WERT (1220 AM) 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 ...

broadcasting

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

featuring soft

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 ...

from the 1940s through today. Licensed to

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 ...

, United States, the station serves Van Wert primarily but is considered part of the Lima market. The station is owned by First Family Broadcasting and broadcasts from its studios on the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

(County Highway 418) just east of Van Wert.

History

From its first day of broadcasting on November 27, 1958, WERT, then owned by the Van Wert Broadcasting Company, has traditionally been a middle of the road formatted music station. WERT's original design engineer was also instrumental in the founding of WMVR in Sidney in 1963. The original owners also built and launched WERT-FM (98.9) in 1962, giving Van Wert its own FM service. WERT and WERT-FM were sold to a California company in 1967 for $160,000, according to an article in that year's ''Van Wert Times Bulletin'' newspaper. The west coast firm would absentee own and operate the stations for the next four years. Ray Livesay, from

Mattoon, Illinois Mattoon ( ) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston, Illinois, Charleston. Both are principal cit ...

, then purchased the stations in 1971 and operated them throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, boosting the power of WERT-FM to 50,000 watts in 1984. In 1988, Atlantic Resources, based in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, bought the stations for a reported $1 million with intentions to move the high power WERT-FM to

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 ...

, where it remains today as

WBYR WBYR (98.9 FM broadcasting, FM), branded as 98.9 The Bear, is a radio station licensed to Woodburn, Indiana with studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station broadcasts an active rock radio format, format. WBYR is owned by Federated Media (bro ...

. WERT was then paired with a new FM station: WKSD, 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 ...

, at 99.7 MHz. WERT and WKSD were sold to Community Broadcasting of Van Wert in 1991. In 1994 Chris Roberts (previously with WOWO in Fort Wayne) purchased the stations after forming First Family Broadcasting, Inc.

Programming

WERT broadcasts a mix of adult standards from the 1940s through today from its studios along Lincoln Highway. It is the heritage station serving the Van Wert area, and is co-owned with

sports radio 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 ...

station WKSD 99.7 FM in Paulding. For many years WERT aired programming from

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), whi ...

's " Timeless Favorites" format. After "Timeless Favorites" was discontinued in February 2010, the station opted to return to locally originating programming. A powerful windstorm powered by the remnants of

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

caused damage to its transmitting tower on September 14, 2008. According to a

WLIO WLIO (channel 8) is a television station in Lima, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. It is owned by Block Communications alongside WOHL-CD (channel 35), which broadcasts American Broadcasting Company, ABC ...

news story dated September 15, 2008, engineers from the Fort Wayne area along with Chief Engineer Chris Roberts, also the principal owner, worked feverishly to bring the station back on the air. In the interim, WERT continued to operate with reduced power by means of a temporary antenna and an internet audiostream until September 19, 2008 when the new tower was finished. The station returned to full power late in the afternoon on that day as reported by the ''Van Wert Independent'' newspaper.

Station ownership

*1958–1967: Van Wert Radio *1967–1971: California Radio *1971–1988: Livesay Broadcasting *1988–1991: Atlantic Resources *1991–1994 Community Broadcasting *1994–present: First Family Broadcasting, Inc.

References

External links

* * {{Lima Radio Lima, Ohio ERT Van Wert, Ohio Radio stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Ohio Adult standards radio stations in the United States