WBKR (FM)

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WBKR FM, is a heritage FM station based in Owensboro, Kentucky.

WBKR was originally founded and operated by the Hager Family, who were also the owners of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer daily newspaper. The station's original call letters were W) O)wensboro M)essenger I)nquirer; the same as its former sister AM station, WOMI AM, also a heritage station founded in the late 1930's by the Hager Family. The stations remained in the hands of the heirs of the original owners until sometime in the mid-1990s when both were sold to Evansville, Indiana based Brill Media.

Brill Media operated WOMI AM and WBKR FM and also bought the cross-town competition and longtime rival stations, WVJS AM and WSTO FM. Brill Media declared bankruptcy a few years after taking over, and the stations were placed in the hands of a chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee who sold them. WOMI AM and WBKR FM were acquired by Regent Broadcasting Corporation based in Covington, Kentucky (Cincinnati). WSTO FM was purchased by South Central Communications Corporation of Evansville, Indiana which also operates WIKY-FM 104.1 MHz. WVJS AM 1420 khZ was purchased by the Cromwell Group, Inc., of Nashville, Tennessee which also operates WBIO-FM 94.7 in Owensboro.