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48-479: WPEN may refer to: WPEN (FM) , a radio station (97.5 FM) licensed to Burlington, New Jersey WKDN (AM) , a radio station (950 AM) licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly WPEN, 1929-2012) WMGK , a radio station (102.9 FM) licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly WPEN-FM, 1947-1975) WCAU , a television station (channel 10) licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly WPEN-TV, 1946-1947) WOGL ,

96-399: A classic rock format. Like WPST, WTHK was owned by Nassau Broadcasting and licensed as a station serving Trenton. In August 2005, WTHK's city of license was changed from Trenton to Burlington, a New Jersey city 18 miles north of Philadelphia. These changes were the first two steps of a three-step process designed to maximize the value of the licenses for 94.5 and 97.5. The reallocation of

144-572: A pop alternative format in early 1996, moving back to top 40 later that year. The station then evolved to more of a Hot AC format late in 1997 and flipped to an adult rock format in 2000. WVPO became a MOR / adult standards station in 1997. In the spring of 1996, Nassau acquired then- country music station 106.3 WHCY in Blairstown, New Jersey , which served Stroudsburg as well as the Sussex County, New Jersey radio markets. This station would for

192-516: A rhythmic adult contemporary format, branded as "Philly's 106.1". Many former WJJZ listeners protested when the format was abandoned in Philadelphia. Much to the delight of fans, Greater Media announced in late October that it would pick up the smooth jazz format for 97.5. The official transfer of ownership took place on November 15, when WTHK signed off and shut down its Trenton transmitter. The new WJJZ launched on November 17, 2006, at 6 p.m. After

240-867: A Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) until 2002. At the end of 1996 Nassau acquired 1360 WNNJ (now WTOC) and WNNJ-FM (now WNNJ) in the Sussex County market licensed to Newton, New Jersey . Early in 1997 WNNJ-FM dropped its Hot AC format in favor of a pop-leaning classic rock format known as Classic Hits. WNNJ would drop Satellite Oldies in favor of Stardust , a satellite-based pop standards/oldies hybrid format. In 1997, Nassau bought AM stations 1160 WOBM and 1310 WADB in Monmouth County, New Jersey , along with adult contemporary stations WJLK , WOBM-FM , and WQNJ (which became WBBO and now WKMK ). AM stations WOBM and WADB became adult standards stations, while WOBM-FM remained an adult contemporary station. WJLK-FM became

288-512: A debt-to-equity agreement had been reached with Goldman Sachs giving the latter 85% ownership of the company. Although Nassau would continue to operate the stations, the change of control ended Nassau's grandfathered status regarding how many stations per market it could own. WHXR in the Portland, Maine market and WNNH and WWHQ in the Concord / Lakes Region market of New Hampshire were to be placed in

336-551: A divestiture trust and sold, in an arrangement similar to the Aloha Station Trust established by Clear Channel and the Last Bastion Station Trust established by Citadel Broadcasting . On June 30, 2011 Inside Radio reported that Nassau had retained LCT Capital as financial adviser for a restructuring in which Nassau would raise money to reacquire the company from its lenders for $ 52 million, about 20 percent of

384-645: A few years remain a country music station. Shortly afterward, Nassau went on a buying spree of radio stations. In August, 1996, Nassau entered into an agreement with Great Scott Broadcasting to acquire religious station WCHR 94.5 FM and sports station WTTM serving the Trenton area. The religious format that was on WCHR FM moved to the AM station which was renamed WCHR AM, while the FM station at 94.5 (formerly WCHR FM) became oldies station WNJO . Nassau operated these stations pursuant to

432-543: A format change. In the summer of 2008, Greater Media began doing listener research to change the station. Among the formats tested was soft AC , hot AC , all-news on FM , FM talk , and a AAA format similar to WIOQ of the early 80s. On September 5, 2008, at 6:00 p.m., after playing Boyz II Men 's " I'll Make Love to You ", WJJZ began stunting with a loop of 15 songs, ranging from Blondie 's " Heart of Glass " to Avril Lavigne 's " Complicated ". Three days later, on September 8, at 9 a.m., "Now 97.5" made its debut as

