Radio History for the Portland and Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester markets.

[Andy Taylor]

WOKQ 97.5 was WDNH until around 1978.
WERZ 107.1 was previously WKXR.
WHOM 94.9 was previously WMTQ & WMTW-FM

Did WDNH play country? What format was WKXR? and What format was WMTQ and WMTW?

WDNH was country owned by Fuller/Jeffery.When they changed the calls to WOKQ they called it "OK 98".
WMTW & WMTQ were both beautiful music.
WKXR was MOR and was in mono.

[sassysam]

WKXR... was Exeter's station , but I thought it was 1540 AM?? they were very local news, broadcasted the Exeter High School's (Blue Hawks) football games, etc. I don't remember what kind of music - I was just a kid - the AM frequency 1540 in Exeter was just recently bought from Clear Channel's Aloha Trust and is 50's-80's. New Owner is Andy Hartman and a guy named Steve - WXEX are the new calls.
107.1, which is WERZ, was launched I believe in 1980 and was Top 40 - "Z" 107 - blew HEB away which (I believe) is why HEB changed their format to Rock

[Peter Q. George (K1XRB)]

WOKQ 97.5 was WDNH until around 1978.
WERZ 107.1 was previously WKXR.
WHOM 94.9 was previously WMTQ & WMTW-FM

Did WDNH play country? What format was WKXR? and What format was WMTQ and WMTW?

WDNH was country owned by Fuller/Jeffery.When they changed the calls to WOKQ they called it "OK 98".
WMTW & WMTQ were both beautiful music.
WKXR was MOR and was in mono.

WDNH-FM 97.5 signed-on in July, 1971.  I heard their first test broadcast the Friday night before they began regular service the following day. Contrary to popular belief, they were not 100% Country music at the time.  In fact, they had a mish-mash of music on the playlist including a lot of oldies sprinkled in including stuff like "Windy" by The Association.  I think they were trying to push the fact that they were in Stereo (from day 1) and using quite a lot of Stereo centric material.  It was the Seacoast's first full Stereo station. I think it was also to add a little curiousity to the audience, which it did!  It wasn't until the fall when they went 100% Country. (WHEB-FM, formerly WPFM, did not go Stereo until the fall of 1974, WKXR-FM stayed into the mono mode until it became WERZ in 1982.)

Eastminster Broadcasting Company (who also owned WOTW AM and FM in Nashua) spared no expense in "super-equipping" WDNH for the best signal possible (with a full 50,000 watts in Stereo).  Ironically, the Nashua stations were not so well equipped at all.  I've been told that the Nashua stations were pretty poor (some called it a Disco Toilet). In came the FCC issues.  EBC had to divest their stations due to some "irregularities" from the Nashua stations. WDNH-FM was sold rather quickly and became WOKQ in the spring of 1977.  WOTW was in bankrupcy for years to which they were taken off the air in the early 1980's.  The AM went silent for years.  The FM was still on the air but was being used by the Bankruptcy Courts to satisfy the debt.  It was basically a dollar-a-holler station with programming from people who paid for the privilage of using it.  Technically, it sounded horrible.  For a while they used a Stereo Generator just to light up the lights on Stereo sets, all the while they were only using mono material.  Eventually, the FM transmitter site lost its' lease and went silent for a few years.  106.3 came back to life as WHOB in the late 80's.  It was the original FM license.  The AM was a new applicant and started from scratch.

As for WKXR-FM, they hit the air as a mono simulcast with WKXR/1540 in December, 1972.

[Mediaace]

Chuck,

Thanks for the info - I had forgotten about most of that!  Hoy owned the print shop downstairs.  A lotta history at 124 Main Street!  From what I recall you added a great deal of life and direction to those stations.  Thinking back, wasn't the FM also live afternoons as well, say 1985ish?  I recall a couple of WGAN alums on the air there at some point ... Brian McGary and/or Bruce Stevens.  My mind maybe playing tricks on me now. 

Do you ever hear from Charlie Phillips?  There was a guy who could make anything work with glue, duct tape or paperclips and tell some of the greatest stories.
   

