WPLM-FM (99.1 FM, "Easy 99.1") is an

adult contemporary music 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, quiet ...

station licensed to

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

. It is owned by Plymouth Rock Broadcasting Co. and has a sister AM station by the same callsign. Its transmitter is located in Plymouth. With a 50,000 watt signal, WPLM-FM can be received in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

region, and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, in addition to the South Shore.

History

WPLM-FM signed on June 25, 1961. In the station's first decades on the air, it had a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

format. This was abandoned in February 1994 in favor of an adult contemporary format, branded "Variety 99.1". However, the station saw little success with this format, due to there being several other stations with a similar format within WPLM's coverage area, and as a result it switched to

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

on June 25, 1995. Initially, programming was largely provided by SW Networks' Smooth FM service, with WPLM-FM itself branding as "Smooth FM 99.1"; however, after Smooth FM closed on December 31, 1996, the station switched to a similar service from

Jones Radio Networks Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...

and reimaged as "Jazzy 99.1". Two years later, the smooth jazz format was discontinued in favor of "Easy 99.1", which initially featured a blend of adult standards and

soft 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, quiet sto ...

. From WPLM-FM's inception, its programming has been simulcast, in whole or in part, with its sister AM station, which signed on six years earlier; from 1997 to 2015, the AM station broke away on weekdays to carry business news and talk programming from WADN/WBNW (1120). In April 2020, the station temporarily suspended its live streaming due to financial problems stemming from the pandemic. The stream was restored later in the year. WPLM has also taken over

WXKS-FM WXKS-FM (107.9 FM), branded as ''Kiss 108'', is a commercial top 40/CHR radio station licensed to serve Medford, Massachusetts, and covering Greater Boston. Owned by iHeartMedia, the WXKS-FM studios are in Medford and the transmitter sits atop ...

's decades-old tradition of playing

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including "Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career Th ...

's 1977 single "

Wishing On A Star "Wishing on a Star" is a slow ballad written by former The Undisputed Truth member Billie Rae Calvin and produced by Norman Whitfield. The song was originally offered to Barbra Streisand for her album project but later declined. It was first ...

" every Saturday at 12 noon. Notable past and present personnel include Tom Stewart, Audrey Constant, Scott Reiniche, Billy Teed, Chris Rogers,

Ken Coleman Kenneth Robert Coleman (April 22, 1925 – August 21, 2003) was an American radio and television sportscaster for more than four decades (1947–1989). Early life Coleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1925, the son of William (a salesma ...

Ron Della Chiesa Ron Della Chiesa is a Boston area radio personality. Born in 1938 in Quincy, Massachusetts, he was taken by his father to jazz and Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts in the early 1950s, and developed an ear for both genres. His commentaries, ori ...

, Bill O'Connell, Sean Casey and Barry Scott of ''

The Lost 45s ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

References

External links

{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Massachusetts PLM-FM Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1961 Plymouth, Massachusetts Mass media in Plymouth County, Massachusetts 1961 establishments in Massachusetts