WPAA was 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 radi ...

, broadcasting from the campus of Phillips Academy in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

. Founded using Phillips alum and then-NBC president Robert Sarnoff's gift of $15,000, the station was launched in 1965 by a host of famous personalities, including

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, Jack Lemmon,

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, and

Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...

. The station's signal was powered by a 33 watt transmitter and reached over 104 square kilometers, which, at launch, had the potential to reach over 150,000 people. Following the loss of Phillips Academy's station equipment and the general decline of radio, WPAA refocused resources as a music studio, offering recording opportunities for student performers and providing live sound equipment for nearly all campus events, including the station's "Battle of the Bands" every spring.

History

WPAA was licensed on April 26, 1965; it signed on May 1. It was a 10-watt station on 91.7 FM broadcasting from Evans Hall. The station later increased its power to 25 watts in 1984. 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 jurisdicti ...

(FCC) canceled WPAA's license in November 2004, as the station had been off the air for more than a year. The Andover public school system had attempted to take over operations several years prior. With the deletion of the FM license, the station went Internet-only at WPAA.com. Additionally, Evans Hall was demolished in 2004, and the station was relocated to the basement of Morse Hall. The deletion of WPAA's license prompted two further changes. Commercial station

WXRV WXRV (92.5 FM; "The River") is an adult album alternative radio station licensed to Andover, Massachusetts, and based in Haverhill, with a signal covering most of northeast Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, and audible as far away as ...

relocated its

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American br ...

from Haverhill to Andover, becoming the first and only radio service for the town, and Newburyport's WNEF 91.7 altered its signal pattern to put more power toward Andover. Lowell's WUML 91.5 was built with a directional signal to protect WPAA, which still is used even though there is no longer an adjacent nearby station to protect. A decrease in student attention to the organization saw a decline in activity throughout the late 2010s, ceasing entirely by the end of 2019. By 2022, however, the station has begun rebuilding its presence on the Phillips Academy campus, with a focus on the future of music after radio.

Notes

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WPAA
PAA Radio stations established in 1965 1965 establishments in Massachusetts Internet radio stations in the United States Radio stations disestablished in 2004 2004 disestablishments in Massachusetts PAA Phillips Academy {{Massachusetts-radio-station-stub