WCME

WCME (900 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Brunswick, Maine and serving Maine's Mid Coast; on-air, the station is currently known as "Radio Midcoast WCME 99-5 FM & 900 AM". Established in 1955, the station is owned by veteran radio news anchor and talk host Jim Bleikamp, and programs a locally-oriented, full-service oldies/soft rock radio format emphasizing news and local events.[3] WCME's studios are in the Fort Andross complex in Brunswick.[4] WCME's transmitter is located along U.S. Route 1 near Durham Road in Brunswick.[5]

This article is about the AM station licensed to Brunswick, Maine. For station in Boothbay Harbor, Maine that used the WCME call letters until April 2009, see WBQA.
WCME
CityBrunswick, Maine
Broadcast areaMid Coast of Maine
Frequency900 kHz
BrandingRadio Midcoast WCME 99-5 FM & 900 AM
SloganMidcoast Maine's News Station[1]
Programming
FormatAdult Contemporary
Full Service
AffiliationsWestwood One News
Boston Bruins Radio Network
Ownership
OwnerJames B. Bleikamp
History
First air dateDecember 16, 1955
Former call signsWCME (1955–1973)
WKXA (1973–1988)
WCLZ (1988–1998)
WJJB (1998–2008)
WWBK (2008–2009)
Technical information
Facility ID56570
ClassD
Power700 watts (daytime)
26 watts (nighttime)[2]
Transmitter coordinates43°54′41″N 70°1′29″W[2]
Translator(s)99.5 MHz (W258DI-Brunswick)
Links
WebcastWCME Webstream
WebsiteWCME Online

WCME operates with 700 watts by day but must reduce power to 26 watts at night because 900 kHz is a Mexican and Canadian clear channel frequency and WCME cannot interfere with more powerful stations at 900 AM. WCME carries Westwood One News at the beginning of most hours.

History

WCME signed on December 16, 1955 under the ownership of Westminster Broadcasting Corporation.[6][7][8] Central Maine Broadcasting System acquired the station in 1964,[9] and launched a sister station on 98.9 FM on April 11, 1965.[7] The WCME stations were sold to WCME Inc. in 1969,[10] and to Condit Broadcasting in 1972.[11]

By 1973, WCME and WCME-FM simulcast a contemporary format;[12] later that year, the call letters were changed to WKXA.[13] The following year, the WKXA stations were sold to Amcom Corporation and implemented a mix of talk and MOR.[14] In 1977, the simulcast was dissolved, and WKXA flipped to top 40;[15] a year later, the station reverted to simulcasting with WKXA-FM, by then a country station.[16] Independent programming again resumed in 1980, this time with a news/talk format;[7] this continued after Windward Communications bought the station in 1982,[17] but by 1984 WKXA had adopted an adult contemporary format (separate from that on the newly renamed[18] WCLZ),[19] which gave way by 1987 to a return of the country format.[20]

Hawthorne Communications acquired the station in 1988, and changed its call letters to WCLZ[21] to reflect the resumption of the simulcast with WCLZ-FM;[22] in 1990, the station again dropped the simulcast, affiliating with the Business Radio Network.[23] This format continued as the stations were sold to The Eastern Radio Company in 1990[24] and to Riverside Broadcasting in 1992.[25] The station subsequently returned to simulcasting WCLZ-FM, by then an adult album alternative station,[26] but separate programming was restored to the AM station again in 1995, this time with home shopping.[27][28]

In 1998, Riverside Broadcasting sold the WCLZ stations to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting, with Riverside owner Mike Waggoner citing the company's local ownership.[29] Co-owner J. J. Jeffrey, a native of Brunswick, had started his career at WCME.[30] That December, the station changed its call letters to WJJB,[31] and after a brief return to the WCLZ-FM simulcast,[32] the station became a simulcast of sports station WJAE in 1999.[33] Fuller-Jeffrey sold their FM stations to Citadel Broadcasting several months later,[34] but J. J. Jeffrey retained WJAE and WJJB as the first stations in his Atlantic Coast Radio group.[35]

WJJB changed its call letters to WWBK on March 18, 2008; a month later, the station was sold to Bob Bittner for $27,000.[36] Three months later, on July 19, 2008, WWBK was forced off the air, as the owner of the station's transmission facility, Saga Communications (which acquired the site after buying WCLZ from Citadel in 2007), indicated that it no longer wanted WWBK on the site.[37] The station announced its intention to move its transmitter to a location at or near the transmitter of sister station WJTO.[37] Bittner had planned to implement a music format, separate from WJTO's adult standards and oldies programming.[36]

Bob Bittner sold WWBK to James Bleikamp in March 2009,[38] with the sale being finalized on May 18;[39] the next day, the station changed its call letters back to WCME, which had recently been given up by WTQX.[40] On May 23, 2009, WCME resumed broadcasting[41] under special temporary authority from the WJTO site; this was necessary because the station could only operate at 176 watts during daytime hours from the site to protect WGHM in Nashua, New Hampshire — below the minimum daytime power for licensed AM stations of 250 watts.[42] After the WJTO site was deemed to not be optimal for regular operation, WCME signed off once again on May 25.[41]

WCME's logo under their Radio 9 WCME branding; this logo was used during the station's final AM-exclusive years, prior to the sign-on of 99.5 W258DI in July 2018.

