WBOW (102.7 FM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

broadcasting a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

format. Licensed to Terre Haute, Indiana, it serves the Terre Haute metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

under the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

WPFR. The station is currently owned by Duey E. Wright through licensee

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications is a Wausau, Wisconsin-based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois and ...

, Inc.

History

The station signed on in 1961 as WPFR. When its companion station AM 1300 (now WIBQ) became WPFR on March 17, 1983, the call sign was changed to WPFR-FM with a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

/ CHR format, as ''"WPFR, The All-New Power 103"''. By 1987, its CHR format had faded into a short-lived Rock 40 format but only lasted for less than a year, retaining back its mainstream format. The company that owned WPFR and WPFR-FM went into bankruptcy and both stations went off the air in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. Bomar Broadcasting purchased the license for 102.7 FM in 1992 and changed the call sign to WLEZ on April 1, 1992. In September 1993, the station went back on the air with a

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format after a new transmitter was constructed. By 1997, the format had shifted to a soft

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format which eventually was supplied by

Jones Radio Network Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...

. On May 12, 2003, the station was sold to Crossroads Communications. The call sign was changed to WBOW-FM on September 1, 2003, as "Light Rock B102-7," utilizing the legendary call sign that had been used on 1230 AM and 640 AM in the Terre Haute metropolitan area from 1927 until 2001 when 640 AM went

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

. The previous WBOW-FM had operated with those call letters between 1968 and 1974. The legendary call sign was also picked up by sister station AM 1300 in 2002. On July 1, 2012, WBOW-FM was sold by Crossroads Communications to Midwest Communications and changed its call letters to WDWQ and changed its format to Country, branded as "Q102.7." The sale of WDWQ and sister station WBOW was consummated on October 26, 2012, at a purchase price of $1.3 million. WDWQ switched to a classic hits format on December 26, 2017, and brought back the WBOW call letters. The first song to air as a classic hits format is Still the One by Orleans. WBOW's facilities are located at 925 Wabash Avenue, Suite 300 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Former logos

References

External links

WBOW Website
* {{Midwest Communications BOW (FM) Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1961 Midwest Communications radio stations 1961 establishments in Indiana