WMVX (AM)

WMVX (1110 AM; "Valley 98.9") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Established in 1977 as WVNH, the station is licensed to serve Salem, New Hampshire, United States, and is owned by Costa-Eagle Radio Ventures Limited Partnership, a partnership between Pat Costa and his chief investor, The Eagle-Tribune.[1] The station's programming is also heard on translator station W255DA (98.9 FM) in Salem.

WMVX
CitySalem, New Hampshire
Broadcast areaMerrimack Valley
Frequency1110 kHz
BrandingValley 98.9
SloganThe Merrimack Valley's Greatest Hits
Programming
FormatClassic hits
Ownership
OwnerCosta-Eagle Radio Ventures Limited Partnership
WUBG, WCCM, WNNW
History
First air date
January 10, 1977
Former call signs
WVNH (1977–1988)
WNNW (1988–2002)
WCCM (2002)
WCEC (2002–2007)
WCCM (2007–2017)
Technical information
Facility ID13998
ClassD
Power5,000 watts day
Transmitter coordinates
42°45′42″N 71°16′13″W
Translator(s)98.9 W255DA (Salem)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitevalley989.com

WMVX is only licensed to operate from local sunrise until 30 minutes after local sunset (the latter with reduced power); this is to protect WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, in the fall and winter months, it is not unusual for WMVX to be heard before sunrise.

History

The 1110 frequency in Salem first signed on January 10, 1977[2] as WVNH, a middle-of-the-road station owned by Salem Broadcasters.[3] The station was sold in 1980 and under general manager Dick Lange shifted to a nostalgia format. Just a month or so before the new ownership returned WVNH to the air, a fire destroyed Rockingham Park. Without its anchor draw, the business climate in Salem withered and WVNH failed to generate enough revenue to sustain its original staff. In late 1981, however, under program director Russ Mottla (the station's morning man, who was retained) the station shifted to a big band/middle-of-the-road format which dramatically improved ratings.[4] Despite the obvious drawback AM radio was by this time facing from FM, the Hughes family, which bought the station in 1984, restored the previous format.[5]

In 1988, Costa Communications purchased the station, changed the call letters to WNNW, and implemented a talk format.[2] Initially run more-or-less as a hobby, Costa soon discovered that the bulk of the station's profits came from its leased-time Spanish language programs,[6] leading WNNW to a full-time Spanish tropical format in 1990.[7] The station came under the operation of the Costa-Eagle partnership in 1996.[7]

The station changed its call letters to WCCM on August 29, 2002[8] as part of a larger shuffle that resulted in WNNW moving to WCCM's former frequency, 800 AM (where the WCCM intellectual property originated in August 1947); that station then moved to 1490 AM, taking WHAV off-the-air in favor of WCEC, which took over 1110 AM with WHAV's former Spanish-language talk programming. The changes formally took effect on-air that September;[9] on September 6, the WCEC callsign was formally implemented.[8]

Logo for the station as WCCM

The WCCM call sign returned on a permanent basis, accompanied by that station's English-language talk format, on August 1, 2007, following a format swap with 1490.[10] Most of WCCM's programming was syndicated, with some local programming airing in middays and on weekends. Despite not being authorized to broadcast at night, on November 6, 2012, WCCM stayed on the air well past local sunset to broadcast election results in the Merrimack Valley areas of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. WCCM, along with sister stations WNNW and WCEC, were carried on FM translator W275BH (102.9 FM) in a novel arrangement where three AM stations are carried on the same FM frequency through the use of HD Radio technology.

On April 1, 2017,[11] following the launch of translator W255DA (98.9 FM), the station changed to a classic hits format branded as "Valley 98.9", with WCCM's talk format retained on the HD2 channel of W275BH as well as an Internet radio station.[12] The call letters were concurrently changed to WMVX,[8] swapping call letters with a sister station in Methuen, Massachusetts.[12]

Translator
Broadcast translators of WMVX
Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W255DA98.9Salem, New Hampshire26367154D42°49′0″N 71°16′13″WFCC

References
  1. "WMVX Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook 1989 (PDF). 1989. p. B-189. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-09. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1979 (PDF). 1979. p. C-139. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-09. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  4. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1983 (PDF). 1983. p. B-154. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-28. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  5. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1988 (PDF). 1988. p. B-179. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  6. Medagila, Angelica (June 5, 2005). "Making waves in Spanish". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  7. Medagila, Angelica (March 21, 2009). "Local Spanish radio station first in state to broadcast on FM dial". The Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  8. "WMVX Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  9. Fybush, Scott (September 10, 2002). "North East RadioWatch". Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  10. Fybush, Scott (July 30, 2007). "Lawrence's WCCM Moves Again". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  11. Blessing, Kiera (May 10, 2017). "Costa Eagle Media launches new 'greatest hits' radio station". The Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  12. Venta, Lance (April 4, 2017). "Classic Hits Comes To The Merrimack Valley". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
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