WSMN (1590 AM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 radi ...

broadcasting a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

format. It is

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Nashua, New Hampshire, and serves the

Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those ...

. Its owners since March 2017 are on-air personalities George Russell and Bob Bartis. WSMN has some local talk shows and also features paid

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...

. WSMN transmits with 770

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s daytime, 58 watts nighttime. It uses a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...

at all times. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W237FA at 95.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

History

Early years

On , the station

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. The first voice heard was that of

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

, native Frank G. Teas who spent the next 44 years with the organization until he retired in December 2002. The original owner was the Merrimack Valley Broadcasting System. It sold the station only one year later, to 1590 Broadcasting Corporation. Most of its early years, WSMN had a middle-of-the-road format, mixed in with talk. This format remained in place through the decade. The organization also published an advertiser-supported, free tabloid called the ''1590 Broadcaster.''

Country, adult standards and talk

During the mid-1990s, WSMN attempted a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. But country on AM radio became less viable after

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 ...

country station

WKLB-FM WKLB-FM (102.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "Country 102.5") is a country music, country radio station licensed to Waltham, Massachusetts, and serving Greater Boston. WKLB's studios are located in Waltham. The transmitter is located in Needham, Massach ...

moved from 96.9 FM (now WBQT) to 99.5 FM (now

WCRB WCRB (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts, which serves the Greater Boston area. It broadcasts classical music. Its studios are located in Brighton, and its transmitter is located west of Andover. WCRB wa ...

). WSMN switched to adult standards in December 1997. This was short lived; in March 1998, the station changed to news/talk, though some timeslots were temporarily filled with

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 ...

music for a time. Initially locally oriented, in June WSMN began adding nationally-produced programming, including Talk America shows and business news from

Bloomberg Radio Bloomberg Radio is a radio service of Bloomberg L.P. that provides global business news programming 24 hours a day. The format is general and financial news, offering local, national and international news reports along with financial market up ...

. Two years later, Tom O'Brien signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) to take over the station's operations.

Time off the air

WSMN was forced off the air February 1, 2005, after losing the lease to its transmitter and studio site on West Hollis Street ( Route 111). The license was sold to Absolute Broadcasting, owner of WSNH (900; now WGHM) that July. WSMN returned to the air in October from the WSNH tower, running a low-power special temporary authority signal. It initially

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, simulta ...

WSNH's ESPN Radio programming. The station began shifting back to a news/talk format in early 2006. It began featuring programing from

Talk Radio Network Talk Radio Network (TRN) was an independent radio producer and syndicator of news and talk radio programming headquartered in Central Point, Oregon. TRN consists of a number of associated companies, which have launched or re-built some of the U ...

and

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...

Bartis and Russell Broadcasting

Absolute Broadcasting sold WSMN to Bartis and Russell Broadcasting LLC for $200,000. The sale took effect on March 16, 2017. The proprietors are George Russell and Bob Bartis, who had both hosted shows on WSMN. They promised "more local programming and a refocus on the community." WSMN formerly held a construction permit from the

U.S. 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 jurisdictio ...

to build a new three-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

west of the old location. Instead of using the same directional pattern full-time, there would be different directional patterns for day and night. In July 2020, the station put an

on the air at 95.3 MHz.

Programming

WSMN airs ''Nashua This Morning with George Russell'' during morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cl ...

, with a mix of talk shows and

at other times. Bob Bartis continues to host shows on several topics. In timeslots where a talk show is not scheduled, the station airs blocks of music. WSMN is an affiliate of USA Radio News. Other programing includes: *"Asking for a Friend" *"Barticus Live" *"The Dana Loesch Show" *"Latinos En Vivo" *"Public Health Hour" *"The Rayla Campbell Show Live" *"Spouting Off with Host Karen Kataline" *"Turning Pages with Elaine Holden"

Former personalities

*Al Rock (general manager) *Ed Lecius Sr. (news director) *Frank Teas Sr. (program director) * Weldon Haire * Maury Parent *Jeff Radzik *Eric Nuernberg (Eric O’ Neil) *Nick Diamond *Jim Liversidge *Robert "Woody" Woodland *Robert "Bob" Bevill *Chuck O'Neil *Gerry Wood *Kevin Farwell *John Halpert *Dee Dee Leigh *Griff Vautier *Russ Cooper *Dale Lonroth *Hal Hillard *Tony Broseau *Leo Zani *Steve Shaw *Herb Andrews *Ernie Anastos *Dianna Ploss

References

External links

* {{News/Talk Radio Stations in New Hampshire SMN Radio stations established in 1958 Nashua, New Hampshire Hillsborough County, New Hampshire News and talk radio stations in the United States 1958 establishments in New Hampshire