WYKR-FM

{{Infobox radio station dual

| name1 = WYKR-FM

| name2 = WTWN

| logo = WYKR-FM logo.png

| logo_size = 250px

| city1 = Haverhill, New Hampshire

| city2 = Wells River, Vermont

| country = US

| area = Northeast Vermont & Northwest New Hampshire

| branding = WYKR Country 101.3

| airdate1 = {{start date|1990|2|19}}

| airdate2 = {{start date|1976|10|3}}

| frequency1 = 101.3 MHz

| frequency2 = 1100 kHz

| repeaters =

| translators = {{Radio Relay|105.1|W286DE|Wells River|WTWN}}

| format = Country

| erp1 = 3,000 watts

| haat1 = {{convert|12|m|ft|sp=us}}

| power2 = {{ubl|5,000 watts daytime|2,000 watts critical hours}}

| class1 = A

| class2 = D

| facility_id1 = 53866

| facility_id2 = 53865

| licensing_authority = FCC

| coordinates1 = {{coord|44|6|49.2|N|71|58|52.3|W|region:US-NH_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates2 = {{coord|44|8|55.23|N|72|4|0.33|W|region:US-VT_type:landmark|name=WTWN}}

| callsign_meaning2 = "Twin State"{{cite news |title=Call Letter Changes |work=The M Street Journal |date=May 5, 1999 |page=6}}

| former_callsigns2 = WYKR (1976–1999)

| former_frequencies1 =

| former_frequencies2 = 1490 kHz (1976–1987)

| affiliations = {{ubl|CBS News Radio|Westwood One|Motor Racing Network}}

| owner = Joshua Smith

| licensee = Yankee Kingdom Media Corp.

| sister_stations =

| webcast = {{listenlive|https://streamer.radio.co/s1ebf8172e/listen}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.wykr.com/}}

}}

WYKR-FM (101.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Haverhill, New Hampshire. It airs a country music format.{{cite web |title=Winter 2008 Station Information Profile |work=Arbitron |url=http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?srvy_id=WI08&surveyID=WI08&band=fm&callLetter=WYKR}} WYKR-FM's programming is also heard on daytime-only station WTWN (1100 AM) and FM translator W286DE (105.1) in Wells River, Vermont. Both WYKR-FM and WTWN are owned by Joshua Smith's Yankee Kingdom Media Corp.

WYKR began broadcasting in 1976 over the AM station in Wells River, which operated at 1490 kHz until 1987. WYKR-FM was added in 1990. WYKR AM became WTWN in 1999, and aired Christian radio programming during the 2000s before returning to the WYKR-FM simulcast. The Puffer family owned the stations from 1976 until 2023, when they were acquired by Yankee Kingdom Media Corp.

History

WYKR went on the air October 3, 1976, under the ownership of Eugene and Harold Puffer, doing business as the Puffer Brothers.{{cite web |title=Voices From The Hills |url=https://vermontbroadcasters.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/vab-35th-magazine.pdf#page=45 |publisher=Vermont Association of Broadcasters |access-date=October 7, 2024 |date=May 19, 1989 |page=43}}{{cite web |title=WYKR (WTWN) history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=69090 |website=CDBS Public Access |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=May 21, 2024 |format=PDF}} The station's studios were located in the former Wells River Graded School. Harold Puffer left the station in 1981 to return to the insurance business; the following year, Eugene Puffer—who had previously worked at WCVR in Randolph—transferred WYKR's license to a new company, Puffer Broadcasting. WYKR was a 1,000-watt station at 1490 kHz until 1987, when it moved to 1100 kHz and boosted power to 5,000 watts.

In the late 1980s, Puffer Broadcasting obtained a construction permit for an FM station at 101.3 MHz, with the intent of simulcasting WYKR's country music programming. The new station was assigned the WYKR-FM call sign by the Federal Communications Commission on November 10, 1988,{{cite web |title=WYKR-FM Call Sign History |work=FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=53866&Callsign=WYKR-FM}} and went on the air February 19, 1990.{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999|year=1999|page=D-280|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/D-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1999..pdf|accessdate=April 23, 2017}} The AM station changed its call sign from WYKR to WTWN, for "Twin State", on April 16, 1999;{{cite web |title=WTWN Call Sign History |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=53865&Callsign=WTWN |website=CDBS Public Access |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=May 21, 2024}} by June 2000, WTWN was a Christian radio station.{{cite news |last1=Fybush |first1=Scott |title=CRTC Picks Three in Toronto |url=https://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-000623.html |access-date=May 21, 2024 |work=North East RadioWatch |date=June 23, 2000}}

Puffer Broadcasting sold WYKR-FM and WTWN to Joshua Smith, through his Yankee Kingdom Media Corp., for $125,000 in 2023; the stations' towers, which the Puffers had separately held through Mill Street Enterprises, were also concurrently acquired by Smith.{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |title=Station Sales Week Of 5/26 |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/252511/station-sales-week-of-5-26/ |access-date=May 21, 2024 |work=RadioInsight |date=May 26, 2023}}