WRFF

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WRFF
City of license	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Greater Philadelphia (Delaware Valley)
Slogan	Radio 104.5
Frequency	104.5 MHz (Also on HD Radio) HD-2: Adult Standards
First air date	1965
Format	Modern Rock
ERP	11,500 watts
HAAT	308 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	53969
Callsign meaning	Radio 10Four - Five
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	WDAS-FM, WIOQ, WISX, WUBA, WUSL Myspace Group = Radio 104.5
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.radio1045.com

WRFF is a modern rock FM radio station located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, better known as "Radio 104.5".

Until May 16, 2007, the station offered a Spanish Language format emphasizing Tropical Music, known as "Rumba 104.5". Upon the format change, the Spanish format moved to an AM frequency.

The station has had Adult Contemporary formats over the previous years as well as several sets of call letters.

[edit] History

[edit] Early Stations

104.5 FM first signed on in February of 1965 as WRCP-FM simulcasting WRCP-AM. Both stations offered MOR formats. The stations were owned by Associated Communications. After just under 2 years, the stations switched to Country Music formats. The format flipped in 1977.

[edit] WSNI, first time

104.5 FM broke away from WRCP in 1977 and became WSNI. WSNI initially had a soft country/easy listening hybrid format before evolving to instrumental based easy listening.

On January 1, 1980 WSNI became known as Sunny 104.5, a name which was reused later on in the station's history. Sunny 104.5 dumped easy listening in favor of an Adult Contemporary format playing the Top 40 hits of the 1960s, Top 40/Adult contemporary crossovers of the 1970s, and the Adult Contemporary hits of the 1980s up to and including current product.

6 years later, the stations were sold to Pyramid Broadcasting. The AM sister station, which still had the WRCP call letters, was eventually sold also and got new call letters.

[edit] WYXR

On December 10, 1990, 104.5's call was changed from WSNI to WYXR and the format switched to Hot AC. The new station was known as "Star 104.5".

In a group deal WYXR became owned by Evergreen by 1993. The station experimented and leaned CHR in 1996, but it still remained known as Star 104.5. The station quietly evolved back to Hot AC in 1997 playing more rhythmic cuts than most Hot AC stations. In 1997 WYXR became owned by Chancellor as a result of a merger.

In April of 1999 Chancellor (known by then as AM/FM) decided to switch the station to a Jammin' Oldies format. This was not successful, though, because a station owned by Greater Media beat them to it. As a result the Hot AC format was kept a while longer. The hot AC format lasted until November 18, 1999. WYXR went off the air at 12 noon with Madonna's "Who's That Girl". 3 hours of a heartbeat sound effect followed.

[edit] WLCE

At 3PM on November 18, 1999, The Cars "Let's Go" began to play. The station was now known as "Alice 104.5," and the calls became WLCE. The new format was a Gold based Adult Rock AC, playing "rockin" hits of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Initially only a couple of current songs were played but by 2001 the station was playing a large number. By 2001, the station evolved to more of a rock based Hot AC format. In 2001, as a result of a merger, WLCE came under the ownership of Clear Channel Communications. The WLCE call sign has now moved to the Springfield, Illinois market.

[edit] WSNI, second time

On July 31, 2002, 104.5 flipped to soft ac, reverting back to the "Sunny 104.5" name. This incarnation of WSNI is locally famous for having begun its existence by playing The Beatles' Here Comes the Sun for 24 hours straight in a continuous loop. It came into the market as a competitor to first place soft ac station B-101. Sunny 104.5 did moderately well, and it was known for leaving its soft ac format behind around the holidays to play Christmas music. It was a low budget station, with nearly all airstaff voicetracked. Sunny 104.5 continued for just over 4 years.

At 12 noon EDT on Thursday, August 10, 2006, WSNI 104.5 dumped the so called "Sunny oldies" format and started simulcasting sister station FM 106.1 WJJZ. At the same time, WJJZ switched from the Smooth Jazz format to the Rhythmic AC format, and began identifying itself as "Philly's 106.1." The last song heard on WSNI just before noon was "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John. This was followed by a short pause and slow fade in of "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas (which was being simulcasted from Philly's 106-1 (WJJZ)). There was a short announcement from a female ("This feels like my own radio station") and a segue into Get Ready For This by 2 Unlimited. This was followed by Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson. The format of Philly's 106-1 is similar to Star 104.5, which previously held the 104.5 frequency.

As a result of the flip, B101 is once again Philadelphia's exclusive All-Christmas station for the holiday season.

In early-January 2007, the former WOQL-FM in Keene, NH was given the WSNI call letters.

[edit] WUBA

On August 23, 2006, after 13 days of retransmitting the Philly 106.1 signal, 104.5 FM became a Spanish language radio station known as "Rumba 104.5". This format was launched at 12 p.m. EDT on August 23, 2006. This was the first Spanish language station on FM in Philadelphia. They had a format focusing on Tropical and Dance Music, very similar to that of La Mega 97.9 WSKQ in New York City.

[edit] Radio 104.5

On May 16, 2007 Clear Channel flipped 104.5 to "Radio 104.5" with promises to allow the listeners to build the playlist, be on-air and play a dose of indie/local music.

In a press release, Clear Channel promises to allow listeners and businesses to "help build Radio 104.5." The station promises to "Play what listeners want" and "showcase local and indie bands," as well as give listeners the chance to be the DJ.

On May 23rd, at midnight, 104.5 started iding itself as "WRFF" (Radio One O Four - Five).

[edit] External links

• WRFF Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WRFF
• Radio Locator information on WRFF
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WRFF
• http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/piratejim/phillyfmhistory2.html