WPGR (AM)

WPGR
City	Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Frequency	1510 (kHz)
First air date	September 27, 1964 (as WPSL)
Format	Religious (Catholic)
Power	5,000 watts (Daytime) 2,500 watts (Critical Hours) 1 watt (Nighttime)
Class	D
Facility ID	4028
Callsign meaning	W Pittsburgh's Gospel Radio (previous format)
Owner	St. Joseph Ministries

WPGR is a radio station serving the Pittsburgh area. The station, which is owned by St. Joseph Ministries, broadcasts at 1510 kHz, with a transmitter power of 5,000 watts daytime, 2,500 watts critical hours, and only 1 watt at nighttime. The city of license is Monroeville, Pennsylvania. WPGR is a non-commercial Catholic radio station.

History

Beginnings as WPSL

It all began one day in the 1960s, when a group of friends just back from a fishing trip, approached local businessman Thomas M. “Tipper” Sylves with an idea they had been kicking around for a community radio station for Monroeville. Sylves was a prominent citizen in the community. He had been a coal miner, horse trader, lumberman, railroader, cattle baron and real estate broker, and he was always alert to new business opportunities – he listened.

The first step was to see if there was an AM frequency available. Jack Lieb, an attorney who work with the FCC, was contacted; he found that 1510 on the AM dial had been frozen for government use, but was about to be released. Leib wanted to pursue the opportunity, but he needed financial backing, and that’s where Tipper Sylves came in.

Sylves and Lieb soon formed Monroeville Broadcasting Company, Inc. The next step was to find a location. Sylves set aside five acres of some property that he owned just off Strochein road. There they would build a seven-room office building adjacent to the entrance of the US Steel Research labs. The facility, with an initial investment of over $100,000, represented one of the most modern equipped stations in western Pennsylvania. The new owner-operators appointed Bill Lynch as station manager and senior announcer. Sharing the microphone with Lynch would be Ed McLaughin and Bob McKee, both well-known local radio personalities.

The nickname of one of Sylves' daughters, Esma, (Punchy) was to find a place in the new stations call letters: W …P…Punchy…S…Sylves… L…Lieb, -- WPSL.

WPSL first went on the air on September 27, 1964. Operating from sunrise to sundown, it had an effective radiated power of a quarter kilowatt with a signal that radiated out over 47 air miles, effectively covering Allegheny County.

In time, Jack Leib got out of the business, selling his shares to Sarah Sylves Thompson, so that she and her father now owned two-thirds of the stock. With the death of Tipper Sylves in the 1970s, and her sister Punchy shortly afterward, Sarah put the company up for sale, closing it with a dark license by the end of 1979. Sarah Sylves Thompson died in 1995 at the age of 86.

The X-15 Experiment

The station returned to the air in 1980 under a new set of call letters, WRUA, and a new owner, Barua Communications of Monroeville, founded by Dr. Subrata Barua, a local podiatrist of Indian origin, taking control of the station in April 1980. The station operated with a format of MOR music and talk under these same call letters until 1989, when Barua leased the station to another operator (Julco Enterprises), Robert Julian. WRUA took on a new set of call letters, and WXVX (the last three standing for the Roman numeral 1510) was born. The new WXVX, marketed as "X-15" was created as an outlet for progressive and alternative rock after New Kensington-licensed FM station WXXP switched its format from this kind of music to adult contemporary and adopted the slogan "Mix 100.7". An alternative explanation for its creation was that the new Program Director had volunteered at WPTS and WYEP - and was looking to merge the spirits of those stations into the form of a commercial outlet for the market.

WXVX's presentation was that of inmates running the asylum, with concerts being held outside the station's ramshackle studio building (whose address by this time was unofficially renamed One Progressive Alley), by up and coming new rock acts. Though the station proved popular with listeners, and introduced acts such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Lenny Kravitz to the market, it didn't meet its financial goals and the station reverted to Barua's control in 1992. A volunteer airstaff, dedicated to the format, kept the station going by working for free and selling airtime, including its new general manager, Paul Goodman.

Goodman managed to keep WXVX afloat until it was sold to another local doctor who owned several properties in the area. The new doctor leased the station to Chae Communications, a broadcast company controlled by former WLOA General Manager Del King, who programmed a format of urban adult contemporary, which was launched in June 1996. Unable to make a go of the operation, King let the contract lapse. WXVX was then sold in 1997 to Westmoreland County broadcaster Michael Horvath, who later purchased WPLW in Carnegie. Horvath changed from the WXVX urban format, and put an automated format of 80's music on the air, soliciting the airtime for sale to those interested in their own radio programs. After a few years, the station was sold to Mortenson Broadcasting from Kentucky. Mortenson carried an automated gospel music format from Sheridan Broadcasting during his tenure and eventually sold the station to Sheridan several years later.

