WNBP

WNBP

Company type	Commercial radio station
Industry	Broadcasting
Founded	1958-03-10
Headquarters	Newburyport, Massachusetts , United States
Products	Radio broadcasting, financial news programming
Owner	Bloomberg L.P.

WNBP (1450 AM) is a commercial radio outlet licensed in Newburyport, Massachusetts, catering to the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is owned by Bloomberg L.P. and broadcasts a simulcast of Bloomberg-curated content from WBOS (92.9 FM) based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Both stations deliver financial news sourced from Bloomberg Radio.

Operating with a power of 1,000 watts, WNBP’s transmitter is situated near Ferry Road in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Additionally, its programming is extended through two FM translators: W291CC at 106.1 MHz in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and W221EE at 92.1 MHz serving Topsfield, Massachusetts.

History

WNBP began broadcasting on March 10, 1958, initially as a 500-watt station limited to daytime hours on 1470 AM. It was owned by Puritan Broadcasting, based in Lynn, Massachusetts. The call sign reflected its Newburyport roots. Puritan also held ownership of WLYN (1360 AM), WLYN-FM (101.7), and other stations located in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Between the late 1970s and the 1990s, the station underwent several ownership transitions. In 1982, it shifted frequency to 1450 kHz, introduced nighttime broadcasting capabilities, and adopted the call letters WCEA. Five years later, in 1987, Ted Larsen—formerly a WBZ newscaster—and Dan Friel acquired the station for $195,000 and rebranded it as WNCG ("Newburyport, The Coast and Gloucester, Your Coastal Home Companion"). In 1989, New Hampshire broadcaster Win Damon purchased the station for $425,000 and restored the original WNBP call sign by 1991.

In 1998, Radio Newburyport LLC, owned by Robert "Doc" Fuller, acquired WNBP for $225,000. Fuller and J.J. Jeffrey managed multiple stations under Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting. Although Jeffrey did not hold ownership in WNBP, his voice was featured throughout the station’s imaging. Under Fuller’s leadership and general manager Al Mozier’s direction, significant enhancements were made to both studio technology and transmitter infrastructure.

By September 2004, Radio Newburyport LLC announced the sale of WNBP to Westport Communications LP for $500,000. At that time, Westport's portfolio included only one other station: WBOQ (104.9 FM). After acquisition, the studios were relocated to Beverly, Massachusetts; however, local news coverage continued to prioritize Newburyport.

In March 2009, ownership transferred to Port Broadcasting LLC—led by Carl Strube, Peter Falconi, and Robert Couture—prompting a move back to downtown Newburyport at 6 Federal Street. The station maintained its format until January 1, 2013, when it transitioned from adult standards to an oldies format. Prominent on-air personalities during this era included former WBOQ DJ Jacky Ankeles and Jeff Lawrence.

On July 28, 2017, Port Broadcasting reached an agreement to sell WNBP along with translator W291CC to Bloomberg L.P. for $1 million. Bloomberg assumed operational control through a local marketing agreement starting August 1. Subsequently, WNBP began simulcasting Bloomberg Radio content alongside WRCA (1330 AM), which uses a translator at 106.1 MHz subject to signal limitations northeast of Boston designed to protect W291CC’s broadcast area. Following the acquisition finalization on November 28, 2017, all previous station personnel were released.