WMOS (102.3 FM, "102.3 The Wolf") is a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

radio station that targets the Connecticut and Rhode Island coastlines from

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, to

South Kingstown, Rhode Island South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

(according to Radio-Locator) and it is licensed to

Stonington, Connecticut The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and W ...

. It broadcasts at 102.3 MHz with 3 kilowatts ERP from a tower located in Westerly, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

and is "powered by

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on of their reservation, along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has of gambling space. It is in the foothills of southeastern Connecticut, ...

," the casino in

Uncasville Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

. The Mohegan Sun casino also hosts the station's studios. On March 17, 2008, WMOS changed its frequency from 104.7 FM to 102.3 FM, swapping frequencies with sister station

WXLM WXLM (980 AM) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Groton, Connecticut, and serving the New London - Groton area. It broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Cumulus Media. The studios and offices are located on Governor Winthrop ...

History

102.3 was assigned the call letters WFAN on November 3, 1981 playing a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

mix of news, sports and

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

music. Later, the music shifted to a

Contemporary Hit Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

format with the slogan ''"Better Hit Music Fun 102"''. The format changed to satellite delivered AC and the call letters were changed to WORQ on June 20, 1984. The slogan was ''"102 WORQ, Working for you".'' The call letters changed again August 17, 1987 to WVVE, starting as a gold based AC and then moving to a full

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format known as ''102.3 The Wave'' The station kept the call letters WVVE until December 29, 1999, when

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...

purchased the station and flipped formats to

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

as ''ROCK 102''

They soon changed calls to WAXK

''ROCK 102'' flipped to a

Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

format under the moniker ''XL 102'' and the WUXL call letters in February 2002

''XL 102'' featured the syndicated Bob & Tom Morning show. In February 2003 ''XL 102'' was one of two stations that gave away tickets to a

Great White Great White is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling records '' Once Bitten'' (1987) and '' ...Twice Shy'' (1989), and those albums ...

Concert in

West Warwick, Rhode Island West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census. West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...

, which ultimately became the scene of one of the deadliest fires in Rhode Island's history

(The other station being Clear Channel's

WHJY WHJY (94.1 MHz) is a commercial mainstream rock iHeartRadio station in Providence, Rhode Island. WHJY has been a rock station since September 4, 1981. Its broadcast center, also used by its sister stations, is on Oxford Street, just west of Inte ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

). In March 2003, a few weeks after the fire ''XL 102'' flipped formats to

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

music and changed its calls to WXLM. (The format change was rumored to be just a coincidence.) As AC formatted ''MIX 102'', WXLM competed against long-time ratings leader ''Soft Rock 106.5'',

WBMW WBMW (106.5 FM) is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station. WBMW is licensed to Pawcatuck, Connecticut, and serving the New London, Connecticut, area. The station is owned by John Fuller's Red Wolf Broadcasting. WBMW broadcasts with ...

WXLM dumped its Adult Contemporary format and began simulcasting the news/talk format of sister station WXLM, WSUB AM 980 in April 2005. WSUB began promoting the simulcast in mid-March

WXLM officially became ''News-Talk 102.3 FM'' in late June 2005, after WSUB went Spanish as ''Magia 980''

On March 17, 2008, WXLM's news/talk format moved to 104.7 FM; concurrently, the classic rock programming of WMOS moved to 102.3. Both formats remained the same. In 2010, the news/talk format migrated back as WXLM to AM 980; 104.7 now operates as

WELJ WELJ (104.7 FM broadcasting, FM) branded as "104.7 WELJ", is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Montauk, New York, and serving East End (Long Island), Eastern Long Island, and Southeastern Connecticut. It i ...

. Citadel merged with

on September 16, 2011.

References

External links

102.3 The Wolf WebsiteAAC Streaming LinkMP3 Streaming Link
*
Coverage map for WMOS
{{Cumulus Media Cumulus Media radio stations Classic rock radio stations in the United States

MOS MOS or Mos may refer to: Technology * MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor), also known as the MOS transistor * Mathematical Optimization Society * Model output statistics, a weather-forecasting technique * MOS (filmm ...

Radio stations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Connecticut