WTBU (FM)
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| City of license | York Center, Maine |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | York County, Maine Seacoast Region |
| Branding | 95.3 The Bull |
| Slogan | Seacoast's New Hit Country |
| Frequency | 95.3 MHz |
| First air date | June 1987 (as WQMI)[1] |
| Format | Country |
| ERP | 1,450 watts |
| HAAT | 206 meters (676 ft) |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 35218 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Callsign meaning | W The BUll |
| Former callsigns | WQMI (1987) WQMI-FM (1987–1989) WCQL-FM (1989–1996) WXHT (1996–1999) WUBB (1999–2008) WSKX (2008–2014) |
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (Capstar TX LLC) |
| Sister stations | WERZ, WHEB, WMYF, WPKX, WQSO |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 953fmthebull.com |
WTBU (95.3 FM, "The Bull") is a radio station licensed to York Center, Maine, United States. Established in 1987, WTBU is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and serves the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area. The station broadcasts a country music format.
History
The station went on the air in June 1987[1] as WQMI with a middle of the road format. In 1989, it became WCQL-FM as "Cool 95.3" with an oldies format. That was dropped in August 1996 in favor of a contemporary hit radio format, WXHT ("Heat 95.3"), which placed a heavy emphasis on 1980s new wave hits. That lasted until May 1998, when it went modern rock as "95-3 The Heat" via Radio One Networks.
In March 1999, the station changed to a country format, becoming WUBB ("B95.3"). However, WUBB was faced with strong competition from country leader WOKQ, which also had a much stronger signal. WUBB also had a limited local presence when compared to WOKQ. As a result, WUBB never became a big ratings success.
On January 10, 2008, it was noted that the station had dropped country and was simulcasting sister station WQSO 96.7 (oldies) with WUBB's website stating "Coming Soon! Sports Radio" with a link to MSN's Fox Sports page, implying that the new format would be Fox Sports Radio, as both Fox Sports Radio and WUBB shared a parent company, Clear Channel Communications (now known as iHeartMedia). However, this never happened, and this was thought to be put on the website only to throw people off. Then, on January 11, WUBB switched to a stunt format of TV theme songs; in between the songs, there was a message saying "We are building a new station just for you," promoting an unnamed new format that would be announced at 6 a.m. on January 14, 2008. At the announced time, the station relaunched as "Kiss 95.3", simulcasting WXKS-FM from Boston. Soon after, the call letters changed to WSKX. As of August 2009, WSKX was no longer simulcasting WXKS-FM, but was still airing a Top 40 format.
In October 2012, sister station WERZ flipped to WSKX's top 40 format, branded as "Z107". The station then began stunting with ocean waves and occasional bells. A male voice and a website redirected listeners to the new sound of WERZ, and invited them to tune in for a forthcoming "new station just for you", in a stunt similar to 2008s. On October 9, 2012, the station flipped to "95.3 The Coast—We Play Everything" with a variety hits format, launching with Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. In November 2013, WSKX flipped to Christmas music for the holiday season, letting listeners choose online the music to be played; this feature was also used for the station's regular variety hits programming.
In August 2014, websites were registered that showed WSKX would soon flip back to country as 95.3 The Bull. On August 29, at 1 PM, at the start of the Labor Day weekend, the station flipped to modern country as 95.3 The Bull. The last song on 95.3 The Coast was Closing Time by Semisonic, while the first song on 95.3 The Bull was This Is How We Roll by Florida Georgia Line. It shares a common coverage area with WOKQ and WBQQ, as well as, to a lesser extent, WPKQ, WTHT, and sister station WBWL. On September 16, 2014, WSKX changed its call letters to WTBU to go with "The Bull" branding.
