WOBM-FM (92.7

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 radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station known as "92.7 WOBM", licensed to Toms River and serving

Ocean County, New Jersey Ocean County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the ...

. It airs 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 ...

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, ...

. The station is owned by

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

, as part of its Shore Group, along with WJLK (1160 AM), WJLK-FM (94.3), WCHR-FM (105.7) and WOBM (1310 AM). Shore Group studios are in Toms River, and WOBM-FM's

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 ...

is in Bayville, New Jersey.

History

WOBM-FM signed on the air on March 1, 1968, with studios and transmitter on U.S. Route 9 in the Bayville section Berkeley Township. The station celebrated its 50th anniversary on March 1, 2018. For nearly all its time on the air, it has broadcast some form of middle of the road or

music format, as well as Ocean County news. On the station's 50th anniversary, long-time talk show host and former WOBM advertising salesman Bob Levy died at the age of 86. The slogan "Ocean County's Soft Rock" was changed to "Ocean County's Best Variety" in January 2015. The outbreak of COVID-19 had an impact on the number of personalities on the station with full-time personalities being tasked with hosting various weekend shows in place of live part-time weekend hosts. The longtime "Jersey Shore Flashback Weekend" was renamed to "Feel Good '80s Weekend" in May 2020. The new weekend format launched on Memorial Day weekend and consists of fast, upbeat and feel-good music of the 1980s. In November 2020, Diana Tyler was repositioned to the evening time slot temporarily hosted by Mark Anthony after the departure of 18-year station veteran Brian Moore in July. "JB" Wilde, was later repositioned to the afternoon time slot formerly hosted by Justin Louis for almost 15 years. In November 2020, 92.7 WOBM's parent company, Townsquare Media, received significant backlash after firing multiple prominent personalities including Justin Louis. Andy Chase, Chris Varacchi, and Liz Jeressi of sister stations 105.7 The Hawk and 94.3 The Point were also fired. With the exception of one ratings period, the station was a ratings powerhouse for almost ten years. In January 2021, 92.7 WOBM was rated one of the least listened to radio stations in Monmouth and Ocean Counties with a market share of just 2.1. WOBM-FM began simulcasting on WADB (1310 AM) and its

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

on 96.7 on July 10, 2023, expanding the station's coverage of Monmouth County. The simulcast ended in March 2025, when Townsquare shut down what had become WOBM AM.

Topic A with Bob Levy

Topic A was a freeform talk program that aired every Sunday on 92.7 WOBM from 7:00 am until 10:00 am and eventually until 11:00 am for almost 40 years by local radio icon Bob Levy. The overall premise of the show was for callers to tell Levy what was on their mind. Often, the callers had a political agenda. Levy was never really political himself, although he identified as a Republican on-air, he was very much socially moderate. In 2017, local philanthropist Jeremy Grunin joined the program as Levy's cohost. Grunin took over the program in 2018 when Levy died and somewhat revamped the show to occasionally include guests. The show was cancelled in May 2019 after Grunin announced he was stepping down. On his final show, he described a disagreement with station management as his primary reason for leaving the show.

References

External links

* * {{coord, 39.875, N, 74.165, W, type:landmark_region:US-NJ_source:FCC, display=title Berkeley Township, New Jersey Toms River, New Jersey OBM-FM Radio stations established in 1968 1968 establishments in New Jersey Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Townsquare Media radio stations