WIFE 94.3
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 radi ...
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
Rushville, Indiana
Rushville is a city in Rushville Township, Rush County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 6,341 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Rush County. It, like the county, was named in honor of Dr. Benjamin Rush, who signe ...
, the station is owned by Rodgers Broadcasting Corporation.
History
WIFE first signed on the air on August 5, 1971, as WRCR, owned by the Rush County Broadcasting Company.
The station's facilities were built on North Perkins Street, east of the Rushville courthouse square.
A
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...
affiliate, WRCR's format included an "up-tempo" mix of popular, rock, and country music in addition to local community news and
Rushville Consolidated High School
Rushville Consolidated High School, also known as "RCHS", is a high school in Rushville, Indiana, United States.
Athletics
The school mascot is the lion, and the school colors are black and red. The men's athletic teams are referred to as Lions, ...
sports.
Upon its founding, WRCR's broadcasting hours were between 5:40 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. seven days a week, but WRCR could sign off later in case of a live sporting event running long.
Before his political career as
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for Rushville, Governor of Indiana, and Vice President of the United States,
Mike Pence began his radio career on WRCR. His first show on WRCR, a weekly half-hour program called ''Washington Update with Mike Pence'', debuted in 1988 after an unsuccessful debut run for Congress.
Pence began hosting a daily three-hour call-in talk show on WRCR in 1992, ''The Mike Pence Show''. WRCR continued to broadcast ''The Mike Pence Show'' after it began statewide syndication in 1994. ''The Mike Pence Show'' ended in September 1999 as Pence prepared for his successful run for Congress in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
.
From 2000 to 2007, its call signs were WKWH-FM.
WKWH-FM was branded "Power Country" from 2001 to 2006, and it shared call signs with a co-owned oldies station on 1520 AM, WKWH-AM (now
WSVX) licensed to nearby
Shelbyville. Its branding was "94.3 Buddy FM" heading into 2007. Late in 2006, WKWH began de-emphasizing talk shows and community-oriented programming to play more country music.
On July 23, 2007, Whitewater Broadcasting took over operations of WKWH from RushShelby Energy, changed the call letters to the current WIFE-FM, and launched the current "Hometown Country 94.3" branding.
References
External links
WIFE's official website*
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IFE
1971 establishments in Indiana
Rush County, Indiana