WFRO (defunct)

WFRO
City of license	Fremont, Ohio
Frequency	900 kHz
First air date	1949
Format	Defunct
Language(s)	English
Power	500 watts daytime 287 watts nighttime
Class	B
Facility ID	73387
Transmitter coordinates	41°19′35″N 83°5′4″W / 41.32639°N 83.08444°W / 41.32639; -83.08444
Former callsigns	WFRO (1949-June 23, 2004)
Affiliations	ESPN Radio
Owner	ABC, Inc. (Disney) (Radio Disney Group, LLC)
Sister stations	WFRO-FM

WFRO was a radio station licensed to Fremont, Ohio to operate on 900kHz. It signed off June 23, 2004 to allow WFDF/910 to increase power. WFRO's programming was at times simulcast on WFRO-FM which continues.

History

WFRO had for much of its existence, been a combination AM and FM station, with the FM first going on the air in 1946, and the AM (at 900 kHz) coming on the air three years later. Both stations simulcast each other for a portion of the broadcast day, breaking away for separate programming during the midday hours, with the AM concentrating more on information and talk, and the FM for music.

For many years, WFRO AM broadcast a full-service MOR format heavy on local news and information; WFRO-FM played beautiful music during non-simulcast dayparts. AM 900's directional signal allowed WFRO programming to be heard clearly throughout much of southeastern Michigan (including the metropolitan Detroit area) and southwestern Ontario in addition to Ohio's North Coast region. By the 1990s, WFRO and WFRO-FM were simulcasting each other for most of the broadcast day, and WFRO's music format had evolved into a more contemporary mix of AC and adult-appeal CHR hits, but the full-service emphasis remained.

The station was founded by Wolfe Broadcasting Company, which controlled the station until 2001, when both stations were sold separately to two different owners.

BAS Broadcasting purchased WFRO-FM, while Disney/ABC purchased the license to WFRO, but not to run it as a separate entity. ABC purchased the license as part of an initiative to move recently purchased AM 910 WFDF in Flint, Michigan to Farmington Hills (in the Detroit market).^[1] The move was made to allow AM 910 to broadcast at an increased daytime power of 50,000 watts, up substantially from 5,000 watts. WFRO-FM changed to the satellite adult contemporary format it currently airs, and WFRO/900, after a brief period of silence, returned to the air using ABC's "Real Country" format and then ESPN Radio while preparations for WFDF's move into the Detroit area were made. WFRO/900 was officially silenced forever in June 2004 when ABC surrendered the license to the FCC.

References

↑ The AM Stations of Flint, Michigan

External links

Radio-Locator Information on WFRO

Radio stations in the Sandusky-Port Clinton, Ohio/Lake Erie Islands region

By AM frequency	1430 1450 1510 1600

By FM frequency	88.1 88.9 89.1 89.5 90.5 90.7 90.9 92.1 93.3 95.3 96.1 97.7 99.1 100.9 102.7

By callsign	W227BJ WCPZ WFOB WFRO-FM WGGN WHEI WHRQ WHVT WLEC WLKR WLKR-FM WKFM WMJK WNRK WNZN WOHF WSHB WTTF WVMS

Defunct stations	WFRO

Ohio radio markets Akron Canton Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dayton Lima Marietta Toledo Youngstown–Warren Other Ohio radio regions Ashtabula Ironton Mid-Ohio Sandusky Southern Ohio Wheeling/Steubenville See also Southwestern Ontario Radio List of radio stations in Ohio

Broadcasting stations owned and operated by Disney Media Networks

All in United States

ABC Owned TV Stations

Radio stations

ESPN Radio/Deportes	KESN KSPN WEEI¹ WEPN WEPN-FM² WMVP

Radio Disney	KDIS

¹ Owned by Entercom, operated by Disney under an LMA.
² Owned by Emmis Communications, operated by Disney under an LMA.
AaBbCc Operated by Cumulus Media under LMA.
AaBbCc Clear-channel radio stations with extended nighttime coverage.

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