kHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
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 ...
broadcasting and licensed to
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg is a town and the county seat of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre along the Susquehanna River. It is the only ...
, United States.
Until 2022, the station was owned by Columbia Broadcasting Company (not affiliated with
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
). The Columbia Broadcasting Company also owned
WBWX
WBWX (1280 AM) is a radio station licensed to the U.S. city of Berwick, Pennsylvania and serves the immediate Berwick/ Bloomsburg radio market. The station broadcasts at a frequency of 1280 kHz with 1,000 watts daytime, and 164 watts nighttime ...
(which serves as a satellite station of WHLM), and a second company called Columbia FM Inc., which formerly owned
WMMZ
WMMZ (103.5 FM, "The River, 105 & 103-5") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits music format. Licensed to Berwick, Pennsylvania, United States, the station is currently owned by Bold Gold Media. The WMMZ broadcast studio is co-located wi ...
. Until the sale, the stations studio was located on East Main Street in downtown
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Bloomsburg is a town and the county seat of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre along the Susquehanna River. It is the only ...
. Presently, WHLM's main studio is located on Route 204 in Selinsgrove.
History
In the fall of 1947, two brand new radio stations signed on-the-air in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The Morning Press (now Press Enterprise) signed on 930 WCNR and a group of local business people signed on 690 WLTR.
In September 1951, Harry L. Magee of Magee Industrial Enterprises changed the call letters of WLTR to WHLM.
In October 1953, daytime only WHLM moved to 550 AM, a full-time channel and WHLM became Bloomsburg's first 24-hour radio station.
In September 1956, Harry built and signed on WHLM-FM (106.5).
In 1966, The Morning Press sold WCNR to station manager Ed Darlington.
In 1998, the Press Enterprise petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for a waiver to buy back WCNR.
In 1998, Magee Industrial Enterprises sold WHLM and WHLM-FM to the Sunbury Broadcasting Corporation. Under this ownership, they shut down WHLM (550 AM) and later changed the WHLM-FM call letters to WFYY, "Flight 106.5", which was later renamed "Y106.5", and is now "Bigfoot Country".
In April 2001, the Press Enterprise shut down WCNR. In September of that year, Joe Reilly formed the Columbia Broadcasting Company and purchased the assets of WCNR from the Press Enterprise. The studios, offices and historic call letters were restored in the WHLM Building on the Square in Downtown Bloomsburg. The station signed back on-the-air as "The New 930 WHLM."
On March 21, 2022, the Press Enterprise reported that owner Joe Reilly would sell the entirety of the Columbia Broadcasting Company to Seven Mountains Media for $450,000. The sale did not include the stations' studios location. The sale would make WHLM a sister station to
WCFT-FM
WCFT-FM (106.5 MHz, "Bigfoot Country") is an American country music formatted radio station licensed to serve Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC, and is operated out of s ...
, which used to hold the WHLM callsign.
The sale closed on August 31 of that year; owner and morning DJ Joe Reilly would retire after his show that morning, voluntarily ending a radio career spanning over 50 years. Just after 1 p.m. on September 1, the classic hits format would sign off, with
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
's "
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" is a song written and recorded by Billy Joel originally appeared on his 1977 album '' The Stranger''. The track details the singer's disgust with the upwardly mobile bourgeois aspirations of working- and lower-middle- ...
" and
Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...
's "
Goodbye Stranger
"Goodbye Stranger" is a song by the English rock band Supertramp; it was written by Rick Davies. The song first appeared on their sixth studio album, ''Breakfast in America'' (1979).
Reception
''Billboard'' described "Goodbye Stranger" as "a ...
" as the final two songs played. The final
Fox News Radio
Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
History
In 2003, ...
update ran at the top of the hour, followed by about two hours of dead air. Shortly after 3 p.m., the entire Columbia cluster of stations would begin stunting with a loop of " Pop" by
NSYNC
NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...
, while redirecting former WHLM listeners to the duo of
WHNA
WHNA (92.3 FM, "Hanna 92-97-106") is an American classic hits formatted radio station licensed to serve Riverside, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Kristin Cantrell, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC, and is operated out of studios in Sel ...
/
WNNA
WNNA (106.1 FM, "Hanna 92.3 & 106.1") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Beaver Springs, Pennsylvania, United States, the station is currently owned by Seven Mountains Media, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC. I ...
and promoting a new format to debut the following Tuesday, September 6, at 10 a.m. At that time, WHLM/WBWX flipped to
hot 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
as "Pop Radio".
Former logo
References
External links
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{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Pennsylvania