WOWW

WOWW is a broadcast radio station licensed to Germantown, Tennessee and serving Memphis, Tennessee. WOWW is owned and operated by Flinn Broadcasting Corporation.[2] Studios are in Southaven, Mississippi and a transmitter tower is in Bartlett, Tennessee.

WOWW
CityGermantown, Tennessee
Broadcast areaMemphis, Tennessee
Branding97.7 and 100.1 Guess FM
SloganMemphis' Greatest Hits
Frequency1430 kHz
Translator(s)97.7 W249BN (Memphis)
First air dateOctober 29, 1955 (as WHER)[1]
FormatClassic hits
Power2,500 watts
ClassB
Facility ID21728
Transmitter coordinates35°12′50″N 89°47′46″W
Call sign meaningderived from "wow"
Former call signsWHER (1955–73)
WWEE (1973–1988)
WWBA (1988-1989)
WEZI (1989-1989)
WNWZ (1989-1997)
OwnerFlinn Broadcasting Corporation
Sister stationsWHBQ (AM), WGSF (AM), WMSO, WMPS, WHBQ-FM, KXHT
WebcastListen Live
Websiteguessfm.com

History

WHER
RCA 77 microphone with WHER mic flag.

1430 came to life October 29, 1955, as WHER, a pioneering station with an all-female air staff (including broadcasting pioneer Vida Jane Butler).[1][3] The radio station was the brainchild of Sam Phillips, who used a portion of the $35,000 he made from the sale of Elvis Presley's recording contract to RCA Records to finance the station.[1][4] A portion of the balance of the funding came from Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, who also provided the station's first home, in a part of the third Holiday Inn ever built.[1][4] It aired light music and had the slogan "1,000 Beautiful Watts".[1] The licensee was Tri-State Broadcasting Service, initially owned by Phillips, Clarence A. Camp, and James E. Connolly.[5]

WWEE

In the early 1970s, WHER went to a mixed-gender air staff and became talk station WWEE. The station gave birth to the longest running sports talk show "SportsLine" (now called "SportsTime"). "SportsLine" went on the air in 1972. Notable former staff members include Marge Thrasher, Bill Thomas, George Lapides, Dick Palmer, Jim Fields, and Jeff Weinberger.

In 1981, the Phillips family bought out the other owners of Tri-State Broadcasting Service, becoming known as the Big River Broadcasting Corporation. Big River liquidated in 1986, selling WWEE to the Ardman Broadcasting Corporation of Tennessee. In 1989, after seven months spent simulcasting co-owned WEZI (now WLFP with the same call letters, Ardman relaunched the station as WNWZ. Flinn bought the station in 1993, changing the call letters to WOWW in 1997.

Format flips

On April 10, 2013, WOWW changed their format to country, simulcasting WEBL 95.3 FM.[6]

On June 21, 2013, WUMY dropped its classic country format for variety hits as "97.7 Guess FM".[7]

On January 2, 2014, WOWW began stunting, directing listeners to WUMY 830 AM Memphis, Tennessee, which took over the "Guess FM" variety hits format.[8]

A few days later, WOWW changed their format to country, branded as "The Rebel", simulcasting WEBL 95.3 FM Coldwater, MS.

On August 6, 2018, WOWW changed their format to classic hits, branded as "97.7 Guess FM".[9]

Translator

In addition to the main station, WOWW is relayed by an FM translator to widen its broadcast area. It also provides the listener with high fidelity/stereophonic sound.

Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		Height
(m (ft))		ClassFCC info
W249BN97.7Memphis, Tennessee139990220223.4 m (733 ft)DFCC

References
  • Charles F. Ganzert (2003). "All-Women's Radio: WHER-AM in Memphis". Journal of Radio Studies. Broadcast Education Association. 10. doi:10.1207/s15506843jrs1001_8. ISSN 1095-5046.
  1. "NPR Revisits WHER – The World's First All-Girl Radio Station". NPR. October 25, 1999. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  2. "WOWW Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. "Tenn. Radio Pioneer 'Janie Joplin' Has Died", All Things Considered. NPR. April 5, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  4. Dye, Robert W. (2017). Memphis: Birthplace of Rock and Roll. Arcadia Publishing. p. 71. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. History Cards for WOWW, fcc.gov. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  6. Alternative Returns to Memphis Radioinsight - April 10, 2013
  7. Guess What’s New In Memphis
  8. http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/87265/guess-fm-memphis-relocates/
  9. "Guess Where Guess FM Moved in Memphis", RadioInsight. August 14, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2019.

WHER
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