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WIRK (103.1 FM) is a
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 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, ...
format. Licensed to
Indiantown, Florida Indiantown is a village in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,560 at the 2020 census. It is a rural community in the interior of Florida's Treasure Coast region, first established in the early 1900s, then incorporated on D ...
, the station serves the
Treasure Coast The Treasure Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is located on Florida's East Coast, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and comprising Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. The region, whose name refers to the Spanish Treasure ...
and
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
area. The station is owned by
Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, ...
, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, LLC. Its studios are in West Palm Beach and its antenna is located on the west side of
Jonathan Dickinson State Park Jonathan Dickinson State Park is a Florida State Park and historic site located in Martin County, Florida, between Hobe Sound and Tequesta. The park includes the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center and a variety of natural ...
in
Hobe Sound, Florida Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 census, up from 11,521 in 2010. Geography Hobe Sound ...
.


History


WLMC/WOKC-FM Okeechobee and move-in to West Palm Beach

The 103.1 frequency began in Okeechobee in mid-1966 as WLMC, the FM counterpart to the town's established AM station,
WOKC WOKC (True Country) is a commercial radio station in Okeechobee, Florida, broadcasting to the Okeechobee area on 1570 AM and 100.9 FM. WOKC's format is classic country. It also broadcasts local and world news quite often. FM Translator WOK ...
. The station was a Class A outlet, covering largely Okeechobee and the immediate area. On New Year's Day 1987, WLMC became WOKC-FM. The station aired a country format. In 1992, Okeechobee Broadcasters was approved to move the station to its present tower near Hobe Sound, changing the city of license to Indiantown and making WOKC-FM a move-in into the West Palm Beach market; previously, the WOKC stations did not meet requirements to be reported by
Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
in the West Palm Beach or Fort Pierce markets. Even before the move was completed, it immediately attracted a buyer: the Amaturo Group of
Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, owners of
WKGR WKGR (98.7 FM) is a classic rock station licensed to Wellington, Florida and serving the West Palm Beach market. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., it transmits at 100,000 watts effective radiated power with an antenna height above average terrain of ...
(98.7 FM) in Fort Pierce. While initial rumors had the station remaining country as "The Frog" to complement WKGR's "Gator" imaging, Amaturo completed the move-in and relaunched 103.1 as WPBZ, named for (and using) the
Z Rock Z Rock was a nationally syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, United States that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music for ...
syndicated service from
Satellite Music Networks Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats. History Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, ...
. In 1995, American Radio Systems, which already owned WIRK-FM 107.9 and WBZT 1290 in West Palm Beach, acquired the Amaturo Group stations; as FCC rules of the time prohibited a company from owning more than two FM stations, American assigned the rights to buy the station, for $10 million, to Palm Beach Radio Broadcasting, whose principal was ''
National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
'' publisher Peter Callahan. Callahan's involvement came about because Steve Dodge, the chairman of American Radio Systems, was a director of the parent company of the ''Enquirer''.


The Buzz

On July 3, 1995, WPBZ flipped to alternative as "The Buzz". It was the fourth station to flip to alternative in south Florida in 1995, but the only one in West Palm Beach. Later in the year, Palm Beach Radio Broadcasting bought two stations in Martin County, again using financing from American Radio Systems. The Buzz was an immediate success with younger audiences: a year after launching, it was the second radio station in the market among the 18-34 audience, only losing to
WRMF WRMF (97.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Palm Beach, Florida. It serves the West Palm Beach, Florida radio market. The station airs a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Hubbard Radio. The studios and offices are ...
. ARS dissolved its joint sales agreement to operate WPBZ on October 31, 1996, citing a "changing regulatory climate". WPBZ was cited in 1998 as "a highly successful model" for the alternative format. Palm Beach Radio sold its cluster, along with a station in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, to Infinity Broadcasting, later known as
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 ...
, in 2000 for $4 million and assumption of liabilities. The move made WPBZ the sister station to
WEAT WEAT (107.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida. It airs a classic hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. It is owned by Hubbard Radio, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, ...
and
WIRK WIRK (103.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Indiantown, Florida, the station serves the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County area. The station is owned by Hubbar ...
. WPBZ aired
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
from 2004 to 2005, when he was replaced by
David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...
amid Stern's move to satellite radio.


