WUPS
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| City | Harrison, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | [1] |
| Branding | UPS 98.5 |
| Slogan | We Deliver The Hits |
| Frequency | 98.5 MHz |
| First air date | 1961 (as WJGS-FM) |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 299 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 49694 |
| Callsign meaning | United Postal Service (referencing slogan) |
| Former callsigns | WHZT (5/27/88-6/9/88) WJGS-FM (1961-5/27/88) |
| Owner | Michael Chires (Black Diamond Broadcast Group, LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wups.com |
WUPS is a 100 kW radio station broadcasting at 98.5 licensed to Harrison, Michigan and serving central and northern Michigan, with its chief focus on the Mount Pleasant area. The station, previously owned by Sindy Fuller, through licensee Bridge to Bridge, Inc., was acquired by Black Diamond Broadcast Group, LLC in 2015 and broadcasts a classic hits format. Black Diamond's purchase of both WUPS and sister station WTWS was consummated on February 4, 2015 at a price of $1.65 million.
The station signed on in 1961 to complement its sister station, WHGR 1290 (whose call letters stood for Houghton Lake/Grayling/Roscommon). In the beginning, the station, known as WJGS (for owners Jacob and Garnett Sparks), was 19,000 watts. In the 1960s, a fire destroyed the WJGS/WHGR studios right before Christmas. They ended up broadcasting from a trailer until a new building was built.
Throughout most of the 1960s and through the 1980s, WJGS was automated MOR. During the '80s, WJGS was also an affiliate of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 countdown show.
In 1983, Sparks Broadcasting sold the stations to Shea Broadcasting, who sold it to Melling Tool and Die in 1988. WJGS's power was increased to 100,000 watts, flipped to CHR and became WUPS. The station was of course named after the United Parcel Service, for their longtime slogan is "We Deliver the Hits".
With its central location in Houghton Lake, WUPS's signal is heard in most of northern and central Michigan, with a coverage area stretching from Indian River southward to Ithaca. WUPS's 100,000 watt signal can reach further south as well. It is common for reception in the mid-Michigan thumb and Saginaw Bay as well, a good 100 miles from its transmitter. For a short time in the early 1990s, the station was simulcasted to the Traverse City, MI area on WMLB 98.1 (now WGFN; ironically now a sister station to WUPS).
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