WERK

WERK-FM (104.9 FM, licensed to Muncie, Indiana) is a commercial FM radio station. The station serves the Muncie-Marion area. The station is currently owned by Woof Boom Radio Muncie License LLC.^[1]

The station features a local lineup:

6-10am: Brownie in the Morning

10am-2pm: At Work with Zach Johnson

2-7pm: Paul Poteet Afternoons

7-9pm: Nights with Jay

WERK-FM History

WERK-FM first signed-on in 1965 with a Top Forty format as an AM daytime station at 990 kHz and was owned by Robert Poorman's company/licensee The Muncie Broadcasting Corporation. Its original studios, offices, transmitter 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 notoriety as an aspiring escape artist. 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.(now NHRA-sanctioned Muncie Dragway.) Although only 250 watts daytime (to protect the 50,000 watt nighttime skywave signal of CBW (AM) (aka: CBC Radio Manitoba) in Winnipeg and WNOX (now WNML) in Knoxville, Tennessee, WERK-FM'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 respective Top 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-FM (nicknamed: "WERK Radio" and "990 WERK") for many years was the launching pad for many area radio personalities...many of whom attended Ball State University. Including Gil Hole, Fred Hinshaw, Larry McCabe (later of KIIS Los Angeles), Johnathan Apple (later the host of his own syndicated program, Dan Collins (later of WMEE),"Marvelous Mark" McClure (later of WNDE), Paul Mendenhall (later of WIBC), Gary Wheeler (Adam Cook later of KRBE Houston, and WXXL Orlando), John "Scoop" Irwin (later of WOWO), Gary "Flash" Demaree (later of WMEE), Bruce Munson (later of WNAP), Jason Janulis as "Randy Robbins" (later of WAAF, WVBF, WCAS, Boston-New England), Randy Lawson (later of WNDE, Indianapolis, Armed Forces Radio Panama and Turkey, and currently Lawson Productions and Shine 99 Operations Director and Owner of Leeson Media LLC which owns WRBI FM, Batesville, Indiana; 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-FM 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 to the original WMRI callsign) and with WHON 930 in Richmond.

The FM station originally went on the air in 1985, taking its 104.9 frequency from WWHC located in Hartford City. WWHC's frequency was simultaneously swapped to 93.5 and call letters changed to WWWO. On 1991-11-12, WOKZ changed its call sign to the 6-letter WERK-FM. Then on 1999-06-16 modified to the current 4-letter call sign of WERK.^[2]

In the late-1980s to the 1990s, the AM station was a Contemporary Christian music station and went by Christian Radio at WERK (pun).

The New Sound of 104.9 WERK-FM

On December 26th, 2014, WERK-FM became "The New Sound of 104.9 WERK-FM." The format features pop, rock, and disco tunes from 1975-2001.

References

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WERK
• Radio-Locator information on WERK
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WERK