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Broadcast area | Palm Beach County / Broward County |
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Frequency | 97.9 MHz (HD Radio) |
RDS | 979WRMF |
Branding | 97.9 WRMF |
Programming | |
Format | Hot adult contemporary |
Subchannels |
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Ownership | |
Owner |
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WEAT, WFTL, WIRK, WMBX, WMEN | |
History | |
First air date | March 17, 1957 (as WQXT-FM) |
Former call signs | WQXT-FM (1957–1964) WWOS (1964–1971) WMUM (1971–1973) WJNO-FM (1973–1980)[1] |
Call sign meaning | Richard M. Fairbanks (previous owner) |
Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 20436 |
Class | C |
ERP | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 411 meters (1355 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 26° 34' 31" N, 80° 14' 31" W |
Translator(s) | 96.3 W242CI (Jupiter, relays HD4) |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen Live Listen Live (HD4) |
Website | wrmf.com party963.com (HD4) |
WRMF (97.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Palm Beach, Florida. It serves the northern sections of the Miami metropolitan area, including West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. The station airs a hot adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The studios and offices are on Northpoint Parkway in West Palm Beach. For the past three decades, WRMF has been at or close to #1 in the West Palm Beach radio market ratings.
WRMF has an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts. The transmitter is in Lake Worth, west of U.S. Route 441.[3] WRMF is licensed to broadcast in the HD Radio digital format.[4][5] The HD2 subchannel simulcasts the talk radio format on sister station WFTL. The HD3 subchannel carries Haitian Creole talk and contemporary hits from co-owned WPBR. The HD4 subchannel carries a top 40 (CHR) format.
History
[edit]WQXT-FM, WWOS
[edit]On March 17, 1957, the station signed on as WQXT-FM, the FM counterpart to WQXT (now WPBR), under the ownership of the Flame Radio & TV Corporation..[6] They simulcast a full service middle of the road format of adult popular music and news, with national shows from the ABC Radio Network. The studios were located on Lake Worth Beach.
In 1963, WQXT-AM-FM were sold to Fairfax Broadcasting.[7] The following year, the FM station's call sign was changed to WWOS, standing for "Wonderful World of Stereo," when the station began broadcasting in FM stereo full time. In 1971, the simulcast with WQXT ended, as WWOS switched to Progressive Rock using the call letters WMUM for "The Mother."
WJNO-FM, WRMF
[edit]The station was sold in 1971 to Robert M. Weeks, who also owned WJNO (now WBZT).[8] The FM station became WJNO-FM, "J-98", switching to an album rock format.
WJNO-AM-FM were acquired by Richard M. Fairbanks in July 1979.[9] The FM station's call letters were changed to WRMF in January 1980, representing the owner's initials. Nearly a year later in December 1980, WRMF dropped its album rock format and switched to an adult contemporary format.[10] When the 1990s rolled along, its format would later begin picking up the tempo and its format moved into a hot adult contemporary format by the middle of the decade.
Alpha and Hubbard ownership
[edit]In the 2010s, WRMF was acquired by Alpha Media, based in Portland, Oregon. On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media agreed to sell its cluster in West Palm Beach to Hubbard Radio.[11] The sale, at a price of $88 million, was consummated on January 23, 2019.
References
[edit]- ^ FCC Call Sign History page. Accessed 2006-09-02.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WRMF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WRMF
- ^ "Station Search Details".
- ^ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=47 HD Radio Guide for West Palm Beach & Boca Raton
- ^ Information from the Broadcasting Yearbook 1959 page B-132
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1967 page B-37
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 page C-49
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1982 page C-55
- ^ WRMF becomes adult contemporary nearly a year after owner's initials representing WRMF call-letters
- ^ Hubbard To Acquire Alpha Media West Palm Beach
External links
[edit]- WRMF official website
- Facility details for Facility ID 20436 (WRMF) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- WRMF in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- Facility details for Facility ID 138531 (W242CI) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- W242CI at FCCdata.org