WSTW (93.7 FM, "93.7 WSTW") is a commercial FM

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 ...

licensed to serve

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

. The station is owned by (Forever Media) and broadcasts a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

(CHR)

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 ...

. WSTW's studios and offices are on Shipley Road in Wilmington. Its broadcast tower is also located there, north of Downtown Wilmington at (). In addition to Wilmington and Northern

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

, the station's 47,100

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

signal covers

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

and other parts of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

as well as sections of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

History

In 1950, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

as WDEL-FM. At first it

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

the programming of

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

AM 1150 WDEL, airing middle of the road music, talk, news and sports. But by the late 1960s, it was separately programmed, switching 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 ...

to WSTW. The call sign stood for "We're Stereo to Wilmington", as the first stereo FM in Wilmington, Delaware - its

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American b ...

. Steinman Enterprises is a family-owned broadcasting, newspaper and mining company based in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. For more than a decade, WSTW carried an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

and middle of the road music format that was largely

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

. In 1980, WSTW switched to an automated

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 ...

format, using the TM "Stereo Rock" service. By the mid-1980s, station management added

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

s and ended the automation. Over the years, the station has made slight changes in programming, switching from Top 40 to Hot AC and back again. In the mid-1990s, the station made the move to Hot AC.Broadcasting Yearbook 1995 page B-75
/ref> Around 2000, it moved back to Top 40. In May 2005, WSTW created the "Rewards" program for winning and obtaining prizes. The "Choice Rewards" system allows listeners of the station to bid on auctions for WSTW concerts, merchandise, etc., based on how many points the user has. Users obtain these points by typing in "Choice Words", which they hear on WSTW itself, on the "Rewards" website. The "Rewards" program was changed later, with "Choice Words" being solely found on the WSTW webpage, at station appearances, and via online surveys. In 2006, WSTW was chosen as CHR Station of the Year of the Marconi Award by the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...

. On April 5, 2018, programming on WSTW-HD2 changed from a simulcast of WDEL/1150 to Spanish AC branded as ''Amor 95'' which is simulcast on translator W237EH on 95.3 in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The translator serves the downtown Philadelphia area and the adjacent suburbs in New Jersey. As of mid-August 2018, the HD2 format, Amor 95, is no longer broadcasting on WSTW-HD2 or on W237EH on 95.3 in the Philadelphia suburbs and downtown Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey. As of late-September 2018, the HD2 format is back to a simulcast of sister

News/Talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

WDEL-AM-FM. On February 5, 2019, Forever Media, LLC bought out

Delmarva Broadcasting Company Delmarva Broadcasting Company was a privately-owned radio company, which operated radio stations in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. It was a wholly owned asset of the Steinman family of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Steinman Enterprises also operat ...

for $18.5 million which adds 10 more stations to Forever Media, LLC's book of stations that are spread throughout

and

Translators

Former air staff

Some notable former air staff members include Alan Price (former morning show personality); Ellis B. "Bruce Ellis" Feaster, now at

WPOZ WPOZ (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station licensed to Orlando, and serving Central Florida. It is owned by the Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc., and it broadcasts a Contemporary Christian radio fo ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

; Dave Fleetwood, recently at WGBG-FM in

Seaford, Delaware Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbu ...

; and Dave Walls, now an anchor/reporter for

WSET-TV WSET-TV (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and has studios on Langhorne Ro ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mounta ...

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States

STW STW is an Australian television station owned by the Nine Network that is based in Perth, Western Australia. ''STW'' broadcasts from a shared facility transmitter mast located in Carmel. The station callsign, ''STW'', is an acronym of Swan Tel ...