WPUC-FM (88.9 MHz), branded on-air as Católica Radio, is a non-commercial educationalBefore the Federal Communications Commission, IMO Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Inc. File Nos. EB-07-IH-5331. FCC. File: EB-08-IH-1547. Facility ID No. 9351. Retrieved 17 January 2013. radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, the station serves the entirety of the island with the aid of a booster at Caguas and a translator covering Mayagüez. The station is owned by Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Incorporated.
History The Catholic University of Puerto Rico entered into broadcasting when it built WEUC,Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Breviario sobre la Historia de Ponce. 2nd ed. 2002. Page 209. Bayamon, PR: Impress Quality Printing. . a 1,000-watt AM radio station operating at 1420 kHz, in 1958. (Guide to reading History Cards) The station, which signed on in May, was the island's first Catholic radio station. The station's call letters stood for Emisora Universidad Catolica (Catholic University Station).Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 97. Bishop James E. McManus, who founded the university, had invited Father Carl Hammond to assist in the design of the buildings on the campus; Hammond, an avid ham radio operator, was instrumental in launching the station.
On May 17, 1979, the Catholic University of Puerto Rico applied to the Federal Communications Commission to build and launch a noncommercial FM station on 88.9 MHz. WEUC-FM was approved by the commission on January 11, 1982, but the station did not sign on the air until May 17, 1984.
The university sold the AM station in 2000 to El Mundo Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WKAQ-AM-WKAQ-FM in San Juan and WUKQ-FM in Mayagüez, for $1.45 million; the sale resulted in the AM frequency becoming a simulcaster of WKAQ. After selling the AM station, the university changed WEUC-FM's call sign to WPUC-FM, reflecting the papal designation of the pontifical title on the university, which had taken place in 1991.
The radio station serves dual purposes: as a communication media with the external community and as an internship for students studying communications.Self-Study for the Middle States Association’s Commission of Higher Education (MSACHE) Re-accreditation, 2003. Introduction - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico. Page 89. 17 April 2000. Retrieved 17 January 2013. In 2014, the station's main studio was named for Luis Varela (1938Adiós al veterano periodista Luis R. Varela Solar: El respetado comunicador, de larga trayectoria en varios campos incluyendo la radio, falleció el martes a los 82 años. 23 June 2020. Accessed 25 June 2020. - 23 June 2020Fallece el veterano periodista Luis Varela: El cronista, nacido en Cuba y radicado en Ponce, tuvo una destacada carrera de casi seis décadas en el periodismo deportivo y sobresalió por sus escritos sobre los asesinatos del Cerro Maravilla.), whose sports program Trinchera Deportiva aired from WEUC/WPUC since 1961.Muere periodista Luis R. Valera. EsNoticia. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 26 June to 9 July 2020. Year 5. Issue 121. page 15. Accessed 26 June 2020.
After Hurricane Maria, WPUC-FM lost 80 percent of its coverage. The translator for Mayagüez, located inside the Maricao State Forest, was returned to service in January 2019.
Translator stations
See also Radio Colegial: University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez WRTU: University of Puerto Rico-San Juan
References
External links