WFNN (1330 AM) is a

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

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 radio ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, owned by

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

. It is an affiliate of

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

. Its current name is Fox Sports 1330 AM Erie. WFNN's studios are located in the Boston Store building in downtown Erie while its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is located near

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's southern ...

and Sharp Rd south of Erie.

History

The call letters WFNN were originally licensed to a station in

Escanaba, Michigan Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,616 at the 2010 census, making it the third-largest city i ...

, which first began broadcasting in 1977 under the WFNN call sign. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, WFNN was "''Fun 104''," an automated

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

station. Most programming was separate from its

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 ...

, WDBC, with a few exceptions including simulcasts of

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...

's ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...

''. In 1982, that station switched to its current calls,

WYKX WYKX (104.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Escanaba, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1977 under the WFNN call sign that call sign today is used at a radio station in Erie Pennsylvania. It is loc ...

. WMYJ-AM was sister to WMYJ-FM which was started by Bulmer Communications, who also owned radio stations in

Ashtabula, Ohio Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the United States micropolitan area, Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, nort ...

Dunkirk, New York Dunkirk is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It was settled around 1805 and incorporated in 1880. The population was 12,743 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Dunkirk i ...

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

Ottawa, Ohio Ottawa is a village and the county seat of Putnam County, Ohio, United States. It is located 51 miles southwest of Toledo, a major port city on the Maumee River. The population was 4,460 at the 2010 census. History The region was long inhab ...

and

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northwest of Kokomo. Hi ...

. John Bulmer was forced to sell the Erie radio stations due to overlap in signals (during the time one could only own one AM and one FM in the same market). In 1985 he sold both stations to Erie Communications, who also owned radio stations in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

. After being sold to Erie Communications who also owned radio stations in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropol ...

, Sandusky, Ohio and Cleveland, they changed to WFNN and began as a sports-talk channel known as "''Sports Radio 1330, The Fan''" and part of the

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". ...

network. WFNN became an oldies station playing syndicated music on January 8, 2007, upon losing oldies radio station, Froggy 94.7. The WFGO call letters of Froggy 94.7, formerly an oldies station, were originally moved over to 1330 when 94.7 became

Bob-FM BOB FM is the on-air brand of a number of FM broadcasting, FM radio stations in the United States and formerly in Canada. The BOB FM format mostly concentrates on album rock, alternative rock and pop music, pop hits from the 1980s and 90s, especi ...

. WFGO was, at the time, the only station in the country to use the Froggy name and ''not'' be 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, ...

station. Later losing rights to use the Froggy moniker, the call letters were reverted to WFNN and it uses the branding "''True Oldies 1330''". On September 10, 2007, the station returned to an all- sports format as "''Fox Sports Radio 1330 The Fan''". This station is part of the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

and the

Erie Otters The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North Am ...

radio broadcasting network. On March 27, 2019,

Connoisseur Media Connoisseur Media LLC is an American media company. It is based in Westport, Connecticut and led by Jeff Warshaw. Connoisseur operates radio stations and digital assets in markets across the U.S. cities of Billings, Fredrick, Maryland; Bay Shore, H ...

announced that it would transfer WFNN along with its sister stations to iHeartMedia in exchange for

WFRE WFRE (99.9 FM) is a radio station located in Frederick, Maryland, in the United States. It plays Country music and is owned by Connoisseur Media along with its sister station 930 WFMD. Despite the station being located approximately 45 mile ...

and

WFMD WFMD (930 AM) is a news/ talk/sports-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Frederick, Maryland, serving the Frederick/ Hagerstown area. WFMD is owned and operated by Connoisseur Media. Sale WFMD, along with its sister station WFRE, wer ...

in the

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

market from the Aloha Station Trust. The sale closed on May 20, 2019. On January 10, 2022, WEBG dropped its ''iHeartPodcast'' format and flipped to sports radio format of its sister station as a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/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, simultane ...

of WFNN on

repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Some ...

95.9 FM.

References

External links

WFNN website
{{coord, 41, 59, 32, N, 80, 01, 44, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title FNN Sports radio stations in the United States IHeartMedia radio stations