| WUPE-FM | |
| City: | North Adams, Massachusetts |
| Country: | US |
| Area: | Berkshire County, Massachusetts |
| Branding: | Whoopee |
| Airdate: | July 12, 1964 (as WMNB-FM) |
| Format: | Classic hits |
| Erp: | 1,150 watts |
| Haat: | 158.8m (521feet) |
| Class: | A |
| Facility Id: | 4821 |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Coordinates: | 42.6984°N -73.0645°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | Whoopie[1] |
| Owner: | Townsquare Media |
| Licensee: | Townsquare License, LLC |
| Sister Stations: | WBEC, WBEC-FM, WNAW, WSBS, WUPE |
WUPE-FM (100.1 MHz) is a classic hits radio station owned by Townsquare Media. Licensed to North Adams, Massachusetts, United States, WUPE-FM serves Pittsfield.[2]
The station went on the air July 12, 1964,[3] as WMNB-FM, owned by the Hardman family along with WMNB (1230 AM) and the North Adams Transcript.[4] The Hardmans sold Northern Berkshire Broadcasting to Donald A. Thurston in 1966;[5] the company became Berkshire Broadcasting after the purchase of WSBS in Great Barrington in 1968.[6] By 1973, WMNB-FM had a beautiful music format, separately-programmed from the AM station[7] (though even at WMNB-FM's inception the two stations did not duplicate more than thirty percent of their programming[4]). The callsign was modified to simply WMNB on January 30, 1988,[8] after the AM station was renamed WNAW. During the mid-1990s, WMNB's format incorporated smooth jazz and soft adult contemporary programming;[9] as a whole, however, it remained one of the few remaining beautiful music stations.[10]
Vox Communications purchased Berkshire Broadcasting in November 2003,[11] with the sale closing in May 2004.[12] The next month, WMNB began simulcasting an oldies genre with another Vox station, WUPE (95.9).[13] The station took the WUPE-FM callsign two years later, as part of a larger shuffle resulting in WBEC-FM moving from 105.5 (now WWEI) to 95.9.[14] WUPE-FM's programming also began to be heard on an AM station in Pittsfield on 1110 AM.[15] Vox transferred most of its stations to Gamma Broadcasting in late 2012.[16] In August 2013, Gamma reached a deal to sell its Berkshire County radio stations, including WUPE-FM, to Reed Miami Holdings;[17] the sale was canceled on December 30, 2013.[18]
WUPE-FM's tower, along with an adjacent cell tower, collapsed on March 29, 2014, as a result of high winds, forcing the station off the air. The station stated that it would resume broadcasting with a temporary antenna by April 1. WUPE's simulcast on 1110 AM in Pittsfield and its web stream were not affected by the tower collapse.[19]
In October 2016, Gamma Broadcasting agreed to sell its stations to Galaxy Communications;[20] the sale fell through, and in 2017 the stations were acquired by Townsquare Media.[21]