WIRO (107.1 FM) is a station covering the

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

area. The station broadcasts at 107.1 MHz with an ERP of 3.1 kW, is licensed to

Ironton, Ohio Ironton is a city in Lawrence County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 10,571 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in southern Ohio, southernmost Ohio along the Ohio River, it is northwest of Huntingt ...

and is temporarily

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

pending technical upgrades.

History

WIRO, which originally signed on the air in 1973 as

WITO WITO (1230 AM) is a commercial radio station serving the Ironton, Ohio, Flatwoods, Kentucky, and Ashland, Kentucky areas. The station's antenna system uses a single tower that results in an omnidirectional signal pattern. According to the Anten ...

, would later go through format and call sign changes as WMLV (1985–97) and WFXN (1997–2002) before

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 ...

transformed them into a local version of the

KISS-FM brand KISS-FM is the brand name of a Top 40 music format heard on FM radio stations in many cities in the United States and overseas. iHeartMedia claims ownership of the KISS-FM brand in the United States and operates most KISS-FM formatted stations t ...

under the WBKS call sign. But unlike the traditional

mainstream top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

format that was used at their sister stations, this version focused on rhythmic hits and did not use the trademarked blue ball. The reason for this was due to having a sister station in

WKEE WKEE-FM (100.5 MHz) is a contemporary hit radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, serving Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, and Ironton, Ohio. WKEE-FM is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. WKEE-F ...

, which is the market's top 40 outlet. On or before December 31, 2009, WBKS underwent a format change, becoming a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

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 ...

station

WAMX WAMX (106.3 FM, "106.3 The Brew") is a classic rock radio station licensed to Milton, West Virginia, serving the Huntington metro area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The WAMX studios are located in Huntington, while the station transmitter resi ...

. On January 19, the station changed its call sign from WBKS to WLRX. On October 30, 2012, the station underwent another format change, joining

24/7 Comedy 24/7 Comedy was a 24-hour live, commercial-free radio format produced by iHeartMedia's Premiere Networks in the United States and by Bell Media in Canada. It showcased the stand-up comedy routines of established and emerging comedians in a rapid ...

. On June 2, 2014, WLRX flipped to classic country as ''107.1 The Bear''. On March 3, 2019, iHeartMedia announced it would sell four stations in its Aloha Station Trust, including WLRX, to the Educational Media Foundation in exchange for six translators already operated by iHeartMedia. The station was expected to flip to one of EMF's national networks (

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

Air1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History On July 15, ...

, or

K-Love Classics K-Love Classics was a Christian classic hits radio network owned by Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and was carried over FM stations, translators, and HD subchannels in the United States. Such stations include WAIW 88.1 in Wheaton, Illino ...

) upon the sale's closure. On May 31, 2019, the sale to Educational Media Foundation was closed and WLRX began operating under the ''Air1'' branding. The station changed its call sign to WAWT. The station changed its call sign to WIRO on November 9, 2022. On December 5, 2024, Total Media Group of Jackson, Ohio announced they would be purchasing WIRO. In anticipation of the sale receiving

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

approval and closing, Total Media Group began operating WIRO under a time management agreement, dropping the Air1 branding and worship music format and began stunting a

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

format, branded as "Ho Ho Radio". The sale to Total Media Group was approved by the FCC and closed on December 10, 2024. In the meantime, the station dropped stunting Christmas music on January 1, 2025, replacing it with a continuous loop of

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, which was itself replaced shortly thereafter by a continuous loop of

Achy Breaky Heart "Achy Breaky Heart" is a song written in 1990 by Don Von Tress. First released in 1991 by the Marcy Brothers with the title "Don't Tell My Heart", it was later recorded by American singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus and released on his debut al ...

Flatwoods, Kentucky Flatwoods is a home rule-class city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,325 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Greenup County. Flatwoods is a part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. Loca ...

native

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

. (Cyrus graduated from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Russell, Kentucky Russell is a home rule-class city on the south bank of the Ohio River in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,380 as of the 2010 census, down from 3,645 in 2000. Russell is a suburb of Ashland and part of the Hunti ...

, which is directly across the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

from Ironton.) On January 6, 2025, WIRO launched a classic country format under the ''

Hank FM Hank FM is the on-air brand name of several radio stations in the United States and Canada. Stations using the Hank FM brand name typically air a country format, in configurations of classic country, contemporary country, or a less tightly format ...

'' branding, where it remained until May 10, 2025.Hank Arrives in Ironton
Radioinsight - January 6, 2025 Total Media Group began simulcasting WIRO on recently purchased WLGC in nearby

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West ...

on May 1, 2025. On May 7, 2025, Total Media Group filed an application with the FCC to temporarily take the station

for technical upgrades and rebranding purposes. Upon approval, WIRO went temporarily off-the-air on May 10, 2025, with the Hank FM branding and classic country format permanently moving to WLGC.

Former logo

References

External links

* {{Huntington WV Radio Ironton, Ohio Radio stations established in 1973 1973 establishments in Ohio