WOPI (AM)

Last updated
WOPI
Frequency 1490 kHz
BrandingESPN Tri-Cities
Programming
Format Sports
Affiliations ESPN Radio
Ownership
Owner
  • Glenwood Communications Corporation
  • (Holston Valley Broadcasting Corporation)
WKPT, WKTP, WRZK, WTFM
History
First air date
 1929
Call sign meaning
"Watch Our Popularity Increase" [1]
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 31405
Class C
Power 1,000 watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates
 36°35′45.0″N82°9′42.0″W / 36.595833°N 82.161667°W / 36.595833; -82.161667
Translator(s) 98.1 W251CJ (Bristol)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website espntricities.com

WOPI (1490 kHz) is a sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Bristol, Tennessee, United States. [3] WOPI is owned and operated by Glenwood Communications Corporation though subsidiary Holston Valley Broadcasting Corporation. [4]

Contents

History

WOPI signed on June 15, 1929 at State and 22nd Streets in Bristol, Tennessee, as the first radio station in the Tri-Cities. W.A. Wilson, former chief telegraph operator for Western Union's Bristol office, came up with the plan for a radio station when he spent several years selling and installing radios. His son James C. Wilson worked at WOPI and later bought the Tri-Cities' second-oldest radio station, Johnson City-based WJHL, and changed the calls to WJCW. An early show on the station was "WOPI Jamboree", which featured live country music. In the 1940s, WOPI and WKPT formed a network called "the Sister City Network" for broadcasting local information. [1]

WOPI-FM signed on Christmas Day 1946 as the area's first FM station. It was sold to the owner of WKYE in the 1960s and is now WXBQ-FM. [1]

In 1966, owner Tri-Cities Broadcasting Company successfully requested that the FCC have the station jointly licensed to Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia. Wilson wanted to emphasize that the two Bristols were essentially a single community. [1] [5]

In 1990, WOPI was bankrupt and Joe Morrell bought the station. Morrell wanted to increase the amount of country music on the station, bringing it back to its roots. In 1991, WOPI joined the WKPT network. Glenwood Broadcasting, owner of WKPT, bought the station in 1996. [1] For most of the time since 1991, WOPI has been a simulcast of WKPT, though it breaks off from the simulcast to air Tennessee High sports.

Translator

In addition to the main station, WOPI is relayed by an FM translator to widen its broadcast area. [6]

Broadcast translator for WOPI
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
W251CJ98.1 FM Bristol, Tennessee 2750625070  m (230  ft)D LMS

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of WOPI-AM" . Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WOPI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings . Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ "WOPI Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  5. ↑ "History Cards for WOPI". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
  6. ↑ "W251CJ Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
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