WPKN

Radio station in Connecticut, United States

Fairfield County
Litchfield County
Middlesex County
New Haven County

New York:

Frequency89.5 MHzProgrammingLanguage(s)EnglishFormatFreeform varietyAffiliationsPacifica Radio NetworkOwnershipOwnerWPKN, Inc.History

First air date

1963; 61 years ago (1963)

Call sign meaning

Purple Knights NetworkTechnical information^[1]

Licensing authority

FCCFacility ID73886ClassBERP10,000 wattsHAAT169 meters (554 ft)

Transmitter coordinates

41°16′44″N 73°11′06″W / 41.279°N 73.185°W / 41.279; -73.185Translator(s)102.5 MHz W273EB (Westport)Links

Public license information

Public file
LMS

WebcastListen live (via TuneIn)Websitewpkn.org

WPKN (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Bridgeport, Connecticut. WPKN is a free-form radio station, staffed by volunteer programmers presenting a wide variety of music and public affairs programming.^[2] The syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine Between the Lines, a weekly show, was first produced in 1991 with Scott Harris, Denise Manzari, Bob Nixon, environmental journalist Jim Motavalli and many others at WPKN. Since 1993, Harris has been Between The Lines' executive producer.

History

WPKN was founded in 1963 as the college radio station of the University of Bridgeport, but became independent of the university in 1989.^[3] Its call letters originally stood for "Purple Knights Network," named after the university's sports teams.

Many stations below the 92 MHz FM band receive funds from commercial entities despite being part of the non-commercial radio band. This is thought by some to present the potential for conflicts of interest. WPKN only takes funds from private donors with no stipulations for their expenditure attached. This allows the music and news programmers complete freedom to produce their own shows with no outside pressure.

WPKN also had a carrier current on 540 AM.

In a 2021 article for The New Yorker, David Owen labeled WPKN "the greatest radio station in the world", praising its human-made playlists in comparison to "corporate algorithms" on other radio stations.^[2]

References

^ "Facility Technical Data for WPKN". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ ^a ^b Owen, David (August 13, 2021). "On Air with the Greatest Radio Station in the World". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ Rierden, Andi (October 27, 1991). "Radio Station Offers Everything But Consistency". The New York Times. Section CN. pp. 1, 12. Retrieved February 26, 2010.

External links

Official website
WPKN in the FCC FM station database
WPKN in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

Radio stations in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, metropolitan area

By AM frequency

600
690
1450
1500

By FM frequency

88.1
88.5
89.5
90.1
91.1
99.9

Translators	91.9 W220AC W220CF 101.9 103.3 104.5 105.3 107.3

Digital radio
by frequency and subchannel

By call sign

Defunct

WDJZ (1530 AM)

Radio stations in Fairfield County: Bridgeport; Danbury; Stamford-Norwalk

Other nearby regions: Hartford-Waterbury; Long Island; New Haven; New York City

See also: List of radio stations in Connecticut

v t e Other radio stations in the state of Connecticut
By frequency	940 1310 1320 1380 1420 88.9 89.5 89.9 90.3 91.9 93.3 94.5 103.5
By callsign	WAPJ WATR WERB WFAR WFNW WICH WINE WLIS WJMJ WNHH-LP WPKN WSLX WWPT
By community of license	Berlin Bridgeport Brookfield Danbury Hartford Naugatuck New Canaan New Haven Norwich Old Saybrook Torrington Waterbury Westport
Defunct	WBVC (91.1 FM)
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Connecticut See also Classical Jazz Religious Spanish Smooth Jazz Other