WFAV (95.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It serves as a ...

. WFAV has a

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

format and is owned by Milner Media Partners.

History

The station was built by Dennis Baldridge and Richard Shelton, engineers at 89.7

WONU WONU (89.7 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Kankakee, Illinois, United States, and serving the region south of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is a non-profit, listener-supported station owned and operated by Olivet Naz ...

, and originally held the call sign WKVF. As the station was coming on the air, it was sold to Rollings Communications for $90,000. Its call sign was changed to WZZP by the time it began broadcasting in October 1992.Format Changes
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 9, No. 43. October 28, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved August 9, 2018. The station aired a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

format, and was part of a simulcast with 95.3 WZNF in

Rantoul, Illinois Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,371 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Robert Rantoul, Jr., a U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and a director of the Illino ...

and 107.9 WZNX in Arcola, Illinois. In 1995, the station was sold to Milner Broadcasting, headed by Tim Milner, for $425,000. In March 1995, the station adopted an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

format, branded "The Valley", and the station's call sign was changed to WVLI. The station was simulcast on

WFAV WFAV (95.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Kankakee, Illinois. WFAV has a Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is ...

103.7 from the station's sign-on in 2007 until 2011. WFAV 103.7 would end the simulcast and begin airing a CHR format. In August 2012, the station began simulcasting on 92.7 WKIF. On December 27, 2012, 95.1 began simulcasting the CHR format of 103.7, and "The Valley" oldies format was moved to 92.7. The two stations became known as 95.1 & 103.7 Hit Radio for the Kankakee River Valley. On December 29, 2012, the WKIF calls moved from 92.7 to 95.1 and the WVLI calls moved from 95.1 to 92.7. On February 20, 2013, the station's call sign was changed to WFAV (which moved from 103.7) and its simulcast with 103.7 ended, as 103.7 adopted a classic rock format as WYUR. In 2018, Milner Broadcasting was sold to the newly formed Milner Media Partners.Provost, Lee.
New ownership for WVLI, WFAV
, '' Daily Journal'', April 21, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.

References

External links

WFAV's website
* * * {{coord, 41.078, N, 87.756, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States FAV Radio stations established in 1992 1992 establishments in Illinois