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

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

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 outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, to

Wakefield, Rhode Island Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the commercial center of South Kingstown. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census-designate ...

, and it is licensed to

Stonington, Connecticut Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pa ...

. 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 a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...

and is "powered by

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is a large casino and entertainment complex located on 240 acres (97 ha) of the Mohegan Indian Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut, along the banks of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. It is owned and operated by the fe ...

", the casino in

Uncasville Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located 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 e ...

. 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 broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Groton, Connecticut, and serving Greater New London. It broadcasts a news/talk radio format and is owned by Cumulus Media. WXLM's studios and offices are loc ...

. The station became an affiliate of the syndicated

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

show "

Floydian Slip ''Floydian Slip'' is a weekly, one-hour syndicated radio program produced by Random Precision Media LLC (RPM), exclusively devoted to the music and history of the British rock band Pink Floyd. The show has an affiliate base of around one hundred ...

" in 2024.

History

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

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: Entertainment Books * ''Full Service'' (book), a 2012 memoir by Scotty Bowers * '' Full Service No Waiting'', a 1998 album by Peter Case Music * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block fr ...

mix of news, sports and

adult contemporary music 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, sou ...

. Later, the music shifted to a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

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 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 ...

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 founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

purchased the station and flipped formats to

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

as ''ROCK 102''. They soon changed calls to WAXK. ''ROCK 102'' flipped to a classic hits 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 (the other being Clear Channel's

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

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

) that gave away tickets to a

Great White Great White is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band is named after both the shark with the same name, and guitarist Mark Kendall's former stage nickname. In August 2008, Great White estimated they had sold aroun ...

concert in

West Warwick, Rhode Island West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the s ...

, which ultimately became the scene of one of the deadliest fires in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

's history. In March 2003, a few weeks after the fire ''XL 102'' flipped formats to adult contemporary 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 broadcasting, FM) is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station. WBMW is licensed to Pawcatuck, Connecticut, and serves the New London, Connecticut, New London area. The station is owned by John Fuller's Red Wolf Broadcas ...

. WXLM dropped its adult contemporary format and began simulcasting the

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format of sister station WSUB (980 AM) 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

* * {{Cumulus Media Cumulus Media radio stations Classic rock radio stations in the United States MOS Radio stations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Connecticut Stonington, Connecticut