WTUP (1490 AM) is a

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 a black-oriented news format, with programming from the

Black Information Network Black Information Network (BIN) is a radio network and content brand owned by iHeartMedia. Launched on June 30, 2020, it is an all-news radio network of stations targeting the African American community, carrying mostly important national news hea ...

. Licensed to

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo () is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. With an estimated population of 38,300, Tupelo is the sixth-largest city in Mississippi and is considered a commercial, industrial, and cultural hub of North M ...

, United States, the station serves the Tupelo area. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

, Inc., through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC.

History

WTUP was the second broadcast radio station in

(the first was

WELO Wollo ( Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed part of the present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had ...

). The station signed on as a full-service AM providing music, news and weather for Tupelo. WTUP originally broadcast with 1,000 watts at 1380 on the dial, only during the daytime. About 1959, when WELO vacated 1490 to switch to 580, WTUP switched to the 1490, in order to broadcast 24 hours. WTUP switched to a full-time contemporary Top 40 music format in about 1958 and was very successful with the younger audience, competing with WELO and its full-service format. In 1956, when hometown phenom Elvis Presley returned to Tupelo to perform at the annual Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show, Jim Reese (who was the general manager of WTUP) was the MC for the concerts. WTUP employees Charlie Watts and Ron Brandon were responsible for recording interviews with Elvis, actor Nick Adams, and Elvis' parents, as well as recording both the afternoon and evening concerts. A tape of the interviews and concerts was found at Graceland in Memphis after Elvis's death, and later released to the public by RCA on what would have been Elvis' 50th birthday. At one time, WTUP and WELO were sister stations. The station participates in Tupelo's annual

Race For The Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

fundraising marathon for the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

. WTUP changed formats a few times, eventually being purchased by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

and 'flipped' to a sports radio format. The station broadcast professional sports teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and the Memphis Grizzlies in addition to local sports institutions such as Saltillo High School football, Tupelo High School basketball and baseball, and Mississippi Mudcats arena football. At one point, WTUP was broadcasting more than 200 live, local sports events annually. In 2009, following a purchase of the radio station by

URBan Radio Broadcasting URBan Radio Broadcasting, LLC, (typically written with the first three letters of the word 'urban' capitalized) is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Columbus, Mississippi ...

, WTUP returned to an oldies music format and resumed "The Top Dawg" branding. In July 2016, WTUP changed their format to a simulcast of classic hits-formatted WBVV. On August 13, 2018, WTUP dropped the simulcast with WBVV and flipped to

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

as "Alt 107.7", utilizing a new FM simulcast on translator W299CS (107.7 FM). As with all iHeart alternative stations, the station carried ''The Woody Show'' in morning drive. On February 22, 2021, WTUP changed their format to black-oriented news, branded as "Tupelo's BIN 107.7", with programming from the

.BIN Launches In Tupelo
Radioinsight - February 23, 2021 File:WTUP logo.png, former logo under former sports format File:WTUP ALT107.7 logo.png, former logo under previous alternative rock format

References

External links

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FCC History Cards for WTUP
{{IHeartMedia TUP (AM) IHeartMedia radio stations Black Information Network stations All-news radio stations in the United States