WHPR-FM - Misplaced Pages

Radio station in Highland Park, Michigan

WHPR-FM
Highland Park, Michigan
Broadcast area	Detroit, Michigan
Frequency	88.1 MHz
Programming
Format	Urban Oldies/Urban Talk
Ownership
Owner	R.J. Watkins Late Night Entertainment
Sister stations	WHPS-CD WVIE (FM)
History
First air date	May 21, 1954
Call sign meaning	Highland Park Radio
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Class	D
ERP	44 watts
HAAT	105 feet
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	WHPR-FM

WHPR-FM (88.1 FM) is an Urban Oldies and Talk radio station based in Highland Park, Michigan, owned and operated by R. J.'s Late Night Entertainment Corporation.

History

The station was founded May 21, 1954 by the Highland Park School District; the studio and transmitter were located at Highland Park High School, with the facilities operated by high school students to provide educational radio broadcasting to the community.

When the high school relocated in 1977, the Wayne County Community College District took over the facility as well as the HPHS buildings. On December 20, 1994, the college closed down the campus, and the station was sold to R.J. Watkins, owner of local low-powered station W33BY (then on channel 68 as W68CH). Under Watkins, he reformulated the station as a local station that served the African-American community in the Highland Park area. Under Watkins, the station would relocate its studios and transmitters to its current facility at the corner of Victor and Brush Streets (near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and the Davison Freeway) in Highland Park.

Violations

WHPR-FM was admonished by the FCC in 2001 for running advertising contrary to its status as a "Noncommercial Educational Station." In 2011, the station was fined $22,000 for numerous violations, including relocating its transmitter without FCC authorization, failure to keep a public file and not having any EAS equipment in use (the station's EAS decoder was stored in a closet).