WTSA (1450 AM, "99.5 The Beast") is a radio station licensed to serve

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

. The station is owned by Four Seasons Media and broadcasts an active rock format, also carried by

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W258DQ (99.5). It first signed on in 1950.

History

WTSA signed on April 19, 1950, as a sister station to WKBR in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

. The station was first in Brattleboro and was positioned to serve

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. WTSA was sold to the Puritan Radio Group, and later to McGavern/Guild. McGavern changed the middle of the road format to

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

in the mid 1960s. WTSA was always the most popular station in the region, being a strongly personality directed format. In 1967 WTSA had a Hooper Index listenership of 49.7 market share out of a 13-station measure. WTSA-FM would be added in 1975, and with ownership changes, the format on AM was moved to FM. The station became WMMJ on July 1, 1984, but was reassigned the WTSA call letters by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

on August 1, 1986. On March 4, 2019, WTSA changed its format from

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

to active rock, branded as "99.5 The Beast" in reflection of its

, W258DQ (99.5).The Beast Rocks Into Brattleboro
Radioinsight - March 5, 2019

Translator

References

External links

WTSA AM official website
* * TSA Radio stations established in 1950 1950 establishments in Vermont Active rock radio stations in the United States Brattleboro, Vermont {{Vermont-radio-station-stub