WPRO-FM (92.3 MHz "92 PRO-FM") is a commercial top 40 (CHR)

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 ...

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 ...

, United States, owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

. The studios and offices are located in the

Brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for ...

Broadcasting Center on Wampanoag Trail on the East Providence– Barrington line. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is located on Neuticonacanut Hill in

Johnston, Rhode Island Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 29,568 at the 2020 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House (1691), a stone-ender museum, and the only landfill in Rhode Island. Incorpora ...

History

Cherry & Webb Broadcasting Company, owners of WPRO (630 AM), applied for a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for a new high frequency broadcasting station on 47.5 MHz on October 29, 1940. An amended application was filed January 15, 1941, and was finally granted by 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) on June 12, 1947, with its new frequency of 92.3 MHz in the new FM band. WPRO-FM began broadcasting on April 17, 1948. The Cherry & Webb Broadcasting Company, in turn, was owned by the Cherry & Webb Department Store. (In the early days of broadcasting, it was common for department stores to own radio stations, to provide programming for customers who bought receivers.) At first, WPRO-FM

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, simul ...

its AM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

, WPRO. In 1959,

Capital Cities Communications Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...

acquired both WPRO and WPRO-FM. Through the 1960s and early 1970s, WPRO-FM aired a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format, while WPRO AM enjoyed high ratings with a top 40 format. On April 29, 1974, at 3:00 p.m., WPRO-FM changed formats from

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

, joining its AM counterpart as a top 40 outlet. Over time, the AM moved toward an

adult top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

direction, adding more information and service features, while WPRO-FM continued as a music-intensive top 40 outlet. Capital Cities and ABC merged in 1985, and WPRO-AM-FM were then under the ownership of one of America's biggest broadcasting companies. In December 1992, Capital Cities/ABC announced that the stations would be sold to Tele-Media, with the sale being consummated the following April.http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-03-04.pdf This put the station under common ownership with WLKW (the former WEAN) and WWLI. Tele-Media, in turn, sold its stations to Citadel Broadcasting in 1997. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. WPRO-FM is unique in the Providence

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

in keeping the same

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

since its

sign-on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exc ...

in 1948; and the same format, top 40, since 1974.

Notable WPRO-FM alumni

* Gary Berkowitz - WPRO's first program director under the Top 40 format *

Rocky Allen Rocky Allen (born in 1955) is an American talk radio personality and host of the eponymous ''Rocky Allen Showgram''. It aired, most recently, from 3 to 7 pm ET on FM station WPLJ, WPLJ, New York. Allen's show, which he co-hosts with long-time on-ai ...

* Bruce Diamond *Tom Cuddy * Howard Hoffman *Tony Bristol *David Simpson *Jimmy Gray *Big John Bina *Vic Michaels *

Don Geronimo Michael L. Sorce (born September 18, 1958), better known by his stage name Don Geronimo, is an American radio personality formerly featured on the nationally syndicated radio talk show ''Don and Mike Show''. Career Geronimo began his career in ...

*Tony Mascaro *Will Gilbert *Tanya Cruise *Davey Morris

References

External links

92 Pro FM92 PRO FM On-Air Playlist92 Pro FM's Official Myspace
* {{Cumulus Media PRO-FM Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Rhode Island