WEGP

WEGP (1390 kHz) is an AM radio station in Presque Isle, Maine. The station airs a Catholic talk format as an affiliate of Relevant Radio, and is owned by Immaculate Heart Media, Inc.[1] WEGP's transmitter is off Chapman Road in Presque Isle.[2] It is the most powerful AM station in Northern Maine, broadcasting at 25,000 watts by day, using a non-directional antenna. But at night, to protect other stations on AM 1390, WEGP drops its power to 10,000 watts and uses a directional antenna.

WEGP
CityPresque Isle, Maine
Broadcast areaAroostook County, Maine
Frequency1390 kHz
BrandingRelevant Radio
Programming
FormatCatholic radio
AffiliationsRelevant Radio
Ownership
OwnerImmaculate Heart Media, Inc.
History
First air dateJune 24, 1960
Former call signsWTMS (1994)
Call sign meaningW Edward G. Perrier (founder)
Technical information
Facility ID9423
ClassB
Power25,000 watts day
10,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates46°39′15″N 68°3′0″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitehttps://relevantradio.com/

History

WEGP signed on the air on June 24, 1960.[3] 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.[4] mistakenly taken for the Engineer for WAGM-TV.[4]

When Perrier decided to start WEGP, WAGM-TV Channel 8 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 AM 910 WAGM, the sister station to Channel 8. That radio station is now deleted. 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.[5]

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, 780 WREM in Monticello (now WXME). 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, 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.[6] In April 2015, the station was sold to a Catholic radio organization, the Presence Radio Network.[7] 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.[8][9]

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