Switch to Catholic programming

On May 15, 2009, Sheridan announced that it has sold WAMO, WAMO-FM and WPGR to St. Joseph Ministries for 9 Million dollars. When the deal is approved by the FCC, the stations will all flip to a religious format. All 35 employees will be let go after the sale closes, leaving Pittsburgh without a Urban formatted outlet.^[1]^[2] On September 1, 2009 WPGR signed off the air. It returned to the air February 15, 2010 with a live broadcast of a Catholic Mass, simulcast from the newly renamed WAOB-FM. After its conclusion, the station announced that it will begin regular programming on March 19, with only Mass broadcasts being carried in the interim.^[3]

Previous logo

References

↑ "Reports: Sheridan Sells Pittsburgh Trio" from R&R (May 15, 2009)
↑ "WAMO's format to change with sale" from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (May 16, 2009)
↑ Fybush, Scott (February 15, 2010). "Fire on Penobscot Mountain". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved February 15, 2010.

External links

Radio stations in the Pittsburgh market

By FM frequency	88.1 88.1 88.3 88.7 88.9 89.3 90.1 90.5 91.3 91.7 92.1 92.1 92.5 92.9 93.7 94.5 94.9 95.3 95.7 96.1 96.9 97.7 98.3 98.9 99.3 99.7 100.1 100.7 101.1 101.5 102.5 103.1 103.5 103.7 103.9 104.3 104.7 105.1 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.1 107.5 107.9

By AM frequency	540 590 620 660 680 730 770 810 860 910 940 970 1020¹ 1080 1150 1210 1250 1280 1320 1360 1380 1410 1450 1460 1480 1490 1510 1550 1570 1640 ¹ Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.550

Digital Radio	89.3-1 89.3-2 90.5-1 90.5-2 90.5-3 91.3-1 92.9-1 92.9-2 92.9-3 92.9-4 93.7-1 93.7-2 94.5-1 94.5-2 96.1-1 96.1-2 96.9-1 96.9-2 96.9-3 96.9-4 99.7-1 100.7-1 100.7-2 100.7-3 102.5-1 102.5-2 104.7-1 104.7-2 105.9-1 105.9-2 107.9-1 107.9-2

By callsign	KDKA¹ KDKA-FM KFX300 KIH35 KQV W261AX WAMO WANB WAOB WAOB-FM WAVL WBGG WBJV WBUT WBVP WBZZ WCAL WCNS WCYJ WDIG WDSY-FM WDVE WEDO WEGW WESA WFSJ-LP WFGI WGBN WGLZ WHJB WISR WIUP WJAS WJPA WJPA-FM WJST WKBN WKFB WKGO WKHB WKPL WKST WKST-FM WKVE WLCY WLER WLSW WLTJ WMBA WMBS WMNY WHOT WMUG-LP WNJR WOGG WOGH WOGI WOHI WORD WPGB WPGP WPGR WPHP WPIT WPKL WPKV WPTS-FM WQED WQMU WQTW WRCT WRRK WSHH WSRU WTYM WUKL WVKF WVNP WWCS WWNL WWSW WWVA WXDX WYEP WYFU WYZR WZUM

Defunct	WKZV 1110 AM WASP 1130 AM WBGI 1340 AM WSTV 1340 AM WZUM 1590 AM

Pennsylvania radio markets Allentown–Bethlehem Altoona Bradford–Coudersport Chambersburg–Waynesboro Erie Harrisburg–Lebanon–Carlisle Lancaster Montrose New Castle Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Sayre–Towanda–Mansfield–Wellsboro Wilkes-Barre–Scranton Williamsport York Other Pennsylvania radio regions Bedford Indiana Johnstown Lewistown–Mifflintown Meadville–Franklin Punxsutawney–DuBois St. Marys–Emporium–Kane State College Stroudsburg Sunbury–Selinsgrove–Lewisburg Warren Mass media in the Pittsburgh Area Radio stations TV stations Newspapers See also List of radio stations in Pennsylvania

Coordinates: 40°28′13″N 79°51′04″W / 40.47028°N 79.85111°W / 40.47028; -79.85111

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.