K275CH (102.9 MHz) is an American commercial FM radio station translator licensed to Gresham, Oregon, and broadcasting to the Portland metropolitan area. The station, billed as "WE 102.9," airs a rhythmic contemporary radio format, owned and operated by Alpha Media, which owns six full-strength radio stations in the Portland market.

K275CH
Broadcast areaPortland metropolitan area
Frequency102.9 MHz
BrandingWE 102.9
Programming
FormatRhythmic CHR
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60147
ClassD
ERP99 watts
HAAT198 meters (650 ft)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewehiphop.com

K275CH's studios and offices are in the Alpha Media studios located in the PacWest Center on Southwest Fifth Avenue in Portland.[2] The transmitter is located off Southwest Fairmount Boulevard, amid other Portland-area FM and TV towers.[3] K275CH broadcasts at only 99 watts while many Portland-area FM stations operate at 100,000 watts. Because the tower is 198 meters (650 feet) height above average terrain, a bit less than the Empire State Building, the station's signal is limited over Portland and its nearby suburbs in Oregon and Washington.

History

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K275CH signed on at 102.5 FM in 1994, and repeated contemporary Christian programming from the K-Love network. It would later shift to 102.7 FM in 2001. In 2014, Alpha began programming the translator and flipped it to a simulcast of KXTG; the following year, the translator would shift frequencies again to 102.9 FM.[4]

The "WE" intellectual property began on August 1, 2016, at 5 p.m., when Alpha Media began operating KWLZ-FM (96.3 FM) under a Local Marketing Agreement with 3 Horizons, and flipped the station's format to Rhythmic CHR, branded as "WE 96-3".[5] The station changed its call sign to KWEE on August 12, 2016.

On June 4, 2019, 3 Horizons LLC sold KWEE to WAY-FM Network, whose Christian AC programming was also heard on K283BL via iHeartMedia's KFBW-HD2. The sale also ended its LMA with Alpha Media, as WAY-FM moved the Christian AC format to KWEE on October 3, 2019.[6]

On September 16, 2019, Alpha began transitioning KWEE's format to 102.9, replacing the KXTG simulcast, relaunching as "WE 102.9." The transition was completed on October 3.[7]

Effective April 25, 2022, Alpha Media acquired the license for K275CH from Educational Media Foundation in exchange for KHHL.

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for K275CH". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Contact".
  3. ^ "Radio Station Coverage Map". radio-locator.com.
  4. ^ "FCCdata.org - powered by REC". fccdata.org.
  5. ^ "Alpha Launches We 96.3 Portland". radioinsight.com. August 1, 2016.
  6. ^ "Way Media Acquires We 96.3 Portland". radioinsight.com. June 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "We 96.3 Portland Begins Transition To 102.9". radioinsight.com. September 17, 2019.
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