106.9 wbach slogan maine s classical network frequency 106.9 mhz also on hd radio via wtht 99.9 hd2 translator s 96.9 w245aa portland first air date november 1991 programming as wbqq 99.3 1992 license as wavx format classical erp 29 500 watts haat 193 meters class b facility id 49564 transmitter coordinates 44 6 30.00 n 69 9 28 w 44.1083333 n 69.15778 w 44.1083333 ; 69.15778 former callsigns wavx 1992 1998 owner binnie media wbin media co. inc. website www.wbachradio.com wbqx 106.9 fm is a radio station in thomaston maine owned by bill binnie s wbin media co. inc. and branded as wbach . currently the station airs a classical music format . the station s programming is also heard in portland through translator station w245aa 96.9 fm and on the hd2 channel of wtht 99.9 fm . 1 history edit the wbach format was launched in november 1991 initially airing on wbqq 99.3 in kennebunk . the station was founded by mariner broadcasting 2 and after assembling its network was acquired by nassau broadcasting partners in 2003 . 3 wbach began to expand in 1998 when it bought another southern maine classical music station wpkm 106.3 fm in scarborough and renamed it wbqw . wpkm s classical format in turn originated on 97.9 fm now wjbq in 1971 as wdcs moving to 106.3 in 1980 and becoming wpkm in 1988 . wbqx signed on in 1992 and was previously known as wavx the classical wave then simulcasted with 101.7 the current wkvv . it also became part of the wbach network in 1998 . wbqi was previously wmdi the call letters standing for mount desert island the area in which the city of license bar harbor is located . it joined the wbach network in 2001 . wbach s logo from october 6 2008 through september 13 2012 . previous to this a version of this logo featuring the 99.3 and 106.3 frequencies were used . on october 6 2008 wbach realigned its southern maine frequencies . wbqq was removed from the network completely shifting to a simulcast of wtht 4 while wbqw moved from 106.3 to 104.7 swapping formats with active rock station whxq . nassau broadcasting entered bankruptcy in 2011 which culminated in an auction of its stations . prior to the conclusion of the auction the maine public broadcasting network expressed interest in running the wbach stations . 5 as part of nassau broadcasting s bankruptcy proceeding wbqw was auctioned in may 2012 to mainestream media for 150 000 while the other wbach stations along with nassau s 28 other northern new england stations went to a partnership of wbin tv owner bill binnie and jeff shapiro . as part of the deal 17 of the stations including wbqx and wbqi will be acquired by binnie s wbin media company . 6 7 8 the purchase was consummated on november 30 2012 at a price of 12.5 million . wbin media plans to resell wbqi to blueberry broadcasting . 9 mainestream media began programming wbqw on september 13 with christmas music en route to launching a top 40 chr format the next day it now broadcasts as whtp ; 10 11 this removed wbach entirely from its original southern maine market . 12 13 on august 7 2012 wbqx was granted a construction permit to increase their erp to 30 000 watts and to raise their height above sea level up to 232 meters 761 feet . the construction permit will expire on august 7 2015 . on november 30 2012 wbqi split from its simulcast with wbqx and began simulcasting classic hits formatted wabk fm 104.3 from gardiner . on january 3 2013 wbqi changed its call sign to wbka . on april 15 2013 wbach returned to portland through fm translator w245aa at 96.9 fm and wtht s hd2 subchannel . 1 14 references edit a b routhier ray april 9 2013 . wbach coming back on portland airwaves . portland press herald . retrieved april 15 2013 . fybush scott july 18 1998 . lobel leaves bz radio . north east radiowatch . retrieved january 28 2009 . fybush scott december 15 2003 . wcmf s unkle roger killed . northeast radio watch . retrieved 2009 01 28 . atlantic coast nassau shake up maine . august 25 2008 . retrieved january 28 2009 . mpbn going commercial al diamon downeast.com april 23 2012 nassau s maine stations split up al diamon downeast.com may 4 2012 carlisle capital corp. wins bidding for rest of nassau stations . all access . may 22 2012 . retrieved may 22 2012 . venta lance may 22 2012 . nassau broadcasting auction results . radioinsight . retrieved may 24 2012 . updated may 23 2012 sold maine fm massachusetts noncomm . all access . september 6 2012 . retrieved september 6 2012 . radio s first all christmas station arrives . . inside radio . september 13 2012 . retrieved september 14 2012 . wbqw lights up top 40 hot 104.7 . all access . september 14 2012 . retrieved september 14 2012 . 104.7 change of ownership . wbachradio.com . retrieved september 6 2012 . southern maine radio station to stop airing classical music . portland press herald . september 7 2012 . retrieved september 7 2012 . http www.wbachradio.com pages wbach on 96 9 external links edit official website query the fcc s fm station database for wbqx radio locator information on wbqx query nielsen audio s fm station database for wbqx query the fcc s fm station database for w245aa radio locator information on w245aa maine radio history from bostonradio.org v t e radio stations in the portland maine market by am frequency 560 730 780 870 900 970 1220 1310 1400 1440 1450 1490 by fm frequency 88.3 88.5 88.7 89.3 90.1 90.9 91.9 92.1 92.5 93.1 94.3 94.9 95.5 95.9 96.3 96.9 97.1 97.9 98.9 99.3 99.9 100.5 100.9 101.9 102.9 103.7 104.7 105.9 106.3 106.7 107.5 107.9 by callsign w223bh w245aa w263bz wbae wbci wblm wbqq wclz wcme wcyy wfnk wgan wgin whom whtp whxr wjbq wjjb fm wjto wjzf lp wjzp lp wlob wlvp wmea wmgx wmpg wmsj woxo wpei wpkq wpor wppi wred wrkj wsew wtht wtme wwsf wxex fm wxtp wyar wyfp wynz wzan maine radio markets augusta waterville bangor portland other maine radio regions northern & downeast maine lewiston auburn see also list of radio stations in maine portsmouth lakes region northeast kingdom v t e nassau broadcasting partners former stations wadb wafy wark wbbo wbka wbqq wbqw wbqx wbya wbyn wchr wchr fm wcrb wdlc weex wemj wexp wfnk wfnq wfrq wfqr wfyx whcy whdq whwh whxr wike wjlk wjyy wlam wlkz wlnh fm wlvp wmoo wnhv wnhw wnje wnjo wnnh wnnj wobm fm wode fm wply wpst wpxc wrdr wrfk wsbg wsno wsus wthk wtht wtkz wtsv wtsx wvpo wweg wwfy wwhq wwod wwyy wxlf wxrg wxtp wzlf retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wbach & oldid 731814710 categories hd radio stationsradio stations in maineclassical music radio stations in the united statesradio stations established in 1991 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 27 july 2016 at 18 01 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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