WYRG

WYRG
City Lawrence, Indiana
Broadcast area Indianapolis metropolitan area
Branding Energy 93.9
Slogan Indy's New Hit Music Station
Frequency 93.9 MHz
First air date February 12, 1993 (as WXTZ)
Format Top 40 (CHR)
ERP 8,400 watts
HAAT 140 meters (460 ft)
Class B1
Facility ID 71438
Transmitter coordinates 39°49′39″N 85°58′51″W / 39.82750°N 85.98083°W / 39.82750; -85.98083
Callsign meaning W Y EneRGy
Former callsigns WXTZ (1992–1996)
WGLD (1996–1997)
WGRL (1997–2004)
WISG (2004–2006)
WWFT (2006–2008)
WRWM (2008-2017) [1]
Owner Cumulus Media
(Radio License Holding SRC LLC)
Sister stations WFMS, WJJK
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live via iHeart
Website www.energyindy.com

WYRG (93.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Lawrence, Indiana, that broadcasts in the Indianapolis area. Its studios and transmitter are located separately on the east side of Indianapolis.

WYRG is licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD (hybrid) format.[2]

History

The station signed on air on February 12, 1993 as WXTZ, "Ecstasy 93.9", and was licensed to Fishers. WXTZ ran an easy listening format similar to the original WXTZ (formerly at 103.3) several years prior. The format lasted until January 15, 1996, when it was dropped in favor of ABC Radio's now-defunct "Solid Gold Soul" satellite format (urban oldies) as "Gold 93.9", WGLD.[3] The calls were changed to WGLD in February 1996 to reflect this change.[1] Solid Gold Soul was short-lived, however, and by the fall of 1996, the format was dropped, and WGLD changed to another satellite format, Jones Radio Network's smooth jazz format.

The license to 93.9 was sold to Susquehanna Broadcasting in 1997. It was decided that Susquehanna's modern country "flanker," WGRL "104.5 The Bear," would be moved to 93.9 while a new format, under 93.9's WGLD calls, would be placed on 104.5. To smooth over the transition, the two stations simulcast "The Bear" for the first few weeks of June 1997. Once the move was complete, the WGLD calls moved to 104.5 and became oldies "Gold 104.5."[1] The frequency switch did not help WGRL's ratings, as it experienced a substantial ratings drop once "The Bear" moved to 93.9. As a result, the station became more music-intensive and personalities were let go. By 2001, WGRL simulcast WFMS in morning drive while Donnie Claw, the lone survivor from the 104.5 days, hosted the afternoon drive shift. The end of The Bear came in November 2001, when the format was dropped for Christmas music as "93.9 The Christmas Channel."

On December 25, 2001, 93.9 flipped to an 80s hits format as "Retro 93.9."[4] The format lasted until July 9, 2004, when – following a 5-day stunt of TV themes as "TV 93.9" – the station flipped to Contemporary Christian as "93.9 The Song."[5] The call was also changed at this time to WISG.[1] "The Song" lasted for a couple of years and saw modest success.

A month after the format change, in August 2004, WISG changed its city of license from Fishers to Lawrence, relocated its transmitter from Noblesville to east Indianapolis, and upgraded its power from 2.95 kW to 6.9 kW (and later upgraded to 8.4 kW in 2011), in order to provide better and wider coverage of the market.

On December 26, 2006, "The Song" was moved to 93.9's HD2 channel while a new talk format, known as "FM Talk 93.9," moved to the main channel.[6] The station's call letters were changed to WWFT.[1]

WWFT aired syndicated talk programming, featuring Mancow, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, and others until November 16, 2007, when programming was replaced with the return of "93.9 The Christmas Channel." At Noon on Christmas Day, WWFT dropped Christmas music and stunted again, repeating the tracks "Lonesome Road" by Dean Elliot & His Big Band and "Swans Splashdown" by Jean-Jacques Perrey.

Logo as "Warm 93.9" (2008-2009)

A new format, adult contemporary "Warm 93.9," debuted at 9:39 a.m. on January 2, 2008, with a commitment to play 93 hours of commercial-free music during its first week. The first song played on "Warm 93.9" was The Police's "Every Breath You Take".[7] On March 3, 2008, WWFT changed call letters to WRWM.[1] The program director and morning drive host was Fritz Moser. During the Warm era, "The Song" returned to the main station for six hours on Sunday mornings.

At 12:01 a.m. on July 2, 2009, the station abandoned its 18-month-old adult contemporary format; the station had finished 21st in the most recent Arbitron ratings and never mounted a serious challenge to main rival WYXB. The last song on "Warm" was The Beach Boys' "Kokomo". The station began stunting again, this time with construction sounds.[8] At 9:40 a.m. on July 3, 2009, the station flipped to Top 40/CHR as "Indy's Hit Music Station, i94" and launched with 94 songs commercial-free. The format change marks the frequency's sixth new format since 2001. i94's first song was The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow".[9][10]

In July 2011, the station adjusted its daytime format to hot adult contemporary, while remaining CHR at night. This did not attract listeners, and in fact drove them away, losing the battle against WNOW-FM and WZPL, along with WNTR when they flipped to the format in May 2013.

Logo for "93.9 The Beat" (2015-2017)

On December 19, 2014, at 3 p.m., after promoting a "major announcement about i94", WRWM began airing a “Classic Hip-Hop Holiday Weekend”, forcing rival WHHH to do the same. Unlike WHHH, however, WRWM announced the following Monday that it would switch to the format full-time, keeping the "i94" name but running jockless.[11] On January 26, 2015, at 9:39 a.m., the station re-branded as "93.9 The Beat", with no change in format.[12] The flip increased ratings dramatically, going from 15th to first place in the ratings in central Indiana with a 7.7 share; however, this ratings surge was short-lived, as the station eventually fell back towards a 2.7 share by October 2017.[13][14]

On November 17, 2017, at 5:30 p.m., after playing "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" by Boyz II Men, and a 10-minute farewell montage and brief teasers for random new formats, WRWM began stunting with Christmas music once more, this time as 93.9 North Pole Radio.[15] The station also began to post teasers on its Facebook page themed around the letter "E", and promoted that "E-Day" would occur at 9:39 a.m. on December 26th. At that time, the station changed its call letters to WYRG, and returned to CHR as "Energy 93.9", launching with "...Ready for It?" by Taylor Swift. [14][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. ↑ Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov.
  3. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1996/R&R-1996-01-19.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2002/RR-2002-01-04.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2004/RR-2004-07-16.pdf
  6. ↑ "Few hearing talk on FM: Station's ratings plunge after format change".
  7. ↑ "93.9 WWFT Indianapolis Becomes "Warm 93.9" - Format Change Archive". 2 January 2008.
  8. ↑ "Warm 93.9 Begins Stunting - Format Change Archive". 2 July 2009.
  9. ↑ "93.9 WRWM Becomes I94 - Format Change Archive". 3 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "Warm 93.9 Indianapolis to Flip - RadioInsight". 1 July 2009.
  11. ↑ "I94 Indianapolis Makes Classic Hip-Hop Move Permanent". 22 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "WRWM Rebrands As 93.9 The Beat". RadioInsight. 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  13. ↑ French, Alex (July 17, 2015). "How Hip-Hop Is Becoming the Oldies". The New York Times.
  14. 1 2 "Energy 93.9 Brings Third CHR Back To Indianapolis". RadioInsight. 2017-12-26. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
  15. ↑ https://formatchange.com/93-9-beat-begins-stunting/
  16. ↑ Launch of Energy 93.9
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