WERK

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WERK (104.9 FM, licensed to Muncie, Indiana and WURK (101.7 FM, licensed to Elwood, Indiana) are simulcasting radio stations broadcasting a Oldies format.The stations serves the Muncie-Marion area. The station is currently owned by Backyard Broadcasting Indiana Licensee, LLC.^[1]

The station also carries a local morning show, Brownie in the Morning as well as syndicated programming Supergold with Mike Harvey and The 70's with Steve Goddard.

[edit] WURK History

The station went on the air as WBMP in 1964 becoming WEWZ on 1985-11-08. on 1992-07-03, the station changed its call sign to WIVM, on 1994-02-15 to WLHN, on 1999-06-16 to the current WURK,^[2]

[edit] WERK History

WERK first signed-on in 1965 with a Top Forty format as an AM daytime station at 990 kHz (now the current local AM incarnation of the much transiently used WLHN call sign with a gospel format)and was owned by Robert Poorman's company/licensee The Muncie Broadcasting Corporation. Its original studios,offices,transmiter and six directional transmitting towers were located south of Muncie on State Road 3. Poorman's son William was best known as air personality Bill "Super" Shirk up until 1973 when he purchased WXLW in Indianapolis and later gained local notriety as an aspiring daredevil. Shirk's powerful vocal delivery was also heard in the form of station IDs and liners for other stations in Indiana and Ohio as well...and was the voice of radio ads for the now defunct International Hot Rod Association and its local sanctioned track Mid America Dragway. Although only 250 watts daytime (to protect the 50,000 watt nighttime skywave signal of CBW (AM) (aka: CBC Radio Manitoba) in Winnepeg and WNOX (now WNML) in Knoxville, Tennessee, WERK's high energy on-air production values,programming,promotions and jingles produced by PAMS and Jam Creative Productions gave the station a more professional on-air image likened to that of its respectiveTop 40 counterparts WNDE,WMEE, WLS (AM),WCFL, CKLW and WABC and was the top rated station in Muncie giving heavy competition to WLBC-FM and its Drake-Chenault automated contemporary hit format "Solid Gold."

WERK (nicknamed: "Werk Radio" and "990 Werk") for many years was the launching pad for many area radio personalites...many of which attended Ball State University that included Johnathan Apple (later the host of his own sydnicated program "Oldies Coast To Coast") Dan Collins(later of WMEE),"Marvelous Mark" McClure(later of WNDE), Paul Mendenhall(later of WIBC) John Irwin (later of WOWO) and Chad Hunt (later of WMEE) among countless others who became known as "The Men At Werk." Irwin also worked in news as did Lee Kelso (later of WKJG-TV,now WISE-TV),Brad Byrd and Nila Wells.

WERK was the first commercial station in East Central Indiana with a Top 40 format and for many years competed with the former WHUT,1470 in Anderson (now WGNR (AM)),the former WGOM 860 in Marion (which since has reverted back to the original WMRI callsign) and with WHON 930 in Richmond.

The FM station originally went on the air in 1964 as WWHC located to the north in downtown Hartford City (the original city of license) with a middle of the road format for much of its years,then becoming WOKZ on 1985-10-03. on 1991-11-12, the station changed its call sign to WERK-FM, on 1999-06-16 to the current WERK,^[3]

The WWHC callsign is now used by a country music-formatted FM station in Oakland, Maryland.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WURK
• Radio Locator information on WURK
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WURK

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WERK
• Radio Locator information on WERK
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WERK

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