NHPR Strengthens Signal in Portsmouth, Nashua

New Hampshire Public Radio recently completed two major signal improvement projects designed to strengthen coverage for nearly 200,000 residents of the Nashua and Portsmouth areas. The total project cost represents an investment of more than $300,000, according to the pubcaster, which says much of the funding came in the form of grants from business and foundations as well as contributions from NHPR listeners. Both stations are now on-air.
“We believe that reaching across our state with new transmitters and signals, while offering in-depth and comprehensive news and analysis to New Hampshire is very important,” said NHPR President/GM Betsy Gardella, who recently succeeded Mark Handley. “That is why we have made this investment.”
With the two new stations, NHPR says its signal now covers more than 90 percent of the granite state. The new signal in Portsmouth is broadcast at 103.9 FM from an antenna atop Portsmouth City Hall via a 170-watt translator and has the potential to reach more than 35,000 residents in and around the Port City. In Nashua, WEVS(FM) will broadcast at 88.3 FM with a 5,000-watt signal reaching potentially more than 166,000 residents of Southern Hillsborough County, including the towns of Milford, Hollis, Amherst, and Merrimack. WEVS Nashua will replace the translator at 90.3 that has served Nashua since 1983. The two new stations join NHPR’s statewide network, broadcasting news and information programming originating from NHPR’s flagship station in Concord.