WCME again resumed broadcasting on April 21, 2010,[43] operating under special temporary authority from a temporary transmitter at Fort Andross as the station seeks a new permanent transmitter (with the station planning to reach full power in fall 2010).[44] However, it again left the air on May 7 after the transmitter was found to be interfering with fire alarm, telephone, and computer systems in the building.[45] The station was unable to resolve the interference,[46] and continued to search for a permanent transmitter location;[30][47] in the meantime, to preserve the broadcast license, WCME again temporarily broadcast from the WJTO site[48] on April 16, 2011[49][50] and from April 25–26, 2011.[51][52] The station finally received approval from the Brunswick Town Council to build a tower on Old Portland Road in West Brunswick in October 2011.[53] After operating from the WJTO site once more[54] from April 14–15, 2012,[55][56] WCME signed on from the new tower on October 17, 2012, programming an adult contemporary format focusing on the 1970s to 1990s while it hires its staff; the station will also play Christmas music during the holiday season.[3][4]

Translator
Broadcast translators of WCME
Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W258DI99.5Brunswick, Maine200836250D43°54′41.70″N 70°1′29.80″WFCC
gollark: I bought a box of 100 on Amazon some years back, very helpful.
gollark: I haven't received any information on how they plan to mitigate coronavirus risk.
gollark: Mine restarts in twoish weeks.
gollark: You could do a basic multichoice one automatically.
gollark: Do you expect to actually have that much activity, or just want to try to split stuff out more?

References
  1. "Radio Midcoast WCME 99-5 FM & 900 AM" Logo
  2. Bleikamp, James B. (December 8, 2011). "APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR COMMERCIAL BROADCAST STATION". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  3. Martin, Dylan (October 31, 2012). "WCME returns to Brunswick airwaves promising local focus". The Forecaster. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  4. Shelly, Rachel (October 24, 2012). "Back on air". The Times Record. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  5. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WCME-AM&h=D
  6. Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 (PDF). 1958. p. A-294. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  7. Broadcasting Yearbook 1981 (PDF). 1981. p. C-103. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  8. Broadcasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1956 (PDF). 1956. p. 153. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  9. Broadcasting Yearbook 1965 (PDF). 1965. p. B-68. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  10. Broadcasting Yearbook 1971 (PDF). 1971. p. B-93. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  11. Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 (PDF). 1973. p. B-89. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  12. Broadcasting Yearbook 1974 (PDF). 1974. p. B-93. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  13. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 3, 1973. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  14. Broadcasting Yearbook 1975 (PDF). 1975. p. C-83. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  15. Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 (PDF). 1978. p. C-96. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  16. Broadcasting Yearbook 1979 (PDF). 1979. p. C-97. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 9, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  17. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983 (PDF). 1983. p. B-107. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  18. "Call Sign History (WCLZ)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  19. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. B-120. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  20. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1988 (PDF). 1988. p. B-126. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  21. "Call Sign History (WCME)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  22. Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-133. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  23. The Broadcasting Yearbook 1991 (PDF). 1991. p. B-146. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  24. "Application Search Details (1)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  25. "Application Search Details (2)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  26. Fybush, Scott (November 5, 2001). "Doing the Albany Shuffle". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008. The station has been edging its way back to the AAA format it used to run in its first stint as WCLZ through much of the nineties...
  27. Fybush, Scott. "Maine Radio History, 1971–1996". Archives @ BostonRadio.org. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  28. Fischer, Richard (July 19, 1995). "Re: New England Radio Watcher: Up the Coast to Maine". rec.radio.broadcasting. Google Groups. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  29. Fybush, Scott (March 19, 1998). "More Layoffs in N.H." North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  30. Grinnell, Stephanie (November 23, 2010). "WCME could return to Brunswick airwaves". The Forecaster. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  31. Fybush, Scott (December 26, 1998). "Albany Jams". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  32. Fybush, Scott (January 1, 1999). "Standards Die, Standards Live". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  33. Fybush, Scott (February 6, 1999). "WKOX, WLLH Sold". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  34. Fybush, Scott (June 30, 1999). "Fuller-Jeffrey Sells Out". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  35. Fybush, Scott (June 4, 1999). "The End of CBL Is Near". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  36. Fybush, Scott (April 28, 2008). "Philly Loses "Big Ron"". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  37. Bittner, Robert M. (July 28, 2008). "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  38. Fybush, Scott (March 16, 2009). ""Now," NY's K-Rock is History". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  39. Bittner, Robert M. (May 18, 2009). "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  40. Fybush, Scott (May 18, 2009). "End Of The Line at WAMO". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  41. Bleikamp, James B. (June 1, 2009). "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  42. Bittner, Robert M. (March 12, 2009). "Engineering STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  43. Bleikamp, James B. (April 27, 2010). "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  44. Bleikamp, James B. (March 23, 2010). "Engineering STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  45. Bleikamp, James B. (May 10, 2010). "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  46. Bleikamp, James B. (May 26, 2010). "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  47. Bleikamp, Jim (July 15, 2011). "WCME president shares vision for relaunch of radio station". The Times Record. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  48. Bleikamp, James B. (March 28, 2011). "Engineering STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  49. Bleikamp, James B. (April 18, 2011). "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  50. Bleikamp, James B. (April 26, 2011). "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  51. Bleikamp, James B. (April 27, 2011). "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  52. Bleikamp, James B. (May 3, 2011). "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  53. Guerin, Emily (October 19, 2011). "Landlords to Brunswick council: No new fire inspections". The Forecaster. Retrieved January 25, 2012. Additionally, the owners of FirstWave Media received the go-ahead from the council to build a 199-foot AM radio tower on Old Portland Road. The tower would broadcast WMCE [sic] 900 AM…
  54. Bleikamp, James B. (April 5, 2012). "Engineering STA". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  55. Bleikamp, James B. (April 15, 2012). "Resumption of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  56. Bleikamp, James B. (April 25, 2012). "Notification of Suspension of Operations". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
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