(...snip...)
94.3 Biddeford (at only 3,000 watts) --

WIDE-FM
WBYC -- (I think this happened in 1981) Stood for Beautiful Music in York County.
WYJY -- "Joy 94.3" -- in 1985 as an automated AC station.
WSTG -- "Star 94.3" -- in 1991 and boosted power and TX location to Old Orchard Beach as a Class B1 carrying an AC format via satellite.  *NOTE: The WSTG call letters wound up on 102.1 in Hampton as "The Stage" playing live music only 3 or 4 years later).*
WCYY -- AAA format simulcasting with 93.9 -- 1993 from One City Center.
             (format change to modern rock in 1994).
(...snip...)

as the morning guy there for 4.5 years, WYJY was very much live with auto-assist.  i was there for sign-on under the ownership of Ocean Coast Properties - the McCann family out of NH (owners of WEMJ in Laconia). Dick Lutsk was our general manager; i was ops/pd for both WYJY and WIDE.  the previous owners were the Hoy family, and their final GM was Frank Defrancisco.  WBYC was "We're Beautiful York County"
Joy FM 94.3 had live mornings and live afternoons, and the occasional live midday whenever someone who might have caught the ear of boss might be available.  so not totally automated AC - more of a soft AC - light&easy favorites... Drake-Chenault music format which we were allowed to "embellish" somewhat.

great thread workin' here.  keep 'em comin'!

[Chuckigo]

(snip) ...wasn't the FM also live afternoons as well, say 1985ish?  I recall a couple of WGAN alums on the air there at some point ... Brian McGary and/or Bruce Stevens.  My mind maybe playing tricks on me now. 

Do you ever hear from Charlie Phillips?  There was a guy who could make anything work with glue, duct tape or paperclips and tell some of the greatest stories.
   

 and i believe if we had given Charlie a rock and a phasor, he'd have built us space ship and gotten us out of there. (great line - Dale Arnold from the road somewhere in the Maratimes doing a Mariners game via phone - circa 1983) :-)
  I actually heard from Chas about 2 years ago.  he called one morning and we had a nice chat.

yes, WYJY did have live mornings and afternoons - and as luxury (our budget) allowed, middays and the occasional evening.  WIDE was live from 5am sign on to midnight sign off.

the Joy FM (and WIDE) staff included (with omissions, i'm sure and apologies for that...):
 myself, Jon Bryant, Jim Fahey, Gary Dixon, Beau Walker, Shana Rose, Dawn Snyder, Lindsey Dean, Gary Tanguay, Kristen Carr, Nick Berentz, News aces Alan Connell, Roger Hevey, Dina Mendros, Kate Libby and of course, The Mayor of The Morning, Carlton Dana (who was there long before me and was still there after i left...)  and no, your mind wasn't playing tricks.  i'm drawing a blank on the others who came in, even for a week or two to help fill a hole (might have been McGarry or even Nick Seneca). 
our first year as the Maine Guides station featured Gary Thorne as our play by play guy (of course, Gary was a co-owner of the team, so that whole thing was a no-brainer..).

somewhere in the attic is The Box o' Biddeford that i will have to dig out and ammend this list. 
 
 i used to call our operation the Main Street School of Broadcasting as i was a believer that IF someone really wanted to do radio and we had a spot for him/her, then i would not be the one to say no.  we had a wealth of accumulated knowledge in that building, and each and every one of us enjoyed helping to show a newbie the ropes - and especially, God love him, Charlie.  we used to get the resume packet from Orono every year and managed to snag a few good people out of that - most notably Gary Tanguay.

and thanks for the nice thoughts about our efforts.  it was a learning experience, and when all was said and done - it was a fun, unique experience i'm glad i had the chance to try.

