WBPM (92.9 FM) is a classic hits

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to Saugerties,

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, serving the Mid-

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

and

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. The station is owned by

Pamal Broadcasting Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, ...

and broadcasts at 6,000

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s ERP from a tower in the Town of Kingston, New York, while its studios are in

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

. The WBPM calls were previously on 94.3 MHz from 1975 to 2003, that station is today known as WKXP.

History

The allocation for 92.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

Saugerties, New York Saugerties () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York. The population was 19,038 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, was added to the FCC's Table of Allotments in June 1998. The allotment was applied for and won by then- WRNQ/ WKIP/ WTND owner Eric Straus. In its preparation to reach the air, its tower site changed from WDST's original tower in Lake Katrine to a defunct

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

microwave relay tower site in the Town of Kingston, given that a feasibility study showed that from the former very little signal would reach the main target market of

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

. On September 15, 1999, the allotment was assigned the

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

WRKW, signed on for testing that October 23, and made a full launch on November 1, 1999. WRKW's launch format was a "rock adult contemporary" format called ''Quality Rock'' which was automated and jockless outside of the syndicated '' Bob & Tom'' morning show. Later a voicetracked PM drive jock and the syndicated weekend show ''The Beatle Years'' was added. Considering that the same music was available on the far stronger

WPDH WPDH (101.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are on ...

, the station struggled to make a showing. After

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

purchased Straus' stations in 2000, the format remained unchanged until 2002 due to contractual obligations to the firm that programmed the ''Quality Rock'' format. On June 26, 2002, at 10a.m., the station entered a 26-hour-long stunt of

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

's "Without Me." The next day at noon, WRKW relaunched as

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

''92.9 Rock.'' Unlike its predecessor, the station launched with DJ's taken from sister stations and a heavy promotion blitz and quickly became a middle-of-the pack radio station. In March 2003, the syndicated ''Waking with the Wolf'' show began airing on the station. "The Wolf" had been on

for several years before moving to WPYX in

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. This show did not live up to the station's expectations and was canceled 14 months later when the station changed formats again. On May 26, 2004, WRKW changed format to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

as ''Cool 92.9'' and soon thereafter took the WBPM calls which had served nearly three decades on 94.3 FM and with air staff formerly of that station and oldies predecessor WCZX. In late May 2006, it was announced that WBPM and sister station

WGHQ WGHQ (920 kHz) is a commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station City of license, licensed to Kingston, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. WGHQ is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and it simulcasts a conservative talk radio format known as "The B ...

would be swapped to

along with Clear Channel's cluster in Rutland, Vermont (

WSYB WSYB (1380 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1930, the station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts a classic hits radio format as "100.1 WSYB". Local high school and college sports coverage inc ...

WZRT WZRT (97.1 FM) is a Top 40 (CHR) radio station. Licensed to Rutland, Vermont, the station serves the Lebanon-Rutland- White River Junction area of Vermont and New Hampshire. The station is currently owned by Pamal Broadcasting. History The s ...

), and WPYR in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for WRNX in Amherst, Massachusetts. The deal made WBPM a sister station to market leaders WSPK and WHUD as well as

WBNR WLNA (1260 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Beacon, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and calls itself "The Beacon." It simulcasts ...

and

WLNA WLNA (1420 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Peekskill, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and calls itself "The Beacon." It simulca ...

. On February 1, 2007, the station switched from oldies to classic hits. On March 15, 2021, WBPM began to simulcast its classic hits programming on WBNR and WLNA. The move was primarily to better utilize the FM translators associated with the AM signals. The simulcast allows WBPM a larger coverage area including the southern part of the Poughkeepsie metro.

Programming

When Pamal took control of the station on February 1, 2007, the station changed to classic hits at 12:00 p.m. that day after twelve hours of stunting. The programming featured "Classic Rock-leaning hits from 1965-1989". Currently, the station is programmed by Randy Turner, formerly of WCZX. In October 2011 Bob Miller joined WBPM as morning show host (after a long stint at rival WCZX) reuniting with longtime co-host and newsman Brian Jones. As of September 1, 2012, under the direction of station manager Don Verity, WBPM features classic pop hits marketed as "The Biggest Hits of All Time" from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. WBPM is considered the leading station in Kingston and Ulster County. In the 2020s, like many classic hits stations, the music on the WBPM has evolved away from the 1960s to focus on the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s to accommodate Generation X listeners that are aging into the target demo.

References

External links

WBPM official website
* {{Pamal Broadcasting BPM Classic hits radio stations in the United States BPM Radio stations established in 1999 1999 establishments in New York (state) Pamal Broadcasting Saugerties, New York