WWFW (103.9
FM) is an
adult hits 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 ...
located in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
.
In March 2014, Adams Radio Group entered an agreement to purchase Summit City's cluster (which includes WXKE). Days later, Adams announced they would purchase Oasis Radio Group's stations. To meet ownership limits, Adams would retain
WNHT,
WGL and the then-WXKE, as well as acquiring Oasis Radio Group's
WJFX and
WBTU, while selling off
WHPP to Fort Wayne Catholic Radio, and selling
WGL-FM to Calvary Radio Network.
WLYV
WLYV (1290 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk/sports format. Licensed to Bellaire, Ohio, United States, it serves the Wheeling area. The station is currently owned by Cody Barack, through licensee Ohio Midland Newsgroup, LLC.
Ori ...
and two translators (on 96.9 FM and 103.3 FM) would also be acquired by Adams. The transaction, at a price of $6.4 million, was consummated on June 2, 2014. As a result, Adams planned on massive format restructuring. On June 2, Adams announced that WXKE would move to the stronger 96.3 signal, displacing WNHT's
Rhythmic Contemporary
Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
format. The two stations would simulcast for ten days.
The station changed to the current WWFW call sign on June 2, 2014.
On June 20, 2014, at 10:39 pm, after stunting for an hour and a half with music similar to that of call holding or elevator music, WWFW launched an Adult Contemporary format, branded as "The New Soft Rock 103-9". The first song on "Soft Rock" was "
Celebration
Celebration or Celebrations may refer to:
Film, television and theatre
* ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969
* ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000
* ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...
" by
Kool and the Gang.
Starting in the fall of 2014, WWFW has annually made a seasonal format change to 24/7 Christmas music in November and December.
The station initially featured a Soft AC lean, but gradually evolved to Mainstream AC during their first year on the air.
During their Christmas music stint in November 2016, WWFW dropped the "Soft Rock" branding in favor of "Christmas 103.9". On December 7, the station announced through their Facebook page that they would rebrand as "103.9 Sunny FM" on the 26th. The change took place at midnight on that date; the first song on Sunny FM was "
Faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
" by
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV Generation, MTV generation and is one of the List ...
(serving as a tribute to Michael, as he had died on Christmas Day). The format would shift back to soft adult contemporary by 2018.
On December 18, 2019, WWFW announced that they would flip to Variety Hits as "103.9 Wayne FM" on Christmas night at 6pm.
At that time, after playing "
Merry Christmas Darling
"Merry Christmas, Darling" is a Christmas song by the Carpenters (music by Richard Carpenter, lyrics by Frank Pooler), and originally recorded in 1970. It was first available on a 7-inch single that year ( A&M Records 1236), and was later re-issue ...
" by
The Carpenters (bookending the format, in a sense, as it was the last Christmas song played before the launch of Sunny FM in 2016), the changeover took place. The station for 10 seconds then stunted with a 10-second electronic voice counting down from 10 to 1. This was followed by dead silence. A disk jockey then recommends about the new switch including examples such as 2 second clips of 24 different adult hit examples for less than a minute. The first song on "Wayne FM" was "
Mary Jane's Last Dance
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded while Petty was recording his '' Wildflowers'' album and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Cam ...
" by
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American Rock music, rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell (musician), Mike Campbell, ...
.
Former logos
References
External links
103.9 Wayne FM's websiteThe Patriot 103.3 FacebookAdams Radio Ft. Wayne*
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WFW
Adult hits radio stations in the United States