| City of license | Woodburn, Indiana |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Fort Wayne area |
| Branding | 98.9 The Bear |
| Slogan | Fort Wayne's Rock Station |
| Frequency | 98.9 MHz |
| Format | Active Rock |
| Audience share | 3.0, #10 (Fa'07, R&R[1]) |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 138.0 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 55659 |
| Former callsigns | WERT-FM (1979-1987) WKSD (1987-1989) |
| Owner | Pathfinder Communications Corporation |
| Website | 989thebear.com |
WBYR, branded as 98.9 The Bear, is a radio station licensed to Woodburn, Indiana with studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station broadcasts an active rock format at 98.9 on the FM dial. WBYR is owned by Federated Media.
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WBYR was the former WERT-FM and WKSD in Van Wert, Ohio, owned by Ray Livesay. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, WERT-FM sinulcast its sister AM station. When the FCC gave the ultimatum for Class B FM stations to increase power to maximum levels or be downgraded, WERT-FM increased power to 50,000 watts and introduced a Beautiful Music format. Once the station was sold to Atlantic Resources, the call letters were changed to WKSD "Kiss 99" with a satellite delivered Adult Contemporary format.
On July 4th 1989, comedy clips, construction sound effects and a vague but brief announcement was heard over and over again for about a week, "9890 songs in a row on Fort Wayne's new 98.9 FM". A Classic Hits format debuted shortly after. Meanwhile, the WKSD calls resurfaced at 99.7 FM licensed to Paulding, Ohio; WKSD 99.7 FM now features oldies and sports talk as a sister station to WERT-AM 1220.
The first Program Director of The Bear was John Robertson, formerly of WGTZ, Dayton, Ohio. The lineup included Les St. James and Roxanne McVey in mornings, Robertson in Middays, the late "Tuna" Jon Rose (Earl Rolling)- Production Director in afternoon drive, Hal Brandt evenings, Don Buettner APD/MD overnighhts.[2]
Current shows on The Bear include The TNT Morning Show (Turner Watson and Barry Thickk) which runs from 5:30AM to 10AM, Jenna who is on from 10AM to 2PM, John the Mexican who is on 2PM to 7PM,and Drew Cage from 7PM to 12AM.
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