WREF (97.7 FM) is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

licensed to

Sebree, Kentucky Sebree () is a home rule-class city in Webster County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 1,603 at the 2010 census. History Sebree was founded as a railroad town in 1868, just ahead of the arrival of the Louisville and Nashvil ...

, United States, serving Hopkins and Webster counties, as well as the greater

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, area. The station is owned by Henson Media, Inc.

History

The station's construction permit for a new radio station, originally licensed to

Providence, Kentucky Providence is a home rule-class city in Webster County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 3,193 at the time of the 2010 United States Census. History In 1820, Richard B. Savage arrived from Virginia with his wife and his elder ...

, was issued on May 22, 1975. Its first broadcast as WHRZ was in April 1976, with former

WOMI WOMI (1490 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Owensboro, Kentucky, United States, the station serves the Owensboro area. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media and features programming fr ...

general manager Doug Gabby as manager of the station. Under original ownership by Tradewater Broadcasting Company, the station aired an adult contemporary format in its early years as the only radio station within Webster County boundaries. The station became a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

- formatted station in 1983. In 1991, the station's transmission was relocated near

Dixon, Kentucky Dixon is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Webster County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 933 at the 2020 census. Dixon is located at the junction of US 41A and KY 132. It was established with a courthouse and post o ...

, with the opening of a second studio/office facility in Madisonville. The station changed its callsign to WWKY (unrelated to the current

WWKY-FM WWKY-FM (104.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to Providence, Kentucky Providence is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Webster County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 3,193 at the time of the 2010 United Sta ...

(104.9 MHz) in Providence) on July 14,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Rebirth as an ESPN Radio affiliate

On the 27th of March 2017, WWKY went silent. On April 13, 2017, WWKY, under current ownership by Henson Media, changed callsigns to WREF, and relocated its broadcast license location to

, with studios in Henderson. The station resumed broadcasting June 1, 2017 with an

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded 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 original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN" ...

affiliation, branded as ''ESPN 97.7, The Ref''.

Programming

Past Programming

Rick Stevens was heard on weekdays from 9 until noon. Howdy-FM covered local news of Madisonville and Hopkins County with Boyce Tate. WWKY was the sports voice of Webster County High School, the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

and the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Current Programming

WREF now broadcasts ESPN Radio and a local sports talk show called "All About Sports" on weekdays. WREF also broadcasts local high school sporting events along with local collegiate sports.

References

External links

* REF (FM) Radio stations established in 1952 1952 establishments in Kentucky ESPN Radio stations Webster County, Kentucky {{Kentucky-radio-station-stub