WMVR-FM (105.5

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, "Hits 105.5") 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 radi ...

licensed to

Sidney, Ohio Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, located approximately 36 mi (58 km) north of Dayton and 100 mi (161 km) south of Toledo. The population was 20,421 at the time of the 2020 census. It is named after English poet Phi ...

, broadcasting a

hot 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, quiet ...

music format. Its studios, offices, and transmitter are located on Russell Road, just outside Sidney.

History

On January 8, 1964, 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 ...

granted the Van Wert Broadcasting Company—owner of WMVR (1080 AM), which signed on November 21, 1963—a construction permit for an FM station on 105.5 MHz. The station signed on in 1965; it simulcast and continued the programming of the AM station, a daytime-only outlet. In 1966, WMVR-AM-FM was purchased by the Dean Miller Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Dean Miller, an actor and Ohio native. Before coming to Sidney, Miller had been a television personality and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

in Hollywood. He was best known for the role of Matt Henshaw on the

Desilu Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as '' I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchab ...

-produced

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

December Bride ''December Bride'' is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959. It was adapted from the original CBS radio network series of the same name that aired from June 1952 through September 1953. Overview ''De ...

'' from 1954 to 1959, co-starring with

Spring Byington Spring Dell Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of '' December Bride''. She was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who appeared in ...

Frances Rafferty Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

Verna Felton Verna Arline Felton (July 20, 1890December 14, 1966) was an American actress, best known for providing many voices in numerous Disney animated films. She also provided the voice for Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law, Pearl Slaghoople in Hanna-Bar ...

, and

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...

. He later co-hosted the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

daytime celebrity interview series ''

Here's Hollywood ''Here's Hollywood'' is an American celebrity interview program which aired on weekday afternoons on NBC at 4:30 Eastern time from September 26, 1960, to December 28, 1962. Overview In the first season, the interviews were conducted by Dean Mill ...

'', with

Helen O'Connell Helen O'Connell (May 23, 1920 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer, actress, and hostess, described as "the quintessential big band singer of the 1940s". Early life Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio. By the time ...

, in addition to appearances on the

game show

Your First Impression ''Your First Impression'' is an NBC daytime game show which aired from January 2, 1962, to June 26, 1964. A panel of three celebrities tried to guess the identity of mystery guests from clues supplied by the host. Bill Leyden was the MC of the pr ...

and as an occasional fill-in host for '' Art Linkletter's House Party'' on CBS. A Hamilton, Ohio, native, Miller (born Dean C. Stuhmueller, Sr.,) began his career essentially as a radio broadcaster before a by-chance meeting with some Hollywood executives who agreed to give the young Miller a chance to act. Miller graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in Columbus. Miller also hosted a talk and variety show on WLW-C television (now WCMH-TV) in the early 1960s. Miller moved the WMVR stations from their original home in the Taylor Building downtown to their present location in the summer of 1969. At that time, the stations began offering separate programming, with a full service/ middle of the road format on AM and

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

on FM. In the 1980s, the station switched to

as ''Hits 105.5''. The AM station, which had simulcast the FM for most of the period aside from attempts at

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

and news/talk formats, was closed in November 2000 after one of the towers was blown down in a storm. Dean Miller died January 13, 2004, at his home in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. His widow, Ida, owned WMVR-FM until her death on May 6, 2014. The station remained owned by his family. On August 3, 2015, WMVR-FM changed formats to adult hits, branded as "105.5 TAM FM", with the letters TAM representing "Totally About Music". In March 2022, the station was sold to Fender Broadcasting, a company owned by the station's assistant general manager Michelle Stallard. After the acquisition was completed on June 24, 2022, the station reverted to its previous hot AC format and branding ''Hits 105.5'' on September 6.

References

External links

* * {{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Ohio MVR-FM Sidney, Ohio Hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States