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WEGP

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WEGP
Broadcast areaAroostook County, Maine
Frequency1390 kHz
BrandingRelevant Radio
Programming
FormatCatholic radio
AffiliationsRelevant Radio
Ownership
OwnerRelevant Radio, Inc.
History
First air date
June 24, 1960
Former call signs
WTMS (1994)
Call sign meaning
Edward G. Perrier (founder)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID9423
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
46°39′15″N 68°3′0″W / 46.65417°N 68.05000°W / 46.65417; -68.05000
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websiterelevantradio.com

WEGP (1390 AM) is a radio station in Presque Isle, Maine. The station airs a Catholic talk format as an affiliate of Relevant Radio, and is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc.[2] WEGP's transmitter is off Chapman Road in Presque Isle.[3] It is the most powerful AM station in Northern Maine, broadcasting at 5,000 watts full-time, and using a non-directional antenna during the day. But at night, to protect other stations on 1390 AM, WEGP switches to a directional antenna.

History

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WEGP signed on the air on June 24, 1960.[4] It was started by Edward G. Perrier. WEGP gets its name from its founder's initials. At the time, Perrier was the owner-publisher of the Presque Isle Star-Herald,[5] mistakenly taken for the engineer for WAGM-TV (channel 8).[5]

When Perrier decided to start WEGP, WAGM-TV was looking for a way to carry its signal into the Houlton area. In an effort to assist WAGM-TV in broadening its signal range, Perrier searched for a site and found an old horse pasture in Presque Isle. He performed the required testing and design and presented it to WAGM-TV. But the TV station changed hands and the new owners were not interested in using Perrier's ideas. Perrier decided to use the land for a transmitter site for his radio station.

WEGP was the second radio station to go on the air in Aroostook County, after WAGM radio (910 AM), the sister station to channel 8. That station, which later became WKZX, shut down in 1991. On March 18, 1994, WEGP changed its call sign to WTMS. After a single day, that change was reversed back and the station became WEGP again.[6]

As music listening moved from AM to FM radio, WEGP went dark for a couple years during the mid-1990s. It was revived in 1997 by Paul Decelles, owner and president of Decelles Media, Inc. WEGP was simulcast from 1997 to April 2007 on another AM station in Aroostook County, WREM (710 AM) in Monticello. At that time, the local marketing agreement (LMA) with WREM was dropped.

Since its founding, WEGP had been powered at 5,000 watts. In August 2006, WEGP applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an upgrade of its signal. In late 2007, the improvements were complete, boosting daytime power to 25,000 watts and nighttime power to 10,000 watts. In August 2010 the station was bought by Gregory McNeil, founder of Northern Maine Broadcasting, Inc. The simulcast with WREM, now known as WXME (780 AM), was brought back in February 2011.

Ownership of WEGP was taken back by Paul Decelles' Decelles-Smith Media on May 14, 2014. In March 2015, a "message to our listeners" on the station's web site said the station was off air pending a sale and the programming could be heard via each show's web sites.[7] In April 2015, the station was sold to a Catholic radio organization, the Presence Radio Network.[8] The sale was consummated on August 14, 2015, at a purchase price of $67,500. In 2018, The Presence Radio Network's stations were sold to Immaculate Heart Radio for $750,000, and on May 21, the stations became affiliates of Relevant Radio.[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WEGP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WEGP Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WEGP
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-1962 page B-75
  5. ^ a b Everett, Dan (30 September 2015). "Viewpoints: Radio Station Founder Had Newspaper Roots". Star-Herald.
  6. ^ "WEGP Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  7. ^ http://184.154.24.58/~wegp0329/index.php/events Message to our listeners
  8. ^ http://www.fybush.com/nerw-20150406/ Northeast Radio Watch 4/6/15
  9. ^ Jacobson, Adam. "Presence Gone, But Stations Now Relevant", Radio & Television Business Report. May 18, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  10. ^ Kettner, Lindsey. "The Presence Radio Network joins Relevant Radio", Relevant Radio. May 21, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
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