480-542: A format hole in the market, and Greater Media decided to fill it with a new version of WJJZ on 97.5. WTHK signed off on November 15, 2006, at 7 p.m. Shortly after that, Greater Media began airing a simulcast of WMGK, the Hawk's former competitor, on 97.5 as a placeholder. Before WJJZ was to take over, messages urged listeners to reprogram their radios to WMGK to continue enjoying classic rock. WJJZ (106.1 FM) ended its smooth jazz format at noon on August 10, 2006, and flipped to

528-406: A hot AC station, and positioned itself as "a younger approach to today's soft rock", competing with the market AC leader, WBEB ("B-101"). The first song was " Who Knew " by Doylestown native P!nk . On September 12, 2008, WJJZ changed call letters to WNUW to match the "Now" branding. On October 31, 2008, at 5:00 p.m., the station switched to all- Christmas music . During WNUW's first week in

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576-493: A match against the Columbus Crew . WPEN is short-spaced to three other Class B stations: WENJ 97.3 ESPN (licensed to serve Millville, New Jersey ), WRVV The River 97.3 (licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ) and WALK-FM WALK 97.5 (licensed to serve Patchogue, New York ). WENJ and WRVV both operate on 97.3 MHz, a first adjacent channel to WPEN. The distance between WPEN's transmitter and WENJ's transmitter

624-590: A minute of silence, a recording of smooth jazz artists greeted listeners was played (the same recording that was played at the closing of the old WJJZ), as well as a welcome message from Dave Koz . The first song played on the new frequency was the Grover Washington, Jr. tune "Protect the Dream". The new WJJZ began broadcasting from the same tower used by the old WJJZ, located on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania . At

672-868: A pop alternative-based Hot AC station. In the spring of 1997 WBBO left the WJLK simulcast and became B 98, employing a CHR format. In September 1998, Nassau agreed to sell radio stations WSBG FM and WVPO AM, licensed to Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania respectively, to Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, Inc. Nassau began managing these properties pursuant to an LMA in November 1998. In 2000, WSBG ultimately dropped its Hot AC format in favor of an 80's and 90's based pop adult rock format. Nassau also began managing WDLC and WTSX in Port Jervis, New York and flipped WTSX to oldies from adult contemporary and WDLC to standards from oldies. WTSX served Middletown, New York and

720-522: A popular and profitable Trenton-market station on the 94.5 frequency, which could not be moved. Nassau Broadcasting chose to leave the final necessary step, the actual relocation of the 97.5 transmitter, to the eventual buyer, which would turn out to be Greater Media . Since Greater Media already had a Philadelphia classic rock station in WMGK , it was almost certain a new format would be chosen for 97.5. Clear Channel's decision to drop smooth jazz from 106.1 left

768-551: A purchase of two FM and an AM station in Frederick and Hagerstown . Nassau also added stations in Cape Cod , Massachusetts, through a purchase of three FM stations from Qantum Communications in 2005. In 2006, Nassau entered into an LMA and option agreement with WDAC broadcasting to operate and acquire WBYN FM, a religious format station in Reading, Pennsylvania . Nassau agreed to maintain

816-452: A radio station (98.1 FM) licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly WPEN-FM, 1943-1947) WPEN-LP , a defunct television station in Hampton, Virginia [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about radio and/or television stations with the same/similar call signs or branding. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

864-529: A simulcast of WWDB . WPEN's HD3 channel airs a simulcast of WIFI . On November 22, 1940, the Federal Communications Commission granted Mercer Broadcasting Company a construction permit for a new station, licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey, on 44.7 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band. On January 29, 1942, the FCC granted Mercer Broadcasting a change to 49.9 MHz. After

912-487: A successful New Jersey entrepreneur, acquired Nassau Broadcasting from Hobler. Mercatanti continued to operate Nassau as a two-station radio group until 1993, when the FCC raised the limits for the number of radio stations that any one company could own in a particular market. In 1994, Nassau acquired then-Top 40/Rock 93.5 WSBG and then- adult contemporary 840 WVPO in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania . WSBG eventually segued to

