WIHN (96.7
FM) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
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 ...
in
Normal, Illinois
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...
, United States, and serving the
Bloomington-Normal radio market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
. It broadcasts an
active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
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, ...
known as ''Rock 96.7''. It is owned by Elizabeth Neuhoff's Neuhoff Corp., through licensee Neuhoff Media Bloomington, LLC, with studios on Brickyard Drive in
Bloomington. On weekday mornings, WIHN carries the
nationally syndicated "
Bob & Tom Show
''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere ...
," based at
WFBQ
WFBQ (94.7 FM, "Q95") is a radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, owned by iHeartMedia. The studios are located at 6161 Fall Creek Road on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The transmitter and antenna are located on the northwe ...
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.
History
The station signed on the air Friday, December 21, 1973, from studios located on the second floor of the Castle Theater Building on Washington Street in Bloomington, Illinois. These studios were previously occupied by
WJBC WJBC may refer to:
* WJBC (AM), a radio station (1230 AM) licensed to Bloomington, Illinois, United States
* WJBC-FM
WJBC-FM (93.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Pontiac, Illinois, in the Bloomington-Normal radio market. ...
/
WBNQ
WBNQ (101.5 FM) is the most powerful FM radio station in McLean County, Illinois, United States, broadcasting on at 50,000 watts of effective radiated power. It has had a contemporary hit radio music format since 1975.
History
WBNQ first signe ...
until their earlier move to the transmitter site on Greenwood Avenue.
The WIHN transmitter was located at Nord Farm on the West side of Bloomington/Normal. The antenna was side-mounted at the maximum allowable height of
on an already existing communications tower owned by Dr. Stanley Nord with a
studio/transmitter link
A studio transmitter link (or STL) sends a radio station's or television station's audio and video from the broadcast studio or origination facility to a radio transmitter, television transmitter or uplink facility in another location. This is ...
from downtown. The Collins 3
kW transmitter was housed within an enclosure constructed inside one of the farm buildings.
The station was conceived by David S. Wolfenden who formed McLean Communications Corporation for the purpose of applying for the allocated channel 244A (96.7 MHz) at
Normal, Illinois
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...
. Besides Wolfenden, who became President of the corporation and the station's
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
, other McLean principals included Andrew Rector, Wilbur Winn, William Brady, Bert Jackson and several other local businessmen. Prior to the formation of McLean, a local ministry had briefly pursued the channel and withdrawn.
At the same time as McLean's application, two Chicago individuals had formed a corporation and had applied for 244A as well. Ensuing negotiations over a number of months resulted in this group withdrawing their bid leaving McLean as the sole applicant.
With the idea of a modern, upbeat format in mind, Wolfenden looked for call letters depicting excitement phonetically: a phrase. Because on-air contests were envisioned as part of the format, the WIN theme came to mind. After much searching it appeared that WIHN was available — but it was not. WIHN belonged to "...the oil screw Oregon, sunk....", used for signal flag communications. With minimal arm-twisting by McLean's Washington FCC attorney, Tom Fletcher, the
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
released the call.
Two well-known early station personalities were Doug Blair the
program director, and Jerry Holtz. WIHN was one of the first stations nationally to air
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 ...
'' until WBNQ took it over in the early 1980's and was replaced by
Rick Dees Weekly Top 40
''Rick Dees Weekly Top 40'' (sometimes known as ''The Weekly Top 40'') is an internationally syndicated radio program created and hosted by American radio personality Rick Dees. It is currently heard on over 200 radio stations worldwide. It is di ...
a few years later.
In 2009, Wolfenden shipped a carton of historical documents from his home in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
to Andy Rector, President of ACC Electronix, 420 Wylie Drive in Normal, Illinois, to be included in the archives of the
McLean County Historical Society as have been the records of
WJBC WJBC may refer to:
* WJBC (AM), a radio station (1230 AM) licensed to Bloomington, Illinois, United States
* WJBC-FM
WJBC-FM (93.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Pontiac, Illinois, in the Bloomington-Normal radio market. ...
/
WBNQ
WBNQ (101.5 FM) is the most powerful FM radio station in McLean County, Illinois, United States, broadcasting on at 50,000 watts of effective radiated power. It has had a contemporary hit radio music format since 1975.
History
WBNQ first signe ...
. Rector was one of the original founders of McLean Communications and remains a resident of Normal. Wolfenden continues to be actively involved in radio and TV in the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
area.
WIHN flipped to its rock format in early 1995. It was known as "I97" with a logo designed to look like an Interstate designation shield. WIHN, along with then-sister station 92.9 WSNI was sold by Kelly Communications in the early 2000s to AAA Entertainment. AAA kept the rock format but rebranded the station as "96.7 I-Rock." In 2006, AAA sold the station to Connoisseur which had formed the previous year in Bloomington/Normal along with 100.7 and 97.9. Connoisseur retained the format and branding through its sale to Neuhoff Media in 2015. Neuhoff rebranded the station as "Rock 96.7"
References
External links
Rock 96.7 Online*
{{Bloomington IL Radio
Radio stations established in 1973
1973 establishments in Illinois
Active rock radio stations in the United States
IHN