WUCS

WUCS
City Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Broadcast area Greater Hartford, Connecticut
Branding 97-9 ESPN
Slogan Game On
Frequency 97.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date July 1990 (1990-07)[1]
Format Sports
HD2: Talk radio (WPOP simulcast)
ERP 3,400 watts
HAAT 135 meters (443 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 46965
Transmitter coordinates 41°46′0″N 72°40′38″W / 41.76667°N 72.67722°W / 41.76667; -72.67722 (WUCS)
Callsign meaning W University of Connecticut—Storrs
(station is flagship for Connecticut Huskies athletics)
Former callsigns WPKX (1990–2012)
Affiliations ESPN Radio
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations WHCN, WKSS, WPOP, WWYZ
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.979espn.com

WUCS (97.9 MHz, "97-9 ESPN") is a commercial FM sports formatted radio station licensed to Windsor Locks, Connecticut. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and serves as the Hartford media market's ESPN Radio network affiliate. WUCS acts as the technical flagship station for the network because its signal covers Bristol, Connecticut, home of ESPN's headquarters. The station broadcasts from studios on Columbus Boulveard in Harford.

The station first signed on in July 1990[1] as WPKX, a country music station targeting Springfield, Massachusetts. It was originally licensed to Enfield, Connecticut but was able to move to Windsor Locks through an agreement with WMAS-FM which was formerly licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts.

It was owned by SFX Broadcasting in the late 1990s, then Capstar. AMFM owned it briefly before being acquired by Clear Channel Communications now iHeartMedia in 2000.

The station had an HD Radio HD-2 station broadcasting Americana music since early 2006.

In March 2010, iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications) filed an application with the FCC to move the WPKX transmitter from Provin Mountain in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts to the top of City Place in Downtown Hartford, effectively moving the station from the Springfield Arbitron market to the larger and more lucrative Hartford Arbitron market.[2] The previous country format has moved to WRNX (100.9 FM).

On January 27, 2012 at 6 a.m., the station switched to a simulcast of ESPN Radio affiliate WPOP (1410 AM).[3] The call sign was changed to WUCS on February 7, 2012.[4] WPOP switched to Fox Sports Radio in March 2012, with ESPN Radio remaining on WUCS.

As of the 2018-19 academic year, WUCS will serve as the flagship station for Connecticut Huskies radio play-by-play, including the school's football, hockey, and men's and women's basketball programs. Coverage is produced for the school by IMG Media.[5]

WPOP (now a talk radio station) is currently simulcast on WUCS's HD-2 signal.

References

  1. 1 2 Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-77. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101357400&formid=301&fac_num=46965
  3. ↑ http://www.radio-info.com/news/979-espn-clear-channels-hartford-move-in-is-in-espns-backyard 97.9 ESPN iHeartMedia, Inc.'s Hartford Move In Is In ESPN's Backyard
  4. ↑ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ "UConn-IMG Radio Network Announces New Partnership with iHeartMedia To Broadcast UConn Huskies Athletics". University Of Connecticut Official Athletic Site. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.