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WLLH

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Coordinates:42°42′27.33″N71°9′49.21″W/ 42.7075917°N 71.1636694°W/42.7075917; -71.1636694(WLLH)
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WLLH
Broadcast areaMerrimack Valley
Frequency1400kHz
BrandingLa Mega 95.1
Programming
FormatSpanish tropical
Ownership
Owner
  • Gois Broadcasting LLC
  • (Gois Broadcasting Boston LLC)
WAMG,WKND,WLAT,WNEZ,WORC
History
First air date
  • October1926(inSomerville)
  • October 27, 1927 (inLexington)
  • October 10, 1934 (in Lowell)
  • December 1, 1937 (Lawrence transmitter)
Former call signs
  • WAGS (1926–1927)
  • WLEX (1927–1929)
  • WLEY (1929–1934)
Former frequencies
  • 1200 kHz (1926–1927)
  • 1390 kHz (1927–1928)
  • 1420 kHz (1928–1930)
  • 1370 kHz (1930–1941)
Call signmeaning
Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID24971
ClassC
Power1,000watts
Transmitter coordinates
42°42′27.33″N71°9′49.21″W/ 42.7075917°N 71.1636694°W/42.7075917; -71.1636694(WLLH)
Translator(s)95.1W236CU (Lowell)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.mimusicaboston.com/megalawrence

WLLH(1400AM) is acommercialradio stationinLawrence, Massachusetts,serving theMerrimack Valleyregion. The station is owned by Gois Broadcasting, LLC, and airs atropical musicradio format.The transmitter site is on Common Street, near the Lawrence Police Department Headquarters.

WLLH is also heard onFM translatorW236CU at 95.1MHzinLowell,with its 170–watt transmitter located off Holmes Road.[2]The station uses its translator frequency in its moniker, "Mega 95.1 FM".

From 1937 until 2019, WLLH operated with an unusual configuration of synchronized dual transmitters, located in Lowell and Lawrence, which broadcast on a common frequency.

History

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WAGS and WLEX

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The station was first authorized as WAGS in October 1926. It was only powered at 5 watts, broadcasting on 1200 kHz, and was licensed toSomerville, Massachusetts,near Boston.[3]Its call letters stood for "Willow Avenue Garage Station". During September–October 1927, the station moved toLexington,and it returned to the air on October 27, 1927, as WLEX at 1390 kHz with 50 watts. It was located in the home of part-owner Carl Wheeler, who shared station ownership with Jesse Smith Dodge.

The station time-shared withSouth DartmouthstationWMAF.[4][5]On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40,WLEX moved to 1420 kHz with 100 watts, time-sharing with Boston-basedreligiousstation WSSH.[4]

WLEY

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WLEX was renamed WLEY, after Carl Wheeler's company, the Lexington Air Stations, purchasedWBETfrom theBoston Evening Transcript,moved it fromMedfordto Lexington in February 1929, and transferred the WLEX call sign to the relocated station.[6]During this time, the stations also operated an experimental television station,W1XAY.[7]

WLEY remained at 1420 kHz until 1930, when it moved to 1370 (concurrent with WLEX's move from 1360 to 1410 kHz). W1XAY shut down in 1930, and WLEX was sold off in 1931, but the Lexington Air Stations retained WLEY until 1933.[7]

WLLH

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WLEY was purchased by Alfred Moffat, who changed the call letters to WLLH on August 13, 1934, and moved the station from Lexington to Lowell on October 10, 1934.[8]Moffat boosted the station's daytime power to 250 watts[9]from a transmitter and studio location at theRex Center,[10]and affiliated it with theYankee Network,[9]and theMutual-affiliated Colonial Network the next year.[11]

Synchronous operation begun

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Moffat also worked to establish a second "synchronous amplifier" transmitter about 9 miles (14 km) away in Lawrence, which began operating with up to 100 watts under a "special experimental authorization" on December 1, 1937,[12][13]with a license for the Lawrence transmitter being issued on March 4, 1941.[12]

The dual WLLH transmitters moved to 1400 kHz on March 29, 1941, with the implementation of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement(NARBA).[12][14]Ed McMahonbegan his career in 1942 as an announcer for WLLH.[10]In addition, the station began an FM sister station in 1947, 99.5 WLLH-FM (nowWCRB).

A company called WLLH, Inc. acquired the dual operation in 1963.[15]In the 1960s and 1970s, WLLH carried aTop 40format with local news and weather updates. By the 1980s, the station moved to afull serviceadult contemporarysound. But as younger people switched to FM stations for their music, WLLH had to adjust itsplaylist.In 1985, WLLH switched to acountry musicformat. By the 1990s, under Arnold Lerner's Merrimack Valley Wireless Talking Machine Company, WLLH had adopted anadult standardsformat, and was the radio home of theLowell Spinnersminor league baseballteam.

WLLH was sold to Mega Communications in 1999,[16]and switched to a simulcast ofSpanish-languagetropical musicstation WNFT (1150 AM, soon renamed WAMG)[17]that April;[18]some of WLLH's staff, as well as Spinners games, moved to WCCM (800 AM, nowWNNW).[18][19]The WAMG simulcast continued after that station moved to890 AMin 2003, following the sale of 1150 AM (nowWWDJ) toSalem Communications.

