WPIA

WPIA
City Eureka, Illinois
Broadcast area Peoria metropolitan area
Branding 98.5 Kiss FM
Slogan Peoria's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency 98.5 MHz
First air date August 22, 1988 (1988-08-22)
Format Contemporary Hit Radio
ERP 6,000 watts
HAAT 100 meters (330 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 28317
Transmitter coordinates 40°42′57.1″N 89°27′50.3″W / 40.715861°N 89.463972°W / 40.715861; -89.463972 (WPIA tower) (NAD83)
Callsign meaning Peoria (also Peoria airport code)
Former callsigns WRVP (2000–2004)
WPPY (August 1999 – July 2000)
WEEK-FM (1997–1999)
WIVR (1994–1997)
WCRI (1988–1994)[1]
Owner Mike Rea
(Advanced Media Partners, LLC)
Sister stations WHPI, WWCT, WZPN
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.kisspeoria.com

WPIA (98.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Eureka, Illinois, between Peoria and Bloomington, Illinois. The station is owned and operated by Advanced Media Partners, LLC.

History

The station originally went on the air as WCRI in 1989. It was owned by Woodford County Radio, Inc. WCRI programmed local news, farm news including grain and livestock prices, high school and Eureka College sports as well as a blend of 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s music. Local librarians created and hosted a weekly five-minute program "Queries, Quips and Quotes." The daily talk show "Woodford County Today" focused on community and area events. Students from the local grade school read the daily lunch menu. The station operated at 3,000 watts; the transmitter and antenna were located about a mile north of Eureka. The studios were at 103 North Major, across the street from the courthouse to the west and Eureka Hospital to the south. The station was sold in 1994 to the owner of WPOK, Pontiac, and his business partners.

After a stint as WIVR, "98.5 The River", in the mid-1990s, the station was bought by the owners of WEEK-TV, who turned it into "Oldies 98.5" with the callsign WEEK-FM, the only radio station owned by Granite Broadcasting. After 93.3 became WPBG ("Big Oldies 93.3"), putting it in direct competition with WEEK-FM, 98.5's ratings slid and Granite sold the radio station.

From around 1999 to 2004, the station was called WPPY, "98.5 The Party", first with the callsign WPPY, then adding a simulcast on 101.1 WRVP (now WHPI), then swapping callsigns with 101.1 to become WRVP itself.

In March 2004, the station's callsign was changed to WPIA and it became Christian rock station "Hope 98.5". Then-owners Regent Communications (who were also the owner of rival WZPW until its sale to Cumulus Media in 2012) sold the station and 101.1 (now WHPI) to Independence Media Holdings, who also bought 96.5 (now WZPN) from another company and combined it with 98.5 to form "96.5 & 98.5 Kiss-FM" starting in September 2006. On July 2, 2007, 96.5 stopped simulcasting 98.5.[2]

Independence Media Holdings sold WPIA, along with its other 3 Peoria-area stations (96.5 WZPN Farmington, 99.9 WWCT Bartonville and 101.1 WHPI Glasford) to Michael S. Rea's Advanced Media Partners on November 15, 2010.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "WPIA(FM)". FCCInfo.com. Cavell Mertz & Associates, Inc. 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  2. ↑ http://www.pjstar.com/stories/070107/STE_BDL3RTSG.004.php (dead link)
  3. ↑ "Application Search Details (BALH-20100723AEO)". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
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