WARO (94.5

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 ...

"Arrow 94.5") 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

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

, and broadcasting to the

Fort Myers A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

-Naples area of

Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are genera ...

. It is owned by Sun Broadcasting and it airs 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 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 studios and offices are on Palm Beach Boulevard (

Florida State Road 80 State Road 80 (SR 80) (also known as Palm Beach Boulevard in Lee County and Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County) is a route linking US 41 Business in Fort Myers and State Road A1A in Palm Beach. The road is the northernmost of three l ...

) in Fort Myers, near the

Caloosahatchee River The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National ...

. WARO is a Class C0 FM station. It has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations. The

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 on Radio Tower Road in

Bonita Springs Bonita Springs is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 53,644 at the 2020 census, up from 43,914 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, on the state's sou ...

, east of

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

.Radio-Locator.com/WARO
/REF>

History

Beautiful music

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on May 8, 1962. Its original

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was WNFM and it was the FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to WNOG 1270 AM (now deleted). WNFM and WNOG were owned by Radio Naples, Inc. WNFM was only powered at 5,400 watts, a fraction of its current output. That limited its signal to Naples and adjacent communities. At first, WNFM mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

the programming on WNOG. After a few years, it began airing its own

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

beautiful music format, playing quarter-hour sweeps of soft instrumental music. In 1969, WNOG and WNFM were acquired by Palmer Broadcasting. By the 1970s, WNFM got a boost in power to 100,000 watts. It changed its call letters to WCVU, standing for "Sea View" but not related to today's

WCVU WCVU (104.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mix of soft oldies and soft adult contemporary formats. It is licensed to Solana, Florida, United States. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and fea ...

104.9, owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

Soft AC, 1970s hits, classic rock

By the 1980s, the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

format was aging. The station added more soft vocals and cut back on instrumentals. It eventually made the transition to

soft 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 ...

. In the early 1990s, management decided to flip 94.5 FM to all- 1970s hits. In 1994, the format evolved to a mix of 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s classic hits and

. The station changed its call letters, first to WRAO, then two months later to WARO. WARO called itself "Arrow 94.5" which stood for "All Rock and Roll Oldies". This lasted until approximately 2003 when the format moved to a mainstream classic rock sound. In 1996, WNOG and WCVU were acquired by Meridian Broadcasting, Inc.''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009'' page D-142. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2025
/ref> On January 27, 2012, Meridian Broadcasting changed its name to Sun Broadcasting, Inc.

References

External links

Official websiteBroadcast Center , Fort Myers Broadcasting Co. , Sun Broadcasting, Inc.
* {{Classic Rock Radio Stations in Florida

ARO Aro or ARO may refer to: People * Aro (surname) * Aro people, an Igbo subgroup in West Africa * Aro (murderer) (died 1957), last person executed in Papua New Guinea * Aro (Twilight), a character in the ''Twilight'' saga by Stephenie Meyer * Aro, a ...

Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1962 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1962 Naples, Florida