WPUC-FM (88.9 FM), branded on-air as Católica Radio, is a non-commercial educational

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 ...

broadcasting 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. Licensed to

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, the station serves the entirety of the island with the aid of a booster at

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...

and a translator covering Mayagüez. The station is owned by Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Incorporated.

History

The Catholic University of Puerto Rico entered into broadcasting when it built WEUC, a 1,000-watt AM radio station operating at 1420 kHz, in 1958. The station, which signed on in May, was the island's first Catholic radio station. The station's call letters stood for ''Emisora Universidad Catolica'' (Catholic University Station). Bishop James E. McManus, who founded the university, had invited Father Carl Hammond to assist in the design of the buildings on the campus; Hammond, an avid ham radio operator, was instrumental in launching the station. On May 17, 1979, the Catholic University of Puerto Rico applied to 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 ...

to build and launch a noncommercial FM station on 88.9 MHz. WEUC-FM was approved by the commission on January 11, 1982, but the station did not sign on the air until May 17, 1984. The university sold the AM station in 2000 to El Mundo Broadcasting Corporation, owners of

WKAQ-AM WKAQ (580 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently owned by Hemisphere Media Group, the station airs a Spanish language talk radio format. Its programming is repeated on WUKQ, which broadcasts on 1420 kHz ...

WKAQ-FM WKAQ-FM (104.7 MHz, "KQ105 FM") along with its satellite WUKQ-FM (98.7 MHz) are a pair of radio stations in Puerto Rico broadcasting a bilingual contemporary hit radio format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, WKAQ-FM serves the eastern half of ...

in San Juan and WUKQ-FM in Mayagüez, for $1.45 million; the sale resulted in the AM frequency becoming a simulcaster of WKAQ. After selling the AM station, the university changed WEUC-FM's call sign to WPUC-FM, reflecting the papal designation of the pontifical title on the university, which had taken place in 1991. The radio station serves dual purposes: as a communication media with the external community and as an internship for students studying communications. In 2014, the station's main studio was named for Luis Varela (1938 - 23 June 2020), whose sports program ''Trinchera Deportiva'' aired from WEUC/WPUC since 1961. After

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

, WPUC-FM lost 80 percent of its coverage. The translator for Mayagüez, located inside the

Maricao State Forest Maricao State Forest (Spanish: ''Bosque Estatal de Maricao'') is a state forest located in the eastern Cordillera Central mountains of Puerto Rico. It is commonly known as ''Monte del Estado'' due to the fact that it was one of the first forest ...

, was returned to service in January 2019.

Translator stations

References

External links

* * * {{Puerto Rico Radio PUC-FM Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Puerto Rico Campus, college, student and university radio stations PUC-FM Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico

History

Translator stations

See also

References

External links