Now 103.1 and the move of WIRK to 103.1

On December 5, 2011, WPBZ changed its format to
adult top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...
, branded as ''Now 103.1''. The ''Buzz'' active rock format moved to the HD2 subchannel, replacing the alternative-formatted ''Buzz Lite''. It was the second hot AC station under CBS Radio using the ''Now FM'' branding, the first being on
Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
's
KZZO KZZO (100.5 MHz "Now 100.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California. It broadcasts an Adult Top 40 radio format and is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International, a profit-making subsidiary of the Churc ...
. It was reported as a CHR by
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 ...
, as most of the rap music was on sister
rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...
station
WMBX WMBX (102.3 MHz "X 102.3") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Jensen Beach, Florida. It serves the West Palm Beach and Treasure Coast areas, broadcasting an Urban Adult Contemporary radio format. WMBX is owned by Hubbard Radio. Its ...
. In 2012, CBS Radio, citing a desire to focus on larger markets, sold its entire cluster in West Palm Beach to Palm Beach Broadcasting for $50 million. The sale included the intellectual unit of adult contemporary
WEAT WEAT (107.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida. It airs a classic hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. It is owned by Hubbard Radio, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, ...
(104.3 FM), but as Palm Beach already owned one FM station (WRMF), it had to divest two of CBS's stations to other buyers. Because the 104.3 FM facility could be moved into the Miami market, it was tagged for sale. On June 1, 2012, Sunny and the WEAT call letters moved from 104.3 (which became WMSF) to 107.9, while WIRK and its long-running country format moved to 103.1 MHz, marking the end for the Now format. Later in 2013, Palm Beach Broadcasting and its sister company
GoodRadio.TV Good Radio Networks LLC, doing business as GoodRadio.TV, was a West Palm Beach, Florida based radio ownership group headed by former Pax president Dean Goodman. Partners in this venture include former NAB Chairman Eddie Fritz, and former found ...
was merged into Goodman's larger holding company Digity, LLC. Digity was in turn acquired by
Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...
in February 2016. On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media announced the sale of its West Palm Beach stations to
Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, ...
. The sale was consummated on January 23, 2019 at a purchase price of $88 million. WIRK rebranded as ''New Country 103.1'' on July 22, 2019, with no change in format.


Programming

As The Buzz, the station had a morning show called ''The Morning Buzz''. The station also syndicated ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'', '' The David Lee Roth Show'', and the ''
Opie & Anthony Show ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part in ...
'' until October 29, 2007. The original program director for The Buzz was Amy Doyle, now of
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. John O'Connell had been the program director/operations manager since 1996. Specialty music shows included ''Buzz Junior'', which aired Sunday nights at 10:00pm with host Jeremy Steve Clark and featured new music, unsigned local bands, indie bands, and classic songs; and ''Rock Hard Buzz'', which aired Saturday nights at 11:00pm with host Metal Mick and featured mostly heavy metal. The Buzz hosted an all-day music festival each year called the "Buzz Bake Sale" which was one of the largest annual music festivals in South Florida. It was usually held on the first Saturday in December in West Palm Beach. The show was always held at the
Cruzan Amphitheatre The iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre is a 20,000-seat open-air (Approx. 8,000 seats under cover and approx. 12,000 lawn seats) music venue in West Palm Beach, Florida. The facility, owned by the South Florida Fairgrounds, is a modern amphitheatre ...
. The name was chosen because the first two years featured 13 bands (a "
baker's dozen A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or year ...
" of bands).


References


External links

* * * * * * {{Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation IRK 1966 establishments in Florida Radio stations established in 1966 Hubbard Broadcasting