WFMF

WFMF
City Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Broadcast area Greater Baton Rouge
Branding 102.5 WFMF
Slogan Today's Hit Music
Frequency 102.5 (MHz) (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1941
Format Top 40 (CHR)
WJBO simulcast (HD2)
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 457 meters
Class C
Facility ID 4053
Callsign meaning portmanteau of FM and Manship Family (original owner)
Former callsigns W45BR (1941-late 1940s), WBRL-FM (late 1940s-1959)
WJBO-FM (1959-1978)
WFMF (1978-1996)
WLSS (1996-1999)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations WJBO, KRVE, WYNK-FM
Webcast Listen Live
Website wfmf.com

WFMF (102.5 FM, "102.5 WFMF") is a Top 40 (CHR) music formatted radio station licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The iHeartMedia, Inc. station broadcasts with an ERP of 100 kW. Its studios are located east of downtown Baton Rouge near the I-10/I-12 interchange and its transmitter is in Plaquemine, Louisiana.

History

The station signed on in 1949 as W45BR-FM, the FM counterpart of AM station WJBO with frequency 98.1. The calls later changed to WBRL-FM. It was owned by the Manship family under the name Capital City Communications, who also owned the Morning Advocate (as Capital City Press) and later WBRZ. In 1959, the station's call letters changed to WJBO-FM and continued to serve as an FM repeater of WJBO-AM and affiliate to NBC Radio. In the mid-1960s, the station started broadcasting in stereo and began programming independent of WJBO-AM, and in 1968, WJBO-FM moved to 102.5 frequency while WAFB-FM (now WDGL-FM), a companion station to WAFB-TV took the 98.1 frequency. In the late 60s and into the mid-70s, WJBO-FM was a freeform rock station that went by the name "Loose Radio". In 1976, WJBO-FM became WFMF, and shifted to Top 40 in the early 1980s. WFMF remained a top 40 station throughout the 80s and early 90s, using the monikers "102 WFMF," "Hot 102," and "Mix 102.5" for a short time in 1994 before reverting to "102.5 WFMF." Throughout its entire history as a Top 40, the station had tilted musical directions depending on what the listeners' taste were at the time, which included Rhythmic, Adult-leaning, and Alternative, but in each case returned to a Mainstream presentation after those formatic tastes died down.

In 1989, the Manship family sold WFMF and WJBO to station manager George Jenne, who moved the stations' studios to Government Street. In 1996, WJBO and WFMF were sold by George Jenne/Capital City Communications to Capstar Broadcasting (under the name Gulfstar). Capstar immediately shifted WFMF from Top 40 to Modern AC as "Loose 102" under the new calls WLSS. After lasting only half a year as a Modern AC, WLSS went back to Top 40 in February 1997, using the name "Loose 102-5" at first, then simply "102.5". On October 7, 1999, WFMF returned as the call sign and the name "102.5 WFMF" was resurrected a short time later.

Since being bought by Capstar, WFMF has been through several owners as a result of buyouts; Capstar was purchased by Chancellor Media in 1998 (and renamed AMFM Communications), which in turn was purchased by Clear Channel Communications in 2000.

HD radio

An Ibiquity-licensed station, WFMF began broadcasting an HD Radio signal in August 2007. At first, WFMF multicased the New CHR format from Clear Channel's Format Lab on its HD2 channel,[1][2] but in the wake of Hurricane Gustav in September 2008, began simulcasting the news-talk format of sister station WJBO. On January 2, 2017, WJBO started simulcasting on K249DV 97.7 Baton Rouge.

References

  1. ↑ HD Radio Station List
  2. ↑ http://www.freqseek.com/LA/Baton%20Rouge/hd-radio-stations.aspx Baton Rouge HD stations

Coordinates: 30°19′34″N 91°16′37″W / 30.326°N 91.277°W / 30.326; -91.277

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