| |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Penobscot County, Maine, US |
Frequency | 91.9 FM |
Programming | |
Format | College radio |
Ownership | |
Owner | University of Maine |
History | |
First air date | October 1, 1962 |
Call sign meaning | "Maine Educational Broadcasting" [1] |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Class | B1 |
ERP | 10,000 watts |
HAAT | 52 meters |
Transmitter coordinates | 44°55′08″N68°39′58″W / 44.919°N 68.666°W |
Links | |
Public license information |
WMEB-FM is a non-commercial radio station owned and operated by the University of Maine, broadcasting on 91.9 FM from its campus in Orono and a transmitter located in Old Town. The station is run by university students and programs an alternative rock music format.
In October 1961, the University of Maine applied for a construction permit to build a new FM station in Orono, which would broadcast with an effective radiated power of 375 watts; this was granted by the Federal Communications Commission on January 10, 1962. [2] Going on the air as WMEB-FM from studios in Stevens Hall, [1] the station began broadcasts on October 1, 1962. [3]
WMEB-FM represented the third generation of broadcasting at UMO. The first station on the campus, WGBX, broadcast from 1926 to 1928 and featured programming mostly presented by faculty. [4] In 1953, after three years of technical and funding setbacks, WORO, a carrier current station, was established, [5] but this proved impractical to maintain as more students and faculty lived off campus. [4] The format, typical of 1960s college radio stations, featured a mix of talk and music shows; [6] in 1964, the music played on WMEB-FM consisted of an hour of easy listening programming and three hours a day of classical music, supplemented by an hour of campus and local news. [7] In 1968, WMEB-FM broadcast a 15-week radio course, "Understanding Music", from the university's continuing education division. [8]
The University of Maine started a second radio station on September 14, 1970: WMEH, the first transmitter in today's Maine Public Radio network. [9] The introduction of a public radio service led to the specialization of WMEB as a student-run station. In 1971, it began overnight broadcasting on the weekends, [10] and all but two of its programs that fall were student-produced. [11] Alongside a steady expansion of the station's broadcasting hours and of the Stevens Hall studios came a weekend block of progressive rock music, which was starting to displace the existing easy listening programming. [12]
In the second half of the 1970s, WMEB-FM was hit by financial woes. The university's department of broadcasting and the student senate both thought the other should be primarily responsible for funding the station. [13] In October 1979, students staged an 86-hour "Beggar's Banquet" radiothon to raise money for station operations. [14] The "Banquet" was not even the only marathon broadcast that WMEB aired that semester: in December, one disc jockey pulled a 100-hour shift that raised more than $5,000 for starving Cambodians. [15] In the late 1970s, the station also had trouble keeping itself on the right side of the law: in the days when radio stations needed licensed operators, a shortage of them caused the station to be in violation of FCC rules for 15 hours a week. [16] A report in The Maine Campus, the student newspaper at UMO, was sent to the FCC, leading to a surprise inspection of the station, a reprimand and a temporary cutback in broadcasting. [17] In the 1980s and 1990s, WMEB organized a college hockey rankings poll, having taken it over from WDOM at Providence College in Rhode Island. [18]
By the 1990s, WMEB was firmly established as an alternative music outlet with specialty programming in other genres. During the alternative music blocks, DJs played music from three different colored bins, featuring new releases and local artists; moderately successful songs; and popular mainstream artists in the alternative genre. [19] In 1995, the station shut down for five days and removed one student DJ who was dismissed for making provocative racist and homophobic remarks. [20]
The original 1962 transmitter was replaced in 1997, at a time when there was concern for the station's future because the University of Maine had dropped its broadcasting major. [21] However, despite already having moved the transmitter, university laboratories were receiving interference from the station; signal leakage into Bennett Hall caused frequency measuring equipment in physics labs to be unable to pick up any other signals. [22] The next year, to rectify the interference issue, WMEB moved to a new and taller tower, which came alongside a slight power increase. [23] The studios moved from the East Annex, where they had been moved initially on a temporary basis in 1981, to the Student Union in 2003. [24]
In 2009, the station boosted its power to 10,000 watts from a new transmitter site at the university-owned Witter Farm in Old Town; the increase filled coverage gaps in Bangor and extended coverage. [25] The station suffered a fire at its transmitter site in January 2018, [26] which would keep the station off the air for more than three months until it returned at reduced power in April. [27]
WMPG is a community radio station broadcasting from Portland, Maine. It is located on Bedford Street at the University of Southern Maine Portland Campus. It is affiliated with the college, and a mix of USM students and volunteers from the greater Portland community produce all the music and local public affairs programs. It broadcasts 4.5 kilowatts on 90.9 and can be heard as far north as Augusta, Maine and west into New Hampshire. It broadcasts streaming online 24/7 and the programming guide and contact info is available at their website along with many archived programs.
