WAMS-AM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WAMS AM is an oldies radio station in Dover, Delaware, broadcasting at 1600 kHz, that recalls the Top 40 format of a previous station in Wilmington, Delaware. Most recenlty WAMS was WRJE, playing gospel music. It has also had the call letters WIBF and WKEN. WAMS also simulcasts on WNWK AM (formerly WNRK AM) broadcasting at 1260 kHz in Newark, Delaware.

[edit] History

WAMS-AM was a radio station serving the Wilmington, Delaware area with a Top 40 format during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

The station originally signed on in 1948. The parent company, Rollins Inc., switched the station’s format to the then-new Top 40 sound in the mid 1950s.

At 1380 on the AM broadcasting dial, WAMS was the primary source for “the hits” in the Wilmington area and the station enjoyed successful ratings in the fifties, sixties and into the early 1970s.

As FM broadcasting became more commercially viable in the 1970s, the station’s ratings steadily eroded. In 1979 WAMS began the move toward an Adult Contemporary approach. Over the next decade, the station switched format several times, from Adult Contemporary to Country Music, to Golden Oldies.

In 1991, the original WAMS signed off the air and the station’s owner sold the 1380 AM signal to the State of Delaware, which now uses the frequency to broadcast statewide traffic reports.