WYGY (97.3
FM, "The Wolf") 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 gold-based
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
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
. Licensed to the suburb of
Fort Thomas,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, it serves the
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in
1993 under the
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...
WAAR. The station is currently 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, ...
. Its studios are located just northeast of
Downtown Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati is the central business district of Cincinnati, Ohio, as well the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also contains a number of urban neighborhoods in the low land area between the Ohio Ri ...
and the transmitter site is in
Finneytown, Ohio.
Station history
After having a construction permit with the call sign WAAR, the station changed their call sign to WMMA in June 1993, and would sign on in January 1994 with 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 w ...
format. The station then flipped to
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, prim ...
as WYLX, "Alex 97.3", in November 1997.
WAQZ
The WAQZ call sign and
Alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
format abandoned by owner of 107.1 FM (Jacor Communications) was re-introduced by
Infinity Broadcasting
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus ...
on 97.3 FM as "Channel Z" on April 3,
2000. On March 4,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...
, WAQZ was rebranded "New Rock 97.3" with a shift to more current modern rock artists. WAQZ was rebranded again on December 16,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
as ''97.3 Everything Alternative."
On August 21, 2006,
Entercom Communications bought WAQZ, along with several other stations, from
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 Broad ...
(which Infinity was renamed as in December 2005). On October 30, 2006, Entercom abruptly fired the entire on-air staff, signaling the end of WAQZ.
"97.3 The Wolf" WYGY
On November 9, 2006, at Noon, after playing "
The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage" by
Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their fi ...
, Entercom moved WYGY's Country format to 97.3 FM and relaunched it as "The Wolf", this time as a
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 "cont ...
-styled
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
format, in order to appeal to a younger demographic than its other country station,
WUBE-FM
WUBE-FM (105.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music radio format. Licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, it is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.
WUBE-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 14,500 watts. It broadcasts using HD Radio t ...
("B-105").
[Kiesewetter, John]
"Country music station WYGY moving again, changing name"
Cincinnati Enquirer. November 2, 2006. (WYGY was formerly "The Star", located at 96.5 FM and owned by
Cumulus Media, but was traded to Entercom in exchange for
WGRR.) At the same time as the flip, Entercom relaunched the alternative rock format on 94.9 FM as "The Sound". The WAQZ call letters remained on 97.3 for a month until the WYGY calls were finally in place on November 29.
On January 18, 2007, Entercom announced plans to swap its entire Cincinnati radio cluster, including WSWD, together with three of its radio stations in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
, to
Bonneville International in exchange for all three of Bonneville's FM stations in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and $1 million cash.
In May 2007, Bonneville officially took over control of the Cincinnati stations through a
time brokerage agreement. On March 14, 2008, Bonneville officially closed on the stations.
"97.3 The Sound" WSWD
On November 7, 2008, at 11:00 a.m., WSWD and WYGY switched frequencies, returning an alternative rock format to the 97.3 FM frequency, while the country format would move back to 94.9 FM. (The call letters between the two stations would switch four days later.)
"97.3 The Wolf" Returns
On May 21, 2009, at 5 p.m., Bonneville discontinued the "Sound" format altogether, with 97.3 FM re-adopting the country format and the "Wolf" moniker (at the same time, 94.9 FM flipped to
80s-leaning adult hits as "Rewind 94.9"). The last song on "The Sound" was ''
No You Girls
"No You Girls" is a song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand. It was released as the second single from their third album, '' Tonight: Franz Ferdinand'' (2009), on 6 April 2009. The song received worldwide attention after being chosen fo ...
'' by
Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
F ...
. Many believe the Sound's demise was based on
Cumulus
Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin ''cumulo-'', meaning ''heap'' or ''pile''. Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, gener ...
'
WFTK
WFTK (96.5 MHz, "96 Rock") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Lebanon, Ohio, and serving the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts an active rock radio format, known as "Cincinnati's Pure Rock." T ...
flipping to
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
earlier
that year. (The Sound was moved to 94.9-HD2 and on the internet at thesoundcincinnati.com.)
On January 19, 2011, it was announced that Bonneville International will sell WYGY and several other 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, ...
for $505 million.
[http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2011/01/19/another-big-radio-deal-q102-b105-rewind-wolf-sold/] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.
On December 6, 2018, Hubbard eliminated all the DJs on the station and began running jockless.
References
External links
97.3 The Wolf*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wygy
Country radio stations in the United States
YGY
Hubbard Broadcasting
Radio stations established in 1993
1993 establishments in Kentucky