WHOP-FM

WHOP-FM (98.7 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to and serving Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Clarksville, Tennessee-Hopkinsville, Kentucky area. The station is owned by Forcht Broadcasting, and is a sister station to WHOP. The two stations share studios located at 220 Buttermilk Road on the west side of Hopkinsville.

For the AM radio station in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States, see WHOP (AM).

WHOP-FM
Broadcast areaClarksville, Tennessee
Frequency98.7 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingLite Rock 98.7
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Subchannels
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WHOP
History
First air date
May 1948 (1948-05)
Former call signs
  • WHOP-FM (1948–1959)
  • WRLX (1959–1964)
Call sign meaning
Hopkinsville, Kentucky[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID27633
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT189.1 metres (620 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
36°55′41″N 87°32′50″W
Translator(s)HD2: 95.3 W237BV (Hopkinsville)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitelite987whop.com

History

The station signed on the air as WHOP-FM in May 1948.[4] It was the first FM station to sign on in the Clarksville/Hopkinsville radio market area, and the whole westernmost segment of Kentucky. Paducah's WPAD-FM (now WDDJ) and WKYX-FM signed on in the months after. WHOP-FM began broadcasting as a simulcast of its AM sister station WHOP. However, in 1959, the station became a separate operation by changing its callsign to WRLX, and beginning broadcasting an easy listening format. It was the first attempt in Kentucky at full separate FM programming since the early 1950s demise of early FM stations in the Louisville area.[5]

The station reverted its callsign back to WHOP-FM to match its AM sister station in 1964. Upon the callsign change, the station began broadcasting a country music format. In the mid-2000s, in response to the station's overwhelming competition against Clarksville-based but Hopkinsville-licensed WVVR and Cadiz-based WKDZ-FM, both of which were and still are broadcasting the same format, WHOP-FM changed to its current soft adult contemporary format, and rebranded as Lite 98.7. It rebanded as LiteRock 98.7 sometime in the late 2010s.

Programming

Along with its soft AC format, the station also features programming from CBS News Radio and Premiere Radio Networks.

Both WHOP-FM and its AM counterpart serve as two of three affiliates in the Clarksville/Hopkinsville market that serves as an affiliate of the University of Kentucky Wildcats sports radio network, broadcasting football and men's basketball games involving the university's athletic teams.[6] WKDZ-FM in Cadiz is the other station in the area that also serve as a UK Sports Network affiliate.

HD Radio

On February 6, 2023, WHOP-FM launched a country music format on its HD2 subchannel, branded as "95.3 The Farm". It is simulcast in the analog format via former WHOP (AM) translator W237BV.[7] On the same day, an HD radio simulcast of WHOP (AM) became available on an HD3 subchannel.

HD Radio subchannels

The station's HD radio signal is multiplexed in this manner.

Freqnency
(MHz-subchannel)		 Callsign Programming
98.7 FM
98.7-1 HD		 WHOP-FM
WHOP-HD1		 Simulcast of the traditional FM signal
"LiteRock 98.7" (adult contemporary)
98.7-2 HD WHOP-HD2 W237BV "95.3 The Farm" (country)
98.7-3 HD WHOP-HD3 Simulcast of WHOP (news/talk)

References
  1. "WHOP-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  3. "Facility Technical Data for WHOP-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. 1965 Broadcasting Yearbook, page B-63
  5. Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and Television in the Bluegrass State. Lexington, Kentucky: HOST Communications.
  6. "Radio Network Information & Affiliates". University of Kentucky Athletics.
  7. "Hopkinsville Has a Farm". RadioInsight. February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
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