WNPE (102.7 FM) is a public

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 ...

, providing programming from The Public's Radio (formerly known as Rhode Island Public Radio) to southern Rhode Island from its transmitter at Narragansett Pier. It was the first FM transmitter in the network. Prior to operating noncommercially, the 102.7 facility was a commercial radio station from its sign-on in 1990 to 2007.

History

As a commercial radio station

On July 15, 1990, WPJB signed on. Reviving a historic call sign that had been abandoned at 105.1 FM in Providence when it became WWLI in 1985, WPJB broadcast an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format and was owned and operated by Full Power Radio of Narragansett, Inc. Full Power Radio of Narragansett sold WPJB to Back Bay Broadcasters for $1.05 million in 1997; the station became a simulcast of Back Bay's rhythmic CHR outlet WWKX "Kix 106" and changed its call letters to WAKX to reflect the new programming. Back Bay became AAA Entertainment in 1999; the two companies were commonly owned. WWKX-WAKX added Howard Stern to its program lineup in 1998. The stations carried Stern through the end of his terrestrial radio run, though, alongside some other Citadel stations, "Hot 106" began cutting his show short because Stern was excessively promoting his soon-to-be-new home at

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

acquired WWKX, WAKX, and a station in

Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in East Hampton, New York, East Hampton and Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 Un ...

, from AAA Entertainment for $16.5 million in 2003; the sale of WAKX was not finished until 2005. Citadel immediately optioned WAKX, along with WKKB in Middletown, to Davidson Media Group in a $7.5 million sale, breaking the simulcast. By 2007, WAKX was running a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

format, leased out to Craig Rapoza.

Sale to Rhode Island Public Radio

On March 23, 2007, the former Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio, renamed Rhode Island Public Radio, announced its acquisition of WRNI (1290 AM), a

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

member station run by

WBUR-FM WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. Its programming is also known as WBUR News. The station is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and W ...

in Boston. At the same time, the foundation announced that it was buying WAKX from Davidson for $2.65 million, funded by the Rhode Island Foundation. The acquisition brought NPR service for the first time to southern Rhode Island communities that were outside of WRNI's coverage area, beginning May 17, 2007, when WAKX became WRNI-FM and began carrying WRNI's programming full-time. WAKX's former jazz programming moved to WALE (990 AM). In 2018, concurrent with RIPR's relaunch as The Public's Radio, the call letters were changed to WNPE.

HD Radio multicast

From March 2013 until February 2018, MVYradio leased the HD2 multicast channel of WNPE to broadcast a modified content stream of WMVY (88.7 FM) on Martha's Vineyard; this fed translator W243AI 96.5 FM, which broadcast from the roof of Newport Hospital. This allowed WMVY programming to continue being heard on the translator after the original WMVY (92.7 FM) was sold to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and became WBUA.

References

External links

* {{NPR Rhode Island NPE Radio stations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Rhode Island NPR member stations Narragansett, Rhode Island News and talk radio stations in the United States