WBACH
 |
|
| Type | radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
|
First air date
|
November 1991 |
| Availability | Maine |
| Radio stations | WBQQ Kennebunk (1991-2008) WBQW Scarborough (1998-2012) WBQX Thomaston (1998-2017) WBQI Bar Harbor (2001-2012) W245AA Portland (2013-2017) |
| Owner | Mariner Broadcasting (1991-2003) Nassau Broadcasting Partners (2003-2012) Binnie Media (2012-2017) |
|
Launch date
|
November 1991 |
| Dissolved | February 19, 2017 |
WBACH was a radio network in the American state of Maine, active from 1991 to 2017. Airing on four stations at its peak, the network broadcast a classical music format from studios in Kennebunk.
Following the bankruptcy of Nassau Broadcasting Partners in 2011, the network's stations were sold off and largely converted to translators of other radio stations. The WBACH format and branding remained on one of the former network's stations, WBQX in Thomaston, and was added in 2013 to a new translator in Portland. The stations dropped the classical format in 2017.
The WBACH format was launched in November 1991, initially airing on WBQQ 99.3 in Kennebunk. The station was founded by Mariner Broadcasting, and (after assembling its network) was acquired by Nassau Broadcasting Partners in 2003.
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 simulcast 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.
On October 6, 2008, WBACH realigned its southern Maine frequencies. WBQQ was removed from the network completely, shifting to a simulcast of WTHT, while WBQW moved from 106.3 to 104.7, swapping formats with active rock station WHXQ.
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