WCSH is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Congress Square in Downtown Portland, and its transmitter is located on Winn Mountain in Sebago. Together with WLBZ in Bangor, which simulcasts most of WCSH's local newscasts, it is known as News Center Maine.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network is a state network of public television and radio stations located in the U.S. state of Maine. It is operated by the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation, which holds the licenses for all the PBS and NPR stations licensed in the state. MPBN has studios and offices in Portland, Lewiston and Bangor.
KUNM is a public radio station broadcasting on FM 89.9 MHz from high atop Sandia Crest, with broadcasts originating from the third floor of Oñate Hall, on the campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
WKSU is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Kent, Ohio, featuring a public radio format. Owned by Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media, WKSU's primary signal encompasses the Akron metro area, Greater Cleveland and much of Northeast Ohio as the regional affiliate for National Public Radio (NPR), American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service. The station's reach is extended into the Canton, Mansfield, Lorain, Ashtabula, Sandusky, New Philadelphia and Wooster areas via a network of five full-power repeaters, two low-power translators, and one on-channel booster.
WZON is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format, with one afternoon talk show. The station is licensed to Bangor and serves Central Maine.
WUOT is the National Public Radio member station in Knoxville, Tennessee. Owned by the University of Tennessee, it airs a mix of news, classical music and jazz, along with programming from NPR, American Public Media and Public Radio International. It primarily features classical music programming, but carries NPR news programs daily, as well as jazz music for ninety minutes every weeknight and all evening on Fridays and folk music Saturday evenings. Its studios are located in the Communications Building on the UT campus.
WVOM-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Howland, Maine and serving Central and Down East Maine, including Bangor. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by Maine-based Blueberry Broadcasting which is headed by Louis Vitale and Bruce Biette. WVOM-FM is known as "The Voice of Maine News/Talk Network."
WBFB is a commercial FM radio station in Bangor, Maine. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format, simulcast on sister stations WBFE in Bar Harbor and WMCM in Rockland.
WBOR is the student-run, noncommercial, college radio station licensed to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, United States. The station broadcasts from the basement of the Dudley Coe Building on the Bowdoin College campus. DJs are predominately full-time Bowdoin students; however, many staff and faculty members, and community members host weekly shows. WBOR can be heard throughout the Mid Coast area.
WTVL is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Waterville, Maine, and serving Kennebec County. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and until January 2023, it broadcast an adult standards radio format, playing softer hits from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. The station featured the music of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Nat King Cole and Dionne Warwick in its playlist.
WBAK is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Belfast, Maine. It is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting, and broadcasts a classic hits radio format. Its programming is also simulcast on WBKA in Bar Harbor, as well as WABK-FM in Gardiner.
WTOS is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Bangor, Maine, United States. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting. WTOS broadcasts a mainstream rock format, simulcast with WTOS-FM in Skowhegan and WTUX in Gouldsboro.
WVSS is a radio station licensed to Menomonie, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and airs WPR's "NPR News & Music Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming, as well as local news from WPR's regional studio in Eau Claire.
WCRQ is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Dennysville, Maine. The station is owned by WQDY, Inc., which also owns 92.7 WQDY-FM Calais and 95.3 WALZ Machias. WCRQ airs a country music format.
WSYY-FM is a radio station broadcasting a full-service adult hits format. Licensed to Millinocket, Maine, United States, the station's broadcast signal serves Central Penobscot County, Eastern Piscataquis County, and Southern Aroostook County, from its tower site in Millinocket. The station is owned by Katahdin Communications, Inc.
WZLO is a commercial radio station broadcasting an adult album alternative format. Licensed to Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the station serves the Bangor area. It is also broadcast on 98.3 in Bangor using an FM translator. The studios and offices are in Bangor, while the transmitter is off Route 15 in Charleston, Maine.
KMSM-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Butte, Montana. The station is owned and operated by Cameron Maxwell, through licensee Desert Mountain Broadcasting Licenses LLC, and airs a variety format.
WUSO is a radio station in Springfield, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Dayton Public Radio, Inc. and rebroadcasts the classical music programming of WDPR in Dayton on a full-time basis from its transmitter atop Tower Hall on the Wittenberg University campus.
Arizona Public Media (AZPM) is the public broadcasting service of the University of Arizona, providing radio and television service and regional news coverage in southern and southeastern Arizona from its studios in Tucson. AZPM encompasses two primary radio services aligned with NPR, with KUAZ and KUAZ-FM in Tucson airing news and talk programming and KUAT-FM airing classical music, and KUAT-TV "PBS 6", the PBS station for the region. AZPM is housed in the Modern Languages Building on the UA campus.