WOPR (Michigan)

{{Short description|High school radio station in Oak Park, Michigan (1974–1985)}}

{{Infobox radio station

| name = WOPR

| city = Oak Park, Michigan| country = US

| frequency = {{Frequency|90.3|MHz}}

| owner = Oak Park High School

| airdate = {{Start date and age|1974}}

| last_airdate = {{End date and age|1985}}

| erp = 10 watts

| coordinates = {{coord|42|27|54|N|83|11|2|W}}

}}

WOPR (90.3 FM) was a high school radio station on the campus of Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan, United States. It operated from 1974 to 1985.

History

The Board of Education of the Oak Park School District applied on May 18, 1972, for a construction permit to build a new 10-watt noncommercial radio station at the school. The Federal Communications Commission granted the school district a construction permit on March 6, 1973, originally bearing the call sign WQOW.{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=70716 |title= History Cards for WOPR|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) The high school filed for the license on May 31, 1974, after completing construction, and the WOPR call letters were secured before broadcasts began in the 1974–1975 school year, primarily playing freeform music. In 1975, the format was revised to include more extensive coverage of Oak Park High School sporting events, including three live home football games; it also aired blocks of easy listening and top 40 music, news prepared by students, and school board meetings.{{cite news|url=http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1975/October/October%2c%2015%201975.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=319f8164&DocId=7300&Index=%2a%7baa88e1dc7c06ea900ab156e92795eecc%7d%201951%20to%201975&HitCount=1&hits=31eb+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|page=14|title=Changes Evident at OP Radio Station|date=October 15, 1975|first=Mark|last=Kowalsky|work=The Daily Tribune|access-date=March 12, 2022|archive-date=March 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313034333/http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1975/October/October%2C%2015%201975.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=319f8164&DocId=7300&Index=%2a%7baa88e1dc7c06ea900ab156e92795eecc%7d%201951%20to%201975&HitCount=1&hits=31eb+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 1982, WOPR closed because of a lack of funding, but a grant from local cable company Continental Cablevision gave the station $15,000 in new equipment and led to its reopening in 1983.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97324350/welcome-back-wopr/|date=March 10, 1983|page=N 3A|title=Welcome back, WOPR|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|location=Detroit, Michigan|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 10, 2022|archive-date=March 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310182522/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97324350/welcome-back-wopr/|url-status=live}} The equipment was a condition of that company gaining the contract to build a cable system in Oak Park.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97324371/theirs-is-radio-with-realism/|date=June 2, 1983|page=OC 3A|first=Kevin|last=Tottis|title=Theirs is radio with realism|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|location=Detroit, Michigan|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 10, 2022|archive-date=March 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310182524/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97324371/theirs-is-radio-with-realism/|url-status=live}} During this time, Perry Berkley, a local DJ who was an Oak Park alumnus and had worked at WOPR in the 1970s, served as faculty advisor.{{cite news|page=6|url=http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1984/February/February%2c%2024%201984.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=11a4d3f7&DocId=2468&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=11&hits=43ec+4411+4488+44bc+44dc+4536+4537+4562+45cc+45f5+46c6+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|title=WOPR offers radio experience in a fun setting|date=February 24, 1984|first=Haig|last=Stoddard|work=The Daily Tribune|access-date=March 12, 2022|archive-date=March 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313034339/http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1984/February/February%2C%2024%201984.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=11a4d3f7&DocId=2468&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=11&hits=43ec+4411+4488+44bc+44dc+4536+4537+4562+45cc+45f5+46c6+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|url-status=live}} Instead of an all-rock format, as it had in the years leading up to the revamp, the station reverted to blocks of different genres of music, going as far as to force DJs to change the music they played every two weeks.{{cite news|url=http://ropltribune.org/Archive/1982/October/October%2c%207%201982.pdf#xml=http://ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=a43c51e&DocId=2055&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=2&hits=7373+7374+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|page=14|first=Helena|last=Baker|title=Cable TV company helps school's radio station|work=The Daily Tribune|date=October 7, 1982|access-date=March 12, 2022|archive-date=March 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313034339/http://ropltribune.org/Archive/1982/October/October%2C%207%201982.pdf#xml=http://ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=a43c51e&DocId=2055&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=2&hits=7373+7374+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|url-status=live}} By its last year, 1985, there were 60 involved students, up from 12 before the revamp.{{r|fate}}

Oak Park High School was forced to convert WOPR from a class into a club in 1985 due to budget cuts. As a result, there was no longer money for a faculty advisor, and the station was forced off the air.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1986/October/October%206%201986.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=12350b9a&DocId=3277&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=4&hits=bc8+11ce+120e+120f+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|page=2|title=School board to determine station's fate|first=Betty|last=Elster|work=The Daily Tribune|date=October 6, 1986|access-date=March 12, 2022|archive-date=March 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313034340/http://www.ropltribune.org/Archive/1986/October/October%206%201986.pdf#xml=http://www.ropltribune.org/search/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=12350b9a&DocId=3277&Index=%2a%7baa8fe677221b4049213a95eaf8df85bb%7d%201976%20to%202000&HitCount=4&hits=bc8+11ce+120e+120f+&SearchForm=%2findex%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf|url-status=live}} Despite this, the station was not deleted from FCC records until 2001, 16 years after it ceased broadcasting, when the school failed to respond to an inquiry from the commission as to its operating status.{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/M-Street-Journal/M-Street-2001-04.pdf|work=M Street Journal|page=6|date=April 4, 2001|title=Washington This Week|via=World Radio History|access-date=March 12, 2022|archive-date=September 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930002424/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/M-Street-Journal/M-Street-2001-04.pdf|url-status=live}}

References

OPR

Category:Defunct radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1974

Category:Radio stations disestablished in 1985

Category:1974 establishments in Michigan

Category:1985 disestablishments in Michigan

Category:High school radio stations in the United States

OPR