Mega sold WAMG and WLLH to J Sports in 2005. On July 24, the stations returned toEnglish-languageprogramming and switched toESPN Radio.[20]Most programming was simulcast on both stations, though WLLH again carried Lowell Spinners baseball, replacingWCAP,during the 2007 season;[21]after that season, the team returned to WCAP.[22]

WAMG and WLLH discontinued ESPN Radio programming on September 14, 2009. The sports format was dropped, and the stations temporarily wentdark.[23]While the station was silent, on October 9, 2009,Merrimack Collegeannounced thatMerrimack Warriors ice hockeygames would be broadcast on WLLH beginning on November 13.[24]

WLLH logo prior to redesign

WLLH returned to the air in late October 2009, once again carrying Spanish-language tropical music under the "La Nueva Mega" branding.[25]The new format was programmed by Gois Broadcasting, owner ofWORCinWorcesterand three Connecticut radio stations, under alocal marketing agreement(LMA);[26]Gois would purchase WLLH outright in January 2010.[27]

Synchronous operation ended

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Ultimately both WLLH transmitters operated at 1,000wattsusingnon-directional antennasonAM 1400.However, in 2019 the station lost access to the Lowell transmitter site, which had been considered its primary location.[28]With the elimination of the Lowell operation, WLLH continued to broadcast from the formerly secondary site at Lawrence, and changed itscommunity of licenseto that city.[29]Service to Lowell was replaced byFM translatorW236CU at 95.1MHz.[2]

Translator

[edit]
Broadcast translatorfor WLLH
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP(W) Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
W236CU 95.1 FM Lowell, Massachusetts 139030 170 D 42°39′14″N71°13′0″W/ 42.65389°N 71.21667°W/42.65389; -71.21667(W236CU) LMS

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WLLH".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ab"W236CU-FM 95.1 MHz - Lowell, MA".radio-locator.com.
  3. ^"New Stations",Radio Service Bulletin,October 30, 1926, page 3.
  4. ^abHalper, Donna L.(September 21, 2011)."The Eastern Massachusetts Radio Timeline: The First Fifteen Years".The Archives @ BostonRadio.org.RetrievedSeptember 26,2011.
  5. ^Halper, Donna (April 2001)."John Shepard -- Boston's Showman".oldradio.com.RetrievedJuly 16,2017.
  6. ^"Radio Service Bulletin".United States Department of Commerce. February 28, 1929. p. 12.RetrievedJuly 16,2017.
  7. ^abHalper, Donna L."How Television Came to Boston—The Forgotten Story of W1XAY".Television History-The First 75 Years.RetrievedSeptember 13,2011.
  8. ^"The Boston Radio Timeline".The Archives @ BostonRadio.org.January 2, 2001.RetrievedSeptember 14,2011.
  9. ^abBroadcasting Yearbook 1935(PDF).1935. p. 36.RetrievedFebruary 8,2010.
  10. ^abHalper, Donna L."Lexington's Forgotten Radio History (from WLEX and WLEY to WAAB and WLLH)".New England Radio Histories.RetrievedOctober 2,2011.
  11. ^"The Colonial Network".The Archives @ BostonRadio.org.RetrievedSeptember 27,2011.
  12. ^abcHauser, Glenn(May 4, 2003)."DX Listening Digest 3-077"(text file).World of Radio.RetrievedSeptember 26,2011.
  13. ^Broadcasting Yearbook 1972(PDF).1972. p. B-99.RetrievedJanuary 24,2010.
  14. ^"Assignments of United States Standard Broadcast Stations Listed by Frequency".p. 1438.RetrievedMarch 30,2023.
  15. ^Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 page C-107
  16. ^Fybush, Scott (February 6, 1999)."WKOX, WLLH Sold".North East RadioWatch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  17. ^Fybush, Scott (April 21, 2000)."WMJQ Comes Home".North East RadioWatch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  18. ^abFybush, Scott (April 16, 1999)."Raleigh Retires, Bruds Cuts Back Hours at WBZ".North East RadioWatch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  19. ^Fybush, Scott (April 2, 1999)."The Eagle Has Crash-Landed".North East RadioWatch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  20. ^Reid, Alexander (August 7, 2005)."Change is in the airwaves".The Boston Globe.RetrievedSeptember 26,2011.
  21. ^Fybush, Scott (February 12, 2007)."Barber out, DePetro in at WPRO".NorthEast Radio Watch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  22. ^Fybush, Scott (November 5, 2007)."C&K Out, Imus In at WABC".NorthEast Radio Watch.RetrievedSeptember 28,2011.
  23. ^Finn, Chad (September 12, 2009)."ESPN Radio's Boston affiliate set to sign off".The Boston Globe.RetrievedSeptember 12,2009.
  24. ^"All Hockey Games to be Broadcast on 1400 AM beginning November 13".merrimackathletics.com.October 9, 2009.RetrievedJuly 16,2017.
  25. ^Fybush, Scott (November 2, 2009)."Pulse Fades Out - Now It's A Party".NorthEast Radio Watch.RetrievedNovember 29,2023.
  26. ^Fybush, Scott (November 9, 2009)."Christmas Time is Here..."NorthEast Radio Watch.RetrievedNovember 29,2023.
  27. ^"Double deal in Boston moving two AMs".Radio Business Report.January 14, 2010.RetrievedJuly 16,2017.
  28. ^Correspondence from Jerome J. Manarchuck, FCC Audio Division, Media Bureau,May 23, 2019.
  29. ^"NorthEast Radio Watch 6/24/2019: Here Comes the Repack"by Scott Fybush, June 24, 2019.
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