WFMF-FM
Encyclopedia
WFMF is a Top 40 (CHR)
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

 music formatted radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

. The Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 station broadcasts with an ERP of 100 kW.

History

The station signed on in 1941 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
WDGL-FM
WDGL is a Classic rock music formatted radio station licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The station, which is owned by Guaranty Broadcasting, operates at 98.1 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW...

), 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 back to "102.5 WFMF.".

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
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...

 in 2000.

HD Radio

An Ibiquity
IBiquity
iBiquity Digital Corporation is a company formed by the merger of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio, with the goal of creating an in-band on-channel digital radio system for the United States and around the world...

-licensed station, WFMF began broadcasting an HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...

 signal in August 2007. At first, WFMF multicased the New CHR format from Clear Channel's Format Lab on its HD2 channel , but in the wake of Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav
The name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage was reported....

 in September 2008, began simulcasting the news-talk format of sister station WJBO.

External links

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