[markwats]

Reading this thread brougt back some memories. Back in the mid-70's, before WOTW's "FCC issues", I remember "Big Moe" (Maury Parent) and his Saturday morning "Golden Oldies Spectacular" complete with his local newscasts. He would end each newscast with "this is the EBC Broadcating System". Sunday mornings the AM & FM split, with Moe's French program airing on the FM, while Jimmy Lagious (sp?) hosted his Greek program followed by his wife Helen with her Polka Party show. After Moe left WOTW, the FM went to a hot AC/oldies format still in mono but with the stereo generator on. They also aired a weekly sports talk show that was co-hosted by Johnny Most, yes he was still calling Celtics games at the time. The AM went religious at the same time the FM went "fake stereo". IIRC the FM went dark in 1982, while the AM lasted a few more years.

I also recall hearing WKXR AM & FM when visiting the seacoast area. IIRC the AM & FM didn't have the capability to split off so at sunset, the FM would simulcast the AM sign-off, complete with the National Anthem. After the AM carrier dropped, the on-air host would state that WKXR-FM continues regular programming until 11:25. I recall hearing that sign off a few times.

Now a question regarding 1590 in Gorham. In late Spring 1983, I recall hearing them around 2AM in Portland, IIRC it was a top 40/oldes mix, calls were WASY. Was their TX site at the former WJBQ site in Gorham mentioned in an earlier reply? Can anyone provide a history of 1590 in Gorham? IIRC they wren't on the air for too long, did they go dark in the late 80's or early 90's?

Mark

[Andy Taylor]

Wasn't 1590 originally WDCI? Did they ever use the call letters WKZN or WPNN? .WASY with The Oldies format really was pretty good. Remember "Big Ange".Somewhere in there they were silent for a while then came back simulcasting WZON in Bangor with a talk format. I think Big Ange was on the WASY/WZON simulcast.Ron Frizzell bought the station and kept the Oldies but changed the calls to WJBQ.Frizzell was the one who put 1590 silent and moved to 870.I think they made the move from 1590 to 870 in August 1990.I remember 1590 being hard to listen to in the car because of the poor signal.Even 870 with their 10kw doesn't have a very good signal.

[Oldbones]

After Moe left WOTW, the FM went to a hot AC/oldies format still in mono but with the stereo generator on. They also aired a weekly sports talk show that was co-hosted by Johnny Most, yes he was still calling Celtics games at the time. The AM went religious at the same time the FM went "fake stereo". IIRC the FM went dark in 1982, while the AM lasted a few more years.

IIRC, the "stereo generator" at WOTW was a signal generator tuned to 19 kHz and mixed into the airchain.

To call the place a dump was an understatement!
I'm pretty sure both the AM & FM went dark at the same time, around 1985 or so when the studio/tower site was sold to a developer and they were unable to find another site.  The FM came back a couple years later as WHOB, I don't think the AM returned (WMVU?) until some time in the early 90s.

[Nick Gerard]

I had a buddy who worked at WOTW - he said the calls stood for "Wish Our Transmitter Worked!"  lol

Also, I logged a few months on-air at WYJY in the spring of '88.  I'll always be grateful to my friend Chuck Igo who hired me there after I'd been let go after only a couple of months at WMGX.  He rescued me as I was trying to re-establish myself in Maine after having been away for 5 years.

BTW - I'm certain Bruce Stevens never worked at this station.

I also have good memories of the McCann brothers and Dick Lutsk who managed the station - they treated me very well during my time there.  Carl Dana was a great co-worker - I loved the guy.  I did some sales, too, and got to know more about York County than I ever had before.

Good folks all around - WYJY was a really positive experience for me.

Nick Seneca

[rjoc]

Some addittional info:WOKQ 97.5 was WDNH until around 1978.
                                WERZ 107.1 was previously WKXR.
                                WHOM 94.9 was previously WMTQ & WMTW-FM
                                WWGT was originally a full service a/c WGT The Great 98,befor becomming CHR as WWGT G-98.
                                WPKQ 103.7 before WZPK was WMOU-FM Licensed to Berlin N.H.and as WZPK was still licensed to Berlin for quite a few years before switching to North Conway.
                                WBYY 98.7,When it had the call letters WRGW called themselves"The Rock Garden".I believe they had the call letters WRZY in 1993.

In early 1970's (72/73) WMTW shifted calls to WWMT, then over to WMTQ about 1974, as I recall; then to WHOM in 1976.