| WPUC-FM | |
| City: | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Area: | Puerto Rico |
| Branding: | Católica Radio |
| Airdate: | 1958 (as WEUC AM 1420) May 17, 1984 |
| Translator: | W206AF 89.1 (Mayaguez) |
| Language: | Spanish and English |
| Frequency: | 88.9 MHz |
| Format: | Adult Contemporary |
| Erp: | 50,550 watts[1] |
| Haat: | 853m (2,799feet) |
| Class: | B |
| Facility Id: | 9351 |
| Coordinates: | 18.1742°N -66.5922°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Puerto Rico |
| Former Callsigns: | WEUC-FM (1982-2000)[2] |
| Owner: | Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico |
| Licensee: | Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Inc. |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
WPUC-FM (88.9 FM), branded on-air as Católica Radio, is a non-commercial educational[3] radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, the station serves the entirety of the island with the aid of a booster at Caguas and a translator covering Mayagüez. The station is owned by Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Incorporated.
The Catholic University of Puerto Rico entered into broadcasting when it built WEUC,[4] a 1,000-watt AM radio station operating at 1420 kHz, in 1958. The station, which signed on in May, was the island's first Catholic radio station.[5] The station's call letters stood for Emisora Universidad Catolica (Catholic University Station).[6] Bishop James E. McManus, who founded the university, had invited Father Carl Hammond to assist in the design of the buildings on the campus; Hammond, an avid ham radio operator, was instrumental in launching the station.[7]
On May 17, 1979, the Catholic University of Puerto Rico applied to the Federal Communications Commission to build and launch a noncommercial FM station on 88.9 MHz. WEUC-FM was approved by the commission on January 11, 1982, but the station did not sign on the air until May 17, 1984.[8]
The university sold the AM station in 2000 to El Mundo Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WKAQ-AM-WKAQ-FM in San Juan and WUKQ-FM in Mayagüez, for $1.45 million; the sale resulted in the AM frequency becoming a simulcaster of WKAQ.[9] After selling the AM station, the university changed WEUC-FM's call sign to WPUC-FM, reflecting the papal designation of the pontifical title on the university, which had taken place in 1991.
The radio station serves dual purposes: as a communication media with the external community and as an internship for students studying communications.[10] In 2014, the station's main studio was named for Luis Varela (1938[11] - 23 June 2020[12]), whose sports program Trinchera Deportiva aired from WEUC/WPUC since 1961.[13] [14]
After Hurricane Maria, WPUC-FM lost 80 percent of its coverage. The translator for Mayagüez, located inside the Maricao State Forest, was returned to service in January 2019.[15]