WPYR (1380 AM) is an American

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed to serve the community of

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

. The station currently airs a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

programming format.

History

WPYR was originally WYNK, a country music outlet until its format was moved to the FM side. The station signed on in 1956 and was affiliated with ABC Radio and Mutual. In the 1990s, WYNK switched to

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

and briefly held the

WFMF WFMF (102.5 FM), branded as "102.5 WFMF", is a commercial radio station owned by iHeartMedia and licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It serves the Baton Rouge metropolitan area with a contemporary hit format. The studios are located in Bat ...

call letters after the FM side became WLSS. Once WLSS returned to the WFMF call letters, 1380 reverted to WYNK. WYNK flipped to a syndicated talk format on April 22, 2002. In 2005, WYNK became the Baton Rouge affiliate of

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left wing alternative to counte ...

and changed call letters to WPYR. In late 2007, the station switched to Clear Channel's Hallelujah Contemporary Gospel music format. In 2008, WPYR was sold to Michael Glitner, who then exchanged WPYR for station WBZK in

York, South Carolina York is a city in and county seat of York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 6,985 at the 2000 census and up to 7,736 at the 2010 census. York is located approximately southwest of Charlotte, North Caroli ...

(now WULR), which was 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, w ...

and is near Glitner's new home in South Carolin

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2009/aug/03/catholic-group-buys-radio-station/] Following the station swap, WPYR returned with a new Spanish format. The station was broadcasting a simulcast of KGLA (AM), WFNO's "La Fabulosa 830". In August 2009, Catholic Community Radio, Inc. signed a purchase agreement with the Davidson Media Group intending to buy the station and switch to a

format for the

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

are

On December 11, 2009, Catholic Community Radio, Inc. completed the sale of WPYR with Davidson Media Groupbr>
The station is a

lay apostolate The lay apostolate is made up of laypersons, who are neither consecrated religious nor in Holy Orders, who exercise a ministry within the Catholic Church. Lay apostolate organizations operate under the general oversight of pastors and bishops, b ...

owned and operated by Catholic Community Radio, Inc. within the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. The station currently hosts 24-hour Catholic Talk format, begun in the 1st Quarter of 2010 drawing from local and national sources such as

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...

Global Radio Network, Ave Maria Radio, and

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. It is the largest Catholic radio network by owned station base. R ...

. WPYR began broadcasting a one-hour live morning program beginning at 7:00am called "Wake Up Baton Rouge! Live." When the live show began broadcasting in the New Orleans area via WQNO, the show's name changed to "Wake Up Louisiana."

References

External links

* Catholic radio stations Radio stations established in 1956 1956 establishments in Louisiana Christian radio stations in Louisiana {{Louisiana-radio-station-stub