WFMB-FM (104.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

. It broadcasts a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

and is owned by Neuhoff Corp., through licensee Neuhoff Media Springfield, LLC. WFMB-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 43,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

are on South 4th Street in Southern View, Illinois, using a Springfield address.

History

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in . The original

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 as ...

was simply WFMB. The "-FM"

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

was added in 1991 just before its AM counterpart took the WFMB call letters. The station's studios and transmitter were located at the First National Bank Building at 5th and Adams.History Cards for WFMB-FM
fcc.gov. Retrieved October 6, 2018. The station was owned by Capital Broadcasting. In 1972, the station's studios and transmitter were moved to the Myers Brothers Building. In 1980, the station was sold to Springfield Advertising Co. for $1,275,000. In 1981, the station moved to its current location on the 3000 block of South 4th Street. In 1989, the station was sold to Neuhoff Broadcasting, along with AM 1450 WCVS, for $4,250,000. In 1996, the station was sold to Patterson Broadcasting. After a series of acquisitions, Patterson Broadcasting became part of

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

. Taylor, Chuck.
Vox Jox
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. May 18, 1996. p. 79. Retrieved October 7, 2018.Rhodes, Dusty.
Radio daze: Mid-West switches formats, personalities; former owner reclaims Clear Channel stations
, ''

Illinois Times ''Illinois Times'' is a weekly free newspaper (distributed every Thursday) based in Springfield, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1975, the newspaper was acquired in 1977 by Fletcher Farrar Sr., a Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the forme ...

''. May 2, 2007. Retrieved October 7, 2018. In 2007, as Clear Channel was selling most of its stations in smaller markets, Neuhoff bought back the Springfield stations the company had sold, including WFMB-FM. The station has long aired a country music format.
1974 Broadcasting Yearbook
'.

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

. 1974. p. B-68. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984
'. Broadcasting/Cablecasting. 1984. p. B-84. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1994
'.

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (''B&C'', or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') was a telecommunications industry monthly trade magazine and, later, news website published by Future US. Founded in 1931 as ''Broadcasting'', subsequent mergers, acquisitions and ...

. 1994. p. B-119. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005
'.

. 2005. p. D-188. Retrieved October 7, 2018. It was originally

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

and added live

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

s in the 1980s.

References

External links

WFMB's website
* {{coord, 39, 45, 36, N, 89, 39, 5, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Country radio stations in the United States FMB-FM Radio stations established in 1965 1965 establishments in Illinois