WHOF (101.7 FM) is a commercial

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

North Canton, Ohio North Canton is a city in central Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 17,842 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area. History In 1831, the Community of North Canton first began as the Villa ...

, carrying a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 198 ...

format known as "Sunny 101.7". Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., the station serves both the

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

and

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

metro areas and is the local affiliate for syndicated personalities Ron Wilson and

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

. WHOF's studios are located in North Canton, while the station transmitter resides in

. In addition to standard

analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...

, WHOF broadcasts over two

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

channels, and is available online via

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHe ...

. WHOF's HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...

features a

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 under the brand "99.7 Canton's New Country", and is relayed over

-licensed low-power

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

W259BW (99.7 FM).

History

WHOF began as WJER-FM, under license to

Dover, Ohio Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 13,112 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately south of Cleveland, west of Pittsburgh, and northeast of the state capital of Col ...

, on July 25, 1968, the FM sister to WJER (1450 AM). On April 14, 2006, the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

approved a request from the station's owners,

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

(then known as Clear Channel Communications) to move the WJER-FM

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 ...

. On December 27, 2006, the station adopted a new callsign, WHOF, and signed off. On January 16, 2007, WHOF signed back on as My 101.7 with an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format;

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

's " My Life" was the first song to air. On September 4, 2015, WHOF dismissed all on-air staff and began stunting with 80s music, teasing a change to come the following Tuesday at 8 am. At that time, rumors abounded that WHOF would adopt the country format of its HD2 channel. The "Something Different" turned out to be a 1980s-oriented variety hits format, as WHOF removed all current/recurrent music. The first song under the variety hits format was "My Town" by the Michael Stanley Band. On November 19, 2018, My 101.7 flipped to its seasonal

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ...

format and on their website, it said to tune in on December 26, at 9 a.m. to hear a new format. This is pretty odd since the Variety Hits format that ''My 101.7'' was ranked number 3 in the market with a 5.0 share. On December 26, 2018 at 9 am, WHOF launched an adult contemporary format, branded as "Sunny 101.7". In February 2021, the station switched to a

format, focusing on music from the 1960s-1980s, still keeping the "Sunny" branding.Sunny 101.7 in Canton shifts to Classic hits - Radio Insight.com
/ref>

WHOF-HD2

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, ...

accounts for all regular programming on the HD2

. Branded ''99.7 Canton's New Country'', WHOF-HD2 also

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 ...

s over Canton translator W255BW (99.7 FM), owned and operated by

. The transmitter for W259BW is located in

on a tower also utilized by WHOF and full-power sister station WRQK. WHOF-HD2/W259BW serves as the regional affiliate for ''

The Bobby Bones Show ''The Bobby Bones Show'' is an American nationally syndicated country music radio show aired during the morning drive. The Bobby Bones Show originated in Austin, Texas, but now originates from studios at WSIX-FM in Nashville. The show is syndic ...

''; all other regular content, including station imaging,

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

audio, music and on-air talent, either comes from the iHeartMedia mainstream urban national format via the Premium Choice "iHeartRadio Country" network, or is voice-tracked out-of-market specifically for the subchannel/translator.

Previous logos

References

External links

*
https://cantonsnewcountry.iheart.com/
(WHOF-HD2) * * {{iHeartMedia Radio stations established in 1968 HOF 1968 establishments in Ohio IHeartMedia radio stations Classic hits radio stations in the United States