 | |
| Frequency | 930kHz |
|---|---|
| Branding | Pop Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | CHR - Top 40 |
| Affiliations | Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WBWX | |
| History | |
First air date | 1947; 78 years ago (1947) (as WCNR) |
Former call signs | WCNR (1947–2001) |
Call sign meaning | Harry L. Magee |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 12465 |
| Class | D |
| Power | 2,000watts days 18 watts nights |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°1′0.00″N76°27′44.00″W / 41.0166667°N 76.4622222°W /41.0166667; -76.4622222 |
| Translator(s) | |
| Repeater(s) | 1280 WBWX (Berwick) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | thisispopradio.com |
WHLM (930kHz "Pop Radio") is acommercialradio station airing aCHR - Top 40radio format.[2] It islicensed toBloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and is owned by Seven Mountains Media. WHLMsimulcasts withsister stationWBWX1280 AM inBerwick.
WHLM is aClass D station. By day, it is powered at 2,000watts. But to avoid interference with other stations on930 AM, WHLM reduces power at night to only 18 watts. Thetransmittertower is on Arbutus Park Road in Bloomsburg.[3] Programming is also heard on threeFM translators: 94.7 in Berwick, 104.3 in Bloomsburg and 105.5 inDanville.
In the fall of 1947, two new radio stationssigned on the air in Bloomsburg. One was owned by theMorning Press newspaper (now thePress Enterprise), 930 WCNR. And one was owned by a group of local business leaders, 690 WLTR. In September 1951, Harry L. Magee of Magee Industrial Enterprises changed the 690call sign from WLTR to WHLM.
WHLM 690 was adaytimer station. It was required to go off the air at night to avoid interfering withclear channel stationCBF inMontreal. In October 1953, WHLM moved to 550 AM. That put it on a full-time channel with WHLM becoming Bloomsburg's first 24-hour radio station.
In September 1956, Harry Magee built and signed on asister station for WHLM. It was WHLM-FM at 106.5 MHz (nowWFYY).
In 1966, theMorning Press sold WCNR to its station manager, Ed Darlington. Then in 1998, thePress Enterprise petitioned theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) for a waiver to buy back WCNR. At the time, the FCC discouraged newspapers from owning broadcast stations, concerned about one organization controlling too many media voices in a community.
In 1998, Magee Industrial Enterprises sold WHLM and WHLM-FM to the Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation. Under this ownership, the company shut down WHLM 550 AM. It later changed the WHLM-FM call sign to WFYY, standing for "Flight 106.5." The station was renamed "Y106.5", and later was known as "Bigfoot Country".
In April 2001, thePress Enterprise shut down WCNR. In September of that year, Joe Reilly formed the Columbia Broadcasting Company (not associated withCBS, which once called itself the Columbia Broadcasting System). The Columbia Broadcasting Company purchased the assets of WCNR from thePress Enterprise. The studios, offices and historic call sign were restored in the WHLM Building on the Square in Downtown Bloomsburg. The station signed back on as "The New 930 WHLM."[4][5]
On March 21, 2022, thePress Enterprise reported that owner Joe Reilly (who also served as morning showdisc jockey for the classic hits portion of the format) announced he would imminently retire and would sell the entirety of the Columbia Broadcasting Company; he chose to sell it to Seven Mountains Media for $450,000. The sale did not include the stations' studios or offices.[6][7] The sale would make WHLM a sister station toWCFT-FM, which used to hold the WHLM call sign.
The sale closed on August 31 of that year. Reilly announced he would retire after his show that morning; that move voluntarily ended a radio career spanning over 50 years. Just after 1 p.m. on September 1, the classic hits format played its last songs,Billy Joel's "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)",Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger", andReunion's "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)". The finalFox News Radio update ran at the top of the hour, followed by about two hours ofdead air.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the entire Columbia cluster of stations beganstunting with a loop of "Pop" byNSYNC. Between each airing, it redirected former WHLM listeners to two other stations,WHNA andWNNA. It was promoting a new format to debut the following Tuesday, September 6, at 10 a.m. At that time, WHLM/WBWX flipped toCHR - Top 40 as "Pop Radio".[8]
