WMPG

WMPG
City Gorham, Maine
Broadcast area Southern Maine Coast
Frequency 90.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1973
Format Community Radio
ERP 4,500 watts
HAAT 195 meters
Class B1
Facility ID 69132
Transmitter coordinates 43°44′37.7″N 70°20′.8″W / 43.743806°N 70.333556°W / 43.743806; -70.333556
Callsign meaning Maine Portland-Gorham (former name of USM)
Owner University of Maine System
Webcast Listen Live
Website wmpg.org

WMPG is a community radio station broadcasting from Portland, Maine. It is located on Bedford Street at the University of Southern Maine Portland Campus. It is affiliated with the college, and a mix of USM students and volunteers from the greater Portland community produce all the music and local public affairs programs. It broadcasts 4.5 kilowatts on 90.9 (licensed to Gorham, where the main campus of USM is located) and 104.1 MHz (licensed to Portland) and can be heard as far north as Augusta, Maine and west into New Hampshire. It broadcasts streaming online 24/7 and the programming guide and contact info is available at their website along with a large number of archived programs.

Programming

The station features diverse programming ranging from rock to jazz to foreign to local or global issues, and more. Programs include Local Motives featuring live, in-studio performances from local bands; Blunt Youth Radio Project; Safe Space Radio, a weekly half-hour talk show about the subjects we would struggle with less if we could talk about them more; New Mainers', a program where new community members are interviewed about their personal experiences in their home countries and how they are doing here as "New Mainers".

History

WMPG originally went on the air as a carrier current station in 1970 before becoming a licensed station in 1973 on 91.1 MHz with 10 watts of power. In 1988 the station upgraded its signal to 1.11 kilowatts and shifted frequency to 90.9 MHz. A 50 watt translator on 104.1 MHz located on Portland's Munjoy Hill went on the air in 1999. In 2008 WMPG was granted a construction permit to increase power to 4.5 kilowatts and move transmitting facilities from the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine to Blackstrap Mountain in Falmouth. After a lengthy fund-raising effort and a $120,000 US Department of Commerce grant WMPG started broadcasting at half its licensed upgraded power from the new transmitter site on December 14, 2011, one day before the construction permit was to expire.[1] The 104.1 translator was sold to MPBN in 2016.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Local community radio nearly completing three-year project to expand reach", The Portland Daily Sun, October 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ MPBN adds Portland station to its new classical music network Ray Routher, Portland Press Herald, May 20, 2016


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