WFNF is an FM

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 the city of

Brazil, Indiana Brazil is a city in Clay County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,176 at the 2022 census. The city is the county seat of Clay County. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. There is a fountain from the country o ...

. The station operates on the

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

frequency of 92.7 MHz, FM channel 224. The studios were located at 1301 Ohio Street in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

, but were moved to 925 Wabash Avenue Suite 300. The building at 13th and Ohio was completely torn down in July 2013.

History

Brazil, Indiana's first radio station went on the air in 1958 as WITE, with a 3-tower directional antenna. In 1972, the AM station reverted to a daytime-only station with one tower, and the call letters, WWCM. This coincided with the construction of FM station WWCM at 97.7 that same year. The FM station originally operated with 3,000 watts at 97.7 MHz when it signed on in 1972 as WWCM-FM, playing

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 ...

. The format changed to

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

in 1979 as WBDJ. However, both WBDJ and its AM sister (1130 WWCM, now WFNB) went silent in 1983 after their owners declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. The stations were sold in 1985 to Mark Lange of Vincennes, Indiana, and returned to the air with new call letters and formats. 97.7 FM adopted the WSDM calls and 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format, which was soon dropped to simulcast with the country format of its AM sister (by then known as WBZL; it became WSDM in 1990 and WSDX in 2000). The FM's power was doubled to 6,000 watts in 1989. WBZL and WSDM were sold in 1990 to Dan Lacy and Mike Petersen (under the name Equity One Media Partners), and on Halloween of that year, WSDM-FM switched format to

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 ...

, utilizing

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

/ SMN's Pure Gold satellite service. The WSDM stations were destroyed by a deliberately set fire on November 22, 1996; the

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

ist was immediately apprehended and later sentenced to 18 years in prison. Wisdom 98 was back on the air by the end of the month, although WSDM (AM) remained off the air until the following April. More changes marked 1998 for WSDM-AM-FM, as Dan Lacy and Mike Petersen bought out their fellow shareholders in Equity One Media Partners, creating Crossroads Communications, Inc., and the stations' main offices were moved from Brazil to Terre Haute. On Halloween of 2005, WSDM-FM moved from 97.7 to 92.7 MHz (swapping frequencies with WCLS in Spencer, which continues to broadcast oldies under the name "Classic Hits 97.7") and adopted a unique country/rock format as "Crock 92.7". On October 4, 2010, WSDM-FM changed the format to

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 ...

programming from

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

, simulcasting WSDX. On September 24, 2012 WSDM-FM split from its simulcast with WSDX and changed the format to adult hits, branded as "92.7 Bob FM" under new call letters WFNB. Effective December 31, 2012, Emmis Communications Corporation, through licensee Emmis Radio License, LLC, purchased WFNB and sister station WFNF (the former WSDM AM) from Crossroads for $335,000. On April 17, 2014, WFNB changed its format to

hot 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

, branded as "B92.7". On March 1, 2016, WFNB added ''

Elvis Duran and the Morning Show ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show'' (formerly known as ''The Z Morning Zoo'') is an American syndicated weekday morning radio program hosted by Elvis Duran. The show originates from the studios of Newark-licensed WHTZ in New York City, a To ...

'' and Kyle West to the programming lineup. On January 30, 2017,

Dave Crooks Dave Crooks (born December 13, 1963) is a radio station owner and former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, where he represented the 63rd District from 1996 to 2008. Early life, education, and business career Crooks was born and ...

' DLC Media took over ownership of WFNB and switched the format from

to a temporary simulcast of oldies-formatted WAXI, until new studios are built; the station announced plans to launch a soft AC format branded as "Lite 92.7". The new format launched at 2p.m. on May 12, 2017. On February 15, 2019, WFNB changed its format from soft AC to active rock, branded as "92.7 The Rock".92.7 The Rock Debuts in Terre Haute
Rdaioinsight - February 15, 2019 In 2021 it was announced 105.5 Jack-FM would change formats along with other DLC radio stations. While ''

The Bob and Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Pre ...

'' moved to WFNB, the station's format did not change. In 2024, after DLC Media sold WFNB and AM 1130 (by then WAMB) to Joey and Kelsey O’Rourke's JKO Media for $875,000, the WFNB call sign was moved to the AM station; 92.7 then became WFNF, with no change in format.

References

External links

{{coord, 39.512, N, 87.138, W, type:landmark_region:US-IN_source:FCC, display=title FNB Active rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1972 1972 establishments in Indiana Clay County, Indiana