WYHW (104.5 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 radio ...

broadcasting a

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

format. Licensed to

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

, United States, the station serves the Wilmington area. WYHW is currently owned by

Bible Broadcasting Network The Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) is a listener-supported global Conservative Christian radio network staffed and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1971 by Lowell Davey, who was the network's president until his dea ...

History

"Gold 104" signed on in 1994 with an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format. The original call letters were WUOY. It used a satellite fed network oldies format with a local morning show hosted by Bob Dale. Paul Knight was the Managing Partner and General Manager. Bob Dale was Program Director. When the John Boy & Billy show was signed, the station eventually evolved into a hybrid format called "Rock-Talk 'n Roll" with John Boy & Billy in the morning, The Side Show with Bob Dale mid-days and the syndicated Don & Mike Show out of Washington D.C. in the afternoons. In May 1996, Community Broadcasting sold radio stations WUOY, WMFD and WBMS to a new company called Ocean Broadcasting. At this time, WUOY changed from 1970s

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

to rock from the 1960s through the 1990s but kept John Boy and Billy. For many years, this station was

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

WRQR "Rock 104.5". In the Fall 1997

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings, WRQR was the top station reaching number 1, with

John Boy and Billy John Isley (born August 15, 1956) and Billy James (born August 31, 1957), known as John Boy & Billy, are American radio hosts based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their comedic morning program ''The John Boy & Billy Big Show'' broadcasts from 6:00& ...

. In July 2004,

NextMedia Group NextMedia Group was an out-of-home media company headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. NextMedia owns and operates 33 AM and FM stations, 5,700 outdoor advertising display across several regions and markets, as well as an interactive divi ...

purchased WRQR, WAZO, and WMFD from Ocean Broadcasting LLC, and

WKXB WKXB (99.9 FM "Jammin' 99.9") is a rhythmic oldies formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina and serving the Wilmington, North Carolina area. History WKXB launched as WPGF-FM, sister station to 1470/ WPG ...

and WSFM from Sea-Comm Inc. In July 2008, Capitol Broadcasting announced its purchase of NextMedia's Wilmington stations. WRQR lost John Boy and Billy to

WKXS-FM WKXS-FM (94.5 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format and airing The Bob & Tom Show in the morning. Licensed to Leland, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Wilmington area. The station is currently owned by ...

on January 1, 2007. On January 2, 2007, ''Two Guys Named Chris'' from

WKRR WKRR (92.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to serve Asheboro, North Carolina in the Piedmont Triad media market, radio market. It broadcasts a classic rock radio format, branded as '' ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

began airing on WRQR, the first station other than Rock 92 to carry the show. The Will FM variety hits format and WILT call letters moved March 31, 2008, from what is now WRMR in

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the 14th-largest city in North Carolina. Jacksonville is the county seat and most populous commun ...

for a better signal in Wilmington. The station flipped to an

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 on February 2, 2009. In February 2013, the station dropped all 1970s songs from its library and adjusted to a Bright A/C format featuring songs from the 2000s and 1980s songs. On November 19, 2015, it was announced the

would buy WILT; the purchase was consummated on December 1, 2015 at a price of $300,000. As a result, the WILT calls and Sunny format moved to WBNE on December 1, and 104.5 flipped to Christian radio under the new callsign WYHW.

Previous logos

References

External links

* {{Bible Broadcasting Network YHW Radio stations established in 1995 1995 establishments in North Carolina Bible Broadcasting Network YHW