WLYV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (March 2008)

WLYV, "Reedemer Radio," is an AM radio station located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station operates on the AM radio frequency of 1450 kHz and airs Catholic programming for the Northeast/East Central Indiana region. It was purchased by Fort Wayne Catholic Radio Inc. in 2005.

WLYV has a rich history. Prior to becoming WLYV, the station was assigned the call letters WANE and was the radio companion of channel 15 television. In the mid-1960s, the radio station was purchased by Sheppard Broadcasting of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Following the purchase by Sheppard, the station changed call letters (to become closely related to Sheppard's WLAV in Grand Rapids) and on January 1, 1966 changed formats to become Fort Wayne's first Top 40 station.

The results were dramatic and immediate. Within a few months WLYV was the second-highest rated station in Fort Wayne. (Prior to the format switch, the old WANE was so low in listener rankings that two distant stations...CKLW in Windsor/Detroit and WLS-AM in Chicago...had higher ratings in Fort Wayne.)

The success continued for several years but WLYV's relatively low power output (1,000 watts) and the appearance of a more tightly formatted Top 40 station in town (WMEE) lead to WLYV's demise as a Top 40 icon. By 1974, "The Lyv (Live) One" was forced to change formats again and became "Lively Country." This change turned out to be successul for the station.

WLYV's low power became an issue again, however, within several years when WMEE switched its call letters and rock format to FM, leaving the 1380 AM frequency...and its 5,000-watt operating power...open for something new. It became WQHK, aired a country format, and, within a short time, WLYV was left in the dust.

Several people who were later to become broadcast giants were part of the WLYV staff during the station's heyday as a Top 40 station. Afternoon personality Ron White was later to become one of radio's foremost programming consultants. Personality Ron Morgan left Fort Wayne for Detroit and then made the move to Saint Louis where he became one of that city's icons for several decades. Within five years of leaving WLYV, mid-day personality Jim Reese changed his on-air name to Grant Hudson and, based in Detroit (CKLW and WWJ-AM), became one of broadcast journalism's true legends, famous for his highly stylized writing and delivery. Morning personality Skinny Bobby Harper left Fort Wayne for Atlanta, where he spent the rest of his life and, because of his antics, became one of the best-known broadcasters ever to hit Georgia. Bobby was the "real-life" model for the "Dr. Johnny Fever" character on TV's "WKRP in Cincinnati."^{[citation needed]}

Golfer Jack Nicklaus owned WLYV for a number of years and lived through several format flips with it. Christian Broadcast Systems Ltd. based in Flint, MI (formerly Midwest Broadcasting) owned it afterwards with a gospel format before the 2005 sale to Fort Wayne Catholic Radio.

[edit] External links

• Official WLYV site (with streaming audio)
• Query the FCC's AM station database for WLYV
• Radio Locator Information on WLYV
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for WLYV