City Tupelo, Mississippi Branding Big 99.3 Frequency 1490 kHz | Broadcast area Tupelo, Mississippi Slogan Tupelo's Greatest Hits First air date 1953 | |
WTUP (1490 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format, simulcasting WTUP-FM 99.3 FM. Licensed to Tupelo, Mississippi, USA, the station serves the Tupelo area. The station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., through licensee Capstar TX LLC, and features music primarily from the 1950s and 1960s.
History
WTUP was the second broadcast radio station in Tupelo, Mississippi (the first was WELO). The station signed on as a full-service AM providing music, news and weather for Tupelo. WTUP oiriginally broadcast with 1,000 watts at 1380 on the dial, daytime only. About 1959, when WELO vacated 1490 to switch to 580, WTUP switched to the 1490 frequency, in order to broadcast 24 hours. WTUP switched to a full-time contemporary music format (Top 40) about 1958 and was very successful with the younger audience, competing with WELO and its full-service format. In 1956, when hometown phenom Elvis Presley returned to Tupelo to perform at the annual Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show, Jim Reese (who was the General Manager of WTUP) was the MC for the concerts. Additionally, WTUP employees Charlie Watts and Ron Brandon were responsible for recording interviews with Elvis, actor Nick Adams,and Elvis' parents.. as well as recording both the afternoon and evening concerts. A tape of the interviews and concerts was found at Graceland in Memphis after Elvis's death, and later released to the public by RCA on what would have been Elvis' 50th birthday.
At one time, WTUP and WELO were sister stations.
The station participates in Tupelo’s annual Race For The Cure fundraising marathon for the American Cancer Society.
WTUP changed formats a few times, eventually being purchased by Clear Channel Communications and 'flipped' to a Sports Radio Format. The station made available to the community professional sports teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and the Memphis Grizzlies in addition to local sports institutions such as Saltillo High School Football, Tupelo High School Basketball & Baseball and Mississippi Mudcats Arena Football. WTUP, at one point, was broadcasting more than 200 live, local sports events annually.
In 2009, following a purchase of the radio station by URBan Radio Broadcasting, WTUP returned to an Oldies music format and resume the "The Top Dawg" branding.
In July 2016, WTUP changed their format to a simulcast of classic hits-formatted WBVV 99.3 FM Tupelo.