WEBE (107.9 FM) is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, carrying an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format known as "WEBE108". Owned by

Connoisseur Media Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in Westport, Connecticut and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the U.S. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, H ...

, the station serves both the

Greater New Haven Greater New Haven is the metropolitan area whose extent includes those towns in the U.S. state of Connecticut that share an economic, social, political, and historical focus on the city of New Haven. It occupies the south-central portion of the stat ...

and

Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Fairfield County, Connecticut * Fairfield County, Ohio * Fairfield County, South Carolina Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of t ...

areas. The WEBE

studios A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...

are located on Wheelers Farms Road in

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

; the station's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is located on the Hi-Ho Tower on Video Lane in

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...

. In addition to a standard

analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an ana ...

, WEBE broadcasts in HD and is available online.

History

The frequency of 107.9 MHz was originally assigned by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

, under its Table of Allocations. On September 1, 1962, WMMM-FM

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air as the FM counterpart to WMMM (now WSHU). WMMM-AM-FM were owned by the Westport Broadcasting Company headed by Sydney J. Flamm. WMMM was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...

station. When it went off the air at sunset each evening, WMMM-FM allowed its programming to continue to be heard. The stations broadcast out of offices and studios located above a

deli Deli may refer to: * Delicatessen, a shop selling specially prepared food, or food prepared by such a shop * Sultanate of Deli, a former sultanate in North Sumatra, Indonesia Places * Deli, Boyer-Ahmad, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Pro ...

at 163 Main Street in Westport. The broadcasting antenna for 107.9 FM was located in a residential neighborhood in Wilton. The power was 5,200 watts, a fraction of its current output, with an antenna

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT) of only 79 feet, so the broadcast radius of the station was quite limited. In 1970, WMMM-FM got the new

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

WDJF. The FM station continued to

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

WMMM for a few more years, and would later switch to an

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

format. The station's power was increased to 50,000 watts of power, and relocated to a taller tower. In 1984, the station was acquired by a company known as "The 108 Radio Company Ltd. Partnership", and would switch the call letters to WEBE. In addition, automation was ended and live DJs handled most air shifts. In 1987, the ownership changed to a company calling itself "WEBE Associates." In 2000, ownership changed again, this time to Nassau Broadcasting LLC.

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

acquired Nassau Broadcasting in March 2002. Cumulus also owned WICC. On April 15, 2019, Cumulus Media announced that WEBE and WICC would be swapped to

, which began operating the stations under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

(LMA) on May 1, 2019. The swap was consummated on June 26, 2019.

HD radio

Cumulus Broadcasting began upgrading its stations to

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

broadcasting in 2005. One of the first ten stations to get changed to HD transmission was WEBE. WEBE's HD2 subchannel carries the

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

format heard on co-owned WICC.

References

External links

*
History of Westport Connecticut Radio
* {{Connoisseur Media EBE Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Mass media in Bridgeport, Connecticut Westport, Connecticut Mass media in Fairfield County, Connecticut Radio stations established in 1962 1962 establishments in Connecticut Connoisseur Media radio stations