960-464: Is 57 miles, while the distance between WPEN's transmitter and WRVV's transmitter is 91 miles, as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on first adjacent channels according to current FCC rules is 105 miles. WALK-FM and WPEN operate on the same channel and the distance between the stations' transmitters is 125 miles as determined by FCC rules. The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on

1008-752: Is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Burlington, New Jersey , in the Philadelphia radio market . The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format . WPEN is the flagship station for the NBA 's Philadelphia 76ers Radio Network and the NHL 's Philadelphia Flyers Radio Network. It also carries Temple University football games and Philadelphia Union MLS games. WPEN has local hosts days and evenings while carrying

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1056-625: The Beasley Media Group announced it would acquire Greater Media and its 21 stations (including WPEN) for $ 240 million. The FCC approved the sale on October 6, and the sale closed on November 1. On February 21, 2023, the Philadelphia Union and the Beasley Media Group announced a partnership agreement to make WPEN the official radio broadcast partner of the team. The station aired their first Union broadcast on February 25, 2023, in

1104-522: The nationally syndicated ESPN Radio network nights and some weekend hours. It is also affiliated with the ESPN Radio network. Studios are located in Bala Cynwyd and the station's broadcast tower is located in Wyndmoor at ( 40°04′57.0″N 75°10′52.2″W  /  40.082500°N 75.181167°W  / 40.082500; -75.181167 ). WPEN broadcasts using HD Radio . Its HD2 subchannel airs

1152-403: The 97.5 frequency from Trenton to Burlington moved it into the larger and more lucrative Philadelphia radio market and made it possible to move the 97.5 transmitter to a site much closer to Philadelphia. This made 97.5 a much more valuable property, one ripe for sale to a major-market broadcast company regardless of what format it might currently be running. Meanwhile, WPST continued to operate as

1200-508: The Boston classical music format of WCRB as part of the transaction, and Nassau migrated this classical format onto 99.5 FM. 97.5 FM Philadelphia became Smooth Jazz WJJZ, a format abandoned on 106.1 by Clear Channel. Nassau also had sales pending to Access.1 Broadcasting of WVPO, WPLY, WSBG, WWYY, WODE, WEEX, WBYN, WTKZ, and WFKB. In December, 2006, this sale had not been consummated and was cancelled. On April 27, 2009 Mercatanti announced that

1248-508: The FCC created the current FM broadcast band on June 27, 1945, the station was reassigned to 97.5 MHz on July 10, 1947. The station was granted its first license on September 27, 1949, with the WTOA call sign. The Trenton Times Corporation purchased the station effective June 28, 1962. Nassau Broadcasting Company , owner of then-new AM outlet WHWH, purchased the station effective December 12, 1964. On September 13, 1971, WTOA's call sign

1296-527: The Philadelphia Flyers announced they too were leaving WIP-FM for WPEN. On July 24, 2014, Temple University and Greater Media entered into a multi-year agreement for the station to become the official radio broadcaster for Temple football games beginning in the 2014 season. In 2016, WPEN began airing Philadelphia Soul regular season games, in the Arena Football League . On July 19, 2016,

1344-472: The Sussex County cluster of stations would become Clear Channel stations. Nassau also sold the Monmouth County stations including WBBO, WJLK, WADB, and WOBM-AM-FM to Millennium Radio Group, LLC, which also owns WKXW New Jersey 101.5, a talk station weekdays with a 70's based oldies format on weekends. Also in 2001, Nassau signed on WCHR FM in Monmouth County. That station employed a classic hits format but

1392-484: The Sussex County markets, while WDLC served Port Jervis. At the end of 1997, Nassau also bought locally owned WSUS , which was and still is an adult contemporary radio station. In March 2000, Nassau signed definitive agreements to acquire Aurora Broadcasting. Aurora operated stations in southern New York state and western Connecticut . In order to fund the Aurora acquisition and to accomplish an overall recapitalization of

1440-526: The all-Christmas format, competitor B101 announced it would be sprinkling in Christmas tunes during the weekend of November 8–9, obviously in reaction to WNUW. Then on November 13, B101 flipped to all-Christmas. It was the earliest that B101 made the switch. Shortly thereafter, adult standards AM station WHAT also started playing an all-Christmas format. Then on November 26, in a surprise move, classic hits -formatted WOGL changed its format to all-Christmas for

