WBYR (98.9 FM), branded as 98.9 The Bear, is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

licensed to

Woodburn, Indiana Woodburn is a city in Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,551 at the 2020 census. History In 1865 Joseph Edgerton and Joseph Smith platted the town of Woodburn, or Phelps Station as it was called at tha ...

with studios in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. The station broadcasts an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. WBYR is owned by Federated Media.

History

WBYR was the former WERT-FM and WKSD in

Van Wert, Ohio Van Wert is a city in Van Wert County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in northwestern Ohio approximately southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and southeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The population was 11,092 at the 2020 Unit ...

, owned by Ray Livesay. WERT-FM was first licensed on November 16, 1962; throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it simulcast

WERT WERT (1220 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting adult standards featuring soft oldies from the 1940s through today. Licensed to Van Wert, Ohio, United States, the station serves Van Wert primarily but is considered part of the Lim ...

(1220 AM). When the FCC gave the ultimatum for Class B FM stations to increase power to maximum levels or be downgraded, WERT-FM increased power to 50,000 watts and introduced a beautiful music format. Once the station was sold to Atlantic Resources, the call letters were changed to WKSD ("Kiss 99") with a satellite-delivered adult contemporary format. In January 1989, the station began stunting with comedy clips (including

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

clips), construction sound effects and a vague but brief announcement repeatedly for about a week, "9890 songs in a row on Fort Wayne's new 98.9". A classic hits format debuted on January 11 at noon, with the first song being "

Old Time Rock and Roll "Old Time Rock and Roll" is a song written by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III, with uncredited lyrics by Bob Seger. It was recorded by Seger for his tenth studio album '' Stranger in Town.'' It was also released as a single in 1979. It ...

" by

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

. Meanwhile, the

WKSD WKSD (99.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a locally produced classic hits format. Licensed to Paulding, Ohio, United States, the station is owned by First Family Broadcasting and features news programming from ABC News Radio. History The ...

calls resurfaced at 99.7 FM licensed to

Paulding, Ohio Paulding is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in and the county seat of Paulding County, Ohio, United States. It is located predominantly in Paulding Township, Paulding County, Ohio, Paulding Township about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ...

; WKSD 99.7 FM now features

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

and

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

as a sister station to WERT.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wbyr

BYR A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) are more exa ...

Active rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1962