire broadcaster Win Damon for $425,000; in 1998, Damon sold the station to 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. 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 at 6 Federal Street on March 13. The format remained the same. On January 1, 2013, WNBP shifted their format from adult standards to oldies. Among WNBP's air staff were former WBOQ disc jockey Jacky Ankeles as well as Jeff Lawrence.

On July 28, 2017, Port Broadcasting agreed to sell WNBP and W291CC to Bloomberg L.P. for $1 million; Bloomberg began operating the station under a local programming and marketing agreement on August 1.[6] The station began to simulcast Bloomberg Radio programming with WRCA (1330 AM); that station also operates a translator at 106.1 MHz, which is required to limit its signal to the northeast of Boston to protect W291CC.[7] As a result of the sale, WNBP's staff was let go.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Archived from the original on March 1, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable. 2004-09-20.
  4. ↑ Simon, Clea (2004-09-09). "New Owner, Old Sound for North Shore Station". The Boston Globe.
  5. ↑ McCabe, Kathy (2006-02-26). "Mixed Signals". The Boston Globe.
  6. ↑ "APPLICATION FOR CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT OF BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  7. ↑ Venta, Lance (August 1, 2017). "Bloomberg Acquires WNBP Newburyport MA". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ Shea, Jack (July 31, 2017). "WNBP staff members say goodbye to listeners". The Daily News of Newburyport. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
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