WPCR-FM
History
Then-Plymouth State College started a student-run, carrier current radio station using the WPCR designation on November 17, 1968. Originally located in the basement of Mary Lyon Hall, a women's dormitory where the male DJs had to be escorted out when the station shut down at night, WPCR relocated to larger quarters in Ernest L. Silver Hall the next year. A wide variety of students broadcast over the outlet; in 1971, these included Judy Hampton, a female sportscaster—unusual for the time—who was also blind, sat by the announcers at home athletic events, and delivered a nightly sports recap. Most of the station's music was Top 40, with records either donated or bought from Newberry's.
After planning began in 1970, Plymouth State received a construction permit to build a 10-watt FM radio station on December 4, 1972. While previously only audible in and near campus buildings, the station already had inklings of interest from the broader community; one station engineer heard reports that local residents would park near dorms listening to away football games. Students also raised money from the community to pay station debts; in 1976, one announcer, Peter Brunette, was on the air for four straight days as part of a radiothon to keep the station going through the end of the school year.
A growing need for student offices led to the college's acquisition of the former Tau Omega sorority house in 1986; the radio station and several other student organizations moved in the next year to the "CUB Annex", with WPCR-FM alone occupying the first floor. By 1988, WPCR boasted 48 student DJs. The station then moved into the new Hartman Union Building when it was completed in 1995.
References
- ^ "WPCR Now Broadcasting on FM". Conning Tower Gleanings. Fall 1973. p. 4. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPCR-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Twenty years of college radio at WPCR". Plymouth State Update. Winter 1989. p. 8. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Students Run Radio Station". Portsmouth Herald. November 19, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Annual Report". Conning Tower Gleanings. Fall 1969. p. 5. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Blindness No Handicap For This Sportscaster". Conning Tower Gleanings. Summer 1972. p. 7. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ FCC History Cards for WPCR-FM
- ^ "PSC Talkathon Raises $911". Nashua Telegraph. UPI. March 24, 1976. p. 50. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Jim McLaughlin Charts College Union Future". Plymouth State Update. March 1987. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Hartman Union Building opens with huge HUB-bub". Plymouth State Update. Spring 1995. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
External links
- Facility details for Facility ID 52839 (WPCR-FM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WPCR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database