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| Broadcast area | Manitowoc County andSheboygan County |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 98.9MHz |
| Branding | WEMP-FM 98.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Easy Listening |
| Affiliations | ABC News Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCUB,WLKN,WLTU,WOMT,WQTC | |
| History | |
First air date |
|
Call sign meaning | Heritage call sign formerly used byWSSP Milwaukee |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 85300 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 6,000watts |
| HAAT | 89.4 meters |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WEMP (98.9 FM) is an FMradio station licensed toTwo Rivers, Wisconsin carrying a mixedeasy listening and soft oldies format. The station transmits from theWLKN tower inNewton and covers theManitowoc–Two Rivers market, along with easternSheboygan County, includingSheboygan. The station is owned by Mark Seehafer through Seehafer Broadcasting Corporation, which is the station's licensee. The station's allocation has been proposed by theFCC since 1996, going through three owners who failed to build the facilities before previous owner Mark Heller's purchase of the license in 2013.
The station began broadcasting via program test authority on the evening of December 7, 2013 at 10pm, broadcasting until December 9 at midnight, using a limited hour loop ofeasy listening music with someChristmas music mixed in due to music licensing concerns, along with weather and sports updates and small talk from Heller, and pre-recordedstation identifications done byWGN'sOrion Samuelson andMax Armstrong. Also part of the PTA were several jingles from theoriginal WEMP in Milwaukee during their prime in the 1960s; the WEMP call letters were coincidentally made available when thelast holder in New York City re-called their station in mid-2012 during a transition period to a new format and eventual new owners.
The PTA happened nine days ahead of the expiration of the station'sconstruction permit after the station's original plan to build a new tower inNewton was rejected bythe town board. The test was performed using the studio facilities ofCleveland'sWLKN (98.1), along with their antenna and transmitter just west of Newton. WLKN went off the air to allow the PTA to go forward, and also streamed the PTA in full using their website. The test ended with the signal re-tuned to 98.1 and WLKN's programming resuming as scheduled.
WEMP began permanent service a year later on December 7, 2014, broadcasting from the WLKN tower with its current format, and remained commercial free during a testing period. The station was simulcast on their sister stationNew Holstein-licensedWLAK (1530), which operates as a daytime-only signal. WEMP utilized the basement studio of WLKN, along with sharing theirpost office box for correspondence their first few months on the air.
In February 2015, limited commercial advertising began, along with the addition of top-of-the-hour newscasts fromABC News Radio and half-hour weather updates. The station was sold by Heller to Seehafer Broadcasting in June 2015 and moved their operations to the WOMT facility in Manitowoc, with no major changes to the format or commercial scheduling. The WLAK simulcast was dropped shortly thereafter with the end of common ownership. WLKN would itself move to Manitowoc two years later with Seehafer's purchase of the Cub Radio stations and consolidation of Seehafer's five area stations into one facility.