WHOM

For the pronoun "whom", see Who (pronoun).
WHOM
City Mount Washington, New Hampshire
Broadcast area Portland, Maine, Northern New England, Estrie, Canada
Branding 94.9 HOM
Slogan The Best Variety of the 80s, 90s and Today
Frequency 94.9 MHz
First air date July 9, 1958 (as WMTW-FM)
Format Adult Contemporary
Christmas music (Nov.-Dec.)
ERP 48,000 watts
HAAT 1,141 meters (3,743 ft)
Class C
Facility ID 49687
Callsign meaning We're High On the Mountain
Former callsigns WMTW-FM (1958-1971)
WWMT (1971-1973)
WMTQ (1973-1976)
Owner Townsquare Media
(Townsquare Media Portland License, LLC)
Sister stations WBLM, WCYY, WJBQ
Webcast Listen Live
Website 949whom.com

WHOM (94.9 FM, "94.9 WHOM") is an American radio station which airs an adult contemporary format. It transmits from atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the tallest peak in the Northeast. WHOM's signal can be heard in five states and part of Canada (New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Quebec). While the station can be heard all over Northern New England, WHOM broadcasts from and considers itself part of the Portland, Maine radio market. WHOM had for a long time claimed on its website that it has the largest coverage area of any FM station in the USA. The station also streams its programming over the internet from its official web page. It is owned by Townsquare Media.

WHOM promotes its programming as "safe for the whole family." In addition to local DJs, the station also airs the syndicated John Tesh radio show.

History

WHOM traces its history to the 1940s as a weather station, sending temperature and climate readings from atop Mount Washington to meteorologists in Boston. As an FM station for the general public, WHOM signed on the air July 9, 1958[1] as WMTW-FM, owned by Mount Washington Television (an ownership group that included former Maine governor Horace Hildreth) along with WMTW-TV (channel 8).[2] The WMTW stations were sold to Jack Paar of Tonight Show fame in 1963;[3] Paar, in turn, sold them to Mid New York Broadcasting in 1967.[4]

WMTW-FM was sold to Alpine Broadcasting in 1971; Mid New York retained WMTW-TV, and as a result the radio station changed its call letters first to WWMT,[5] then to WMTQ in 1973,[6] and then finally to the current WHOM in 1976[7] (previously used by New York City radio stations 1480 AM; now WZRC, and 92.3 FM; now WBMP).

The station offered a beautiful music format consisting of instrumental versions of pop songs from artists like Henry Mancini, Ray Conniff, Percy Faith, Chet Atkins, and Herb Alpert, as well as several soft vocals per hour like The Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, and Perry Como. This format continued through the 1980s. In January 1990, WHOM abruptly dropped the easy listening format for a soft adult contemporary format (dubbed "soft and easy favorites" by the station), though it continued to market as an easy listening station and retained its airstaff. In the mid 1990s, the station began adding softer songs by hot AC and CHR artists and began playing current product. By 2000, WHOM was more of a mainstream adult contemporary station.

The station was sold to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting by Barnstable Broadcasting in 1996;[8] Fuller-Jeffrey then sold most of its stations, including WHOM, to Citadel Broadcasting in 1999.[9] Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[10] On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would acquire 53 Cumulus stations, including WHOM, for $238 million. The deal is part of Cumulus' acquisition of Dial Global; Townsquare and Dial Global are both controlled by Oaktree Capital Management.[11][12] The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1981 (PDF). 1981. p. C-147. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  2. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 (PDF). 1958. p. A-320. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ Marsters, Jack (October 11, 1963). "Jack Paar Buys WMTW-TV". The Gazette (Montreal). p. 6. Retrieved March 12, 2010. Included in the deal, … is the affiliated FM radio station WMTW-FM.
  4. ↑ "Bits of Show Business". The Milwaukee Journal. November 10, 1967. p. 15. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 (PDF). 1973. p. B-125. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1974 (PDF). 1974. p. B-132. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 (PDF). 1977. p. C-132. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  8. ↑ Fybush, Scott (June 18, 1996). "Portland Consolidates". New England RadioWatch. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  9. ↑ Fybush, Scott (April 30, 1999). "Fuller-Jeffrey Sells Out". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Cumulus-Townsquare-Peak Deal Closes". All Access. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.

Coordinates: 44°16′12″N 71°18′14″W / 44.270°N 71.304°W / 44.270; -71.304

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