W248AW

W248AW is a commercial FM radio station translator in Indianapolis, Indiana, broadcasting at 97.5 FM.[2][4] Owned by the Educational Media Foundation and operated under LMA by iHeartMedia[5], the station simulcasts a business news format on WOLT's HD3 subchannel[2][3], known as "Business News 97.5".[3] Studios are located on Fall Creek Road with transmitter on the northwest side of Indianapolis, near Meridian Hills.

W248AW
CityIndianapolis, Indiana
Broadcast areaIndianapolis, Indiana[1]
BrandingBusiness News 97.5FM
SloganIndy's Business News Leader
Frequency97.5 FM MHz
Translator(s)relay of WOLT-HD3[2]
First air date2004[2]
FormatBusiness news[3]
ERP150 watts[1]
HAAT272 meters (892 ft)[1]
ClassD[1]
Facility ID140551[1]
Transmitter coordinates39°53′39.90″N 86°12′21.00″W[1]
Call sign meaning(serially assigned)
AffiliationsBloomberg Radio
OperatoriHeartMedia
OwnerEducational Media Foundation[4]
Sister stationsWFBQ, WNDE, WOLT, WZRL
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteBusimess News 97.5

Prior to the format change, the station served as a relay for AM station WNDE.

History

The translator signed on in 2004 under the ownership of the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), and was sold to iHeartMedia in 2015.[4] The format, following the sale, was changed to a relay of Fox Sports Radio affiliated WNDE, branded as "Fox Sports Radio 97.5 FM 1260 AM". Around this time, WNDE also picked up the Rush Limbaugh Show after Emmis Communications-owned WIBC dropped the show.[6]

On July 22, 2019, iHeartMedia dropped the simulcast of WNDE, airing a looped message informing listeners to change to 1260 AM for Fox Sports Radio programming. Later, on August 7th, iHeartMedia had announced that W248AW, alongside 12 other translators, would be swapped to the Educational Media Foundation, in exchange for 6 translators that iHeartMedia had been leasing from EMF.[5][7] This would reunite the translator under its original EMF ownership, though does not relay an EMF station, although most of EMF's stations are based on a Christian-oriented format.

On August 15, W248AW launched a Contemporary Hit Radio format under the name "97.5 Kiss FM" at 5:00 pm local time, airing commercial-free as part of the station's launch. The station will continue to be operated by iHeartMedia, despite the EMF sale.[3] The sale to EMF was closed on April 1st.

In May 2020, iHeartMedia quietly dropped the KISS FM format, with 97.5 becoming a Bloomberg Radio affiliate afterwards.

References
  1. "W248AW-FM - 97.5 MHz - Indianapolis, Indiana". Radio-Locator/Theodric Technologies. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  2. "FCC Public Inspection File". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  3. Venta, Lance. "iHeartMedia Launches 97.5 Kiss-FM Indianapolis". radioINSIGHT. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  4. "FCCdata.org - powered by REC". FCCData.org. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  5. Venta, Lance. "iHeartMedia & EMF Swap Thirteen Translators". radioINSIGHT.
  6. "Rush Limbaugh's New Indianapolis Affiliate Is WNDE, Now With An FM Translator Simulcast". All Access Music Group.
  7. Mack, Justin. "You won't hear Indy Fox Sports radio on 97.5 FM anymore". IndyStar.com.
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