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In
many ways WPOP had no right to be successful.
It
was an AM station with 5,000 watts of power in a market
dominated by 50,000 watt giant WTIC and the AM/FM
combo, WDRC.
Initially
located on Asylum Street in Hartford, for many years
the studios were located next to a smelly swamp in
Newington.
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Ownership
changes were frequent, management changes constant, on-air
changes rampant.
Yet
it was the first Hartford station to recognize the potential
in rock and roll programming.
These
pages focus on the period during which WPOP played that
music, 1956-1975. No claim is offered for their absolute
accuracy; corrections and additions are welcome (e-mail
webmaster Ed Brouder).
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WMFE
(1380 kc, 250 watts), licensed to New Britain, Connecticut,
came to life March 12, 1935. One day later it's call
letters were changed to WNBC.
In June, 1936 the transmitter and antenna were installed
along Cedar Street in Newington.
In
1937 the station's power was increased to 1,000 watts.
On
March 29, 1941 WNBC moved to 1410 kc and the
following November power was raised to 5,000 watts.
The
main studio and city of license was switched to Hartford
on June 16, 1942.
WNBC's
name changed to WHTD in late October, 1944.
During
the fall of 1946 the calls were changed again, to
WONS.
Letterhead
had to be reprinted again February 14, 1954 when the
calls changed to WGTH.
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In
late July, 1956, RKO Teleradio Pictures, Inc., the station's
8th owner, sold WGTH to Tele-Broadcasters of Connecticut,
Inc., which changed the calls to WPOP. By 1958 it
was broadcasting Top 40 contemporary music.
On
June 30, 1975, WPOP abandoned music programming in favor
of the new NBC Radio News and Information Service. The on
air personalities featured in these pages played the tunes
which aired on WPOP between 1956-75.
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