1488-497: The city of license on 97.5 FM and making application to the FCC for a change of transmitter location, Nassau received approval from the FCC to move its 97.5 FM signal (which became WTHK FM after the format migration) to become a metropolitan Philadelphia radio station, rather than a Trenton station. Nassau sold 97.5 FM WTHK to Greater Media, Inc. in exchange for cash and Greater Media's station WKLB 99.5 FM in Boston . Nassau also received

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1536-730: The company through a series of acquisitions. Nassau expanded significantly through acquisition in 2004 in New England . Nassau first acquired stations in Maine and New Hampshire in early 2004, and later that year, Nassau added more stations in New Hampshire and also in Vermont . Nassau quickly became one of the largest broadcasters in New England with 37 stations in the region. In 2005, Nassau expanded its East Coast footprint to include Maryland through

1584-568: The company, Nassau initiated the process to take the company public in early 2000. During the process of executing the IPO, the Dow Industrial Average dropped approximately 30% and the company cancelled the IPO. The Aurora deal was cancelled that fall. On August 25, 2000, WHCY dropped its country music format in favor of CHR and became known as "Max 106.3". WSBG dropped its Hot AC format in favor of an 80's and 90's based pop adult rock format. In

1632-405: The completion of the sale on January 10, 2013, 97.5 dropped the -FM suffix. WPEN-FM was Philadelphia's only FM sports station for its first two years until CBS Radio owned rival WIP moved to FM, replacing WYSP . Beginning with the 2012 NBA Playoffs, WPEN-FM became the flagship station for the Philadelphia 76ers, moving away from WIP-FM, where they were aired for years. Less than a week later,

1680-557: The estimated $ 258.1 million owed. Nassau would sell its New England radio and real estate holdings by the end of 2012 as part of the reacquisition effort. In September 2011 an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition was filed by Nassau's lenders that, if granted, would force the company to sell off its assets. On October 6, 2011, Nassau petitioned the US Bankruptcy court to convert the Chapter 7 petition to Chapter 11 which would permit

1728-663: The first time. Including WJBR-FM in nearby Wilmington, Delaware , it gave the Philadelphia market five Christmas formatted stations in 2008. The first on-air personality to be hired by WNUW was Glenn Kalina, whose morning show debuted on January 5, 2009. After finishing at #3 in the 2008 Holiday ratings, the station's audience fell off when it returned to its Hot AC format. WNUW trailed every other commercial Philadelphia FM and even Trenton station WPST , and Wilmington station WSTW in its last ratings period. On October 9, 2009, at 5 p.m., after playing Streetcorner Symphony by Rob Thomas , WNUW flipped to an FM simulcast of WPEN , with

1776-415: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WPEN&oldid=1225183943 " Category : Broadcast call sign disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages WPEN (FM) WPEN (97.5 MHz , "97.5 The Fanatic")

1824-412: The new identity of "97.5 The Fanatic, Powered by ESPN". The call sign was switched from WNUW to WPEN-FM. Some of the time, the two stations would simulcast; during national live game broadcasts from ESPN Radio or another network, the AM side would carry the games, while WPEN-FM would feature Philadelphia-focused sports talk. On December 21, 2012, AM 950 was sold to Family Radio and became WKDN . After

1872-457: The religious format and moved the format to one of its local AM stations, WYNS, which was renamed WBYN AM. Nassau then launched its new classic hits format Frank FM and renamed the former WBYN FM to WFKB FM. Nassau has also recently made a number of changes in the Trenton, New Jersey market. In 2005, the company swapped formats on its two Trenton FM stations (WPST, CHR format and WTHK, classic rock format). During this time period, by changing

1920-431: The same channel according to current FCC rules is 150 miles. WPEN uses a directional antenna to reduce its signal toward the southeast and the west, in the direction of WENJ and WRVV. WPEN's HD2 digital subchannel formerly broadcast Classical music. As of December 2023, the subchannel now airs a simulcast of WWDB. WPEN's HD3 digital subchannel formerly broadcast a Spanish CHR format branded as "Supra Radio" (which

1968-491: The station's start, it used Broadcast Architecture's syndicated "Smooth Jazz Network," with musician Dave Koz as the afternoon host, Program Director Michael Tozzi handling middays and Ramsey Lewis ' morning show simulcast from WNUA in Chicago . DJs from the old WJJZ were added over time, including Bill Simpson, Frank Childs, Teri Webb, Desirae McCrae, Al Winters and Lisa Fairfax. WJJZ's lack of ratings success fueled rumors of

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2016-499: The stations to continue operating while Nassau reorganized its finances. On February 9, 2012 Nassau has petitioned the bankruptcy judge to allow them to sell off all of their broadcast assets, including all of its stations. The auction concluded in May 2012 with the stations split between various bidders. Nassau's last remaining station, WPLY in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania , was deleted by

2064-599: The summer of 2000, Nassau agreed to buy Oldies 99.9 WODE and Sports 1230 WEEX in the Lehigh Valley market from Clear Channel Communications . But when Clear Channel merged with AM/FM, they agreed to give Nassau WEEX and WODE plus some cash in exchange for WNNJ, WNNJ-FM, WSUS, and WHCY. Clear Channel also would get management contracts to run WDLC and WTSX. Nassau would keep LMAs for WVPO, WSBG, and WPMR (later WPLY ), and eventually buy them back outright. So in February 2001,

2112-774: The time. By fall 1975, the station took off and eventually became the number one station in the market. Over time, the format moved to mainstream Top 40 music. Taylor remained the morning host until 1987. Other WPST DJs over the years included John Mellon (aka Walt Ballard), Ed Johnson, Doug James, John Brown, Eddie Davis, Trish Merelo, Andy Gury, Brian Douglas, Mel "Toxic" Taylor, Jay Sorensen, Dave Hoeffel, Tom Cunningham, Michelle Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mark Sheppard, Andre Gardner, Phil Simon, Steve Trevelise, Joel Katz, Rich DeSisto, Lee Tobin, Steve Kamer, Lori Johnson, Mark DiDia, Bob Sorrentino, and Scott Lowe. On February 14, 2005, at 5 p.m., 97.5 swapped call signs and formats with sister station 94.5 WTHK . Branded on air as "The Hawk", WTHK had

2160-465: Was changed to WPST as the station rebranded as "Passport Stereo". The station's format was middle of the road music. In August 1975, Nassau Broadcasting owner Herb Hobler hired Phil Gieger as the General Manager. Gieger and morning host/station manager Tom Taylor revamped the station. They initially established an Adult Top 40 format, not as youth-oriented as Top 40 stations heard on AM radio at

2208-522: Was eventually also sold to Millennium Radio Group, LLC. Nassau was down to WHWH, WJHR, WCHR, WNJO, WPST, WVPO, WPMR, and WSBG. Except for WPST, Nassau's FM stations all had rock-based classic hits formats of some sort. AM stations had formats such as talk, oldies, or sports. WVPO was flipped to oldies from MOR/Standards. WPST was and still is a CHR station. In 2004, former Citigroup Media investment banker Tristram Collins joined Nassau as its Sr. Executive Vice President to help Louis Mercatanti grow and operate

2256-491: Was founded by Herb Hobler with the acquisition of WHWH 1350 in Princeton, New Jersey . That station employed a full-service MOR format. WHWH-FM was eventually launched and became WPST on 97.5 FM by 1975. WPST employed a rock -based Top 40 format. WPST was one of the most successful medium market stations in the country. Until the early 1990s WPST and WHWH were the only stations owned by Nassau. In 1986, Louis F. Mercatanti,

2304-476: Was simulcast on translator W237EH 95.3 FM in Pennsauken, New Jersey ). In October 2021, WPEN-HD3 began broadcasting Spanish tropical music known as "Ritmo FM," which was formerly broadcast on WIFI (AM 1460). On January 15, 2024, WPEN-HD3 and W253DG switched to a simulcast of Spanish CHR-formatted WIFI 1460 AM Florence, NJ, branded as "Maxima 92.9". Nassau Broadcasting Partners Nassau Broadcasting

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