WMOS

This article is about the Stonington, Connecticut, radio station at 102.3 FM. For the Montauk, New York, radio station that held the call sign WMOS at 104.7 FM from 2001 until 2008, see WELJ. For Wikipedia's Manual of Style, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

WMOS
Broadcast area
Frequency102.3 MHz
Branding102.3 FM The Wolf
Programming
FormatClassic rock
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
OperatorMohegan Sun
WQGN-FM, WXLM
History
First air date
November 1981; 43 years ago (1981-11)[1]
Former call signs
  • WFAN (1981–1984)
  • WORQ (1984–1987)
  • WVVE (1987–2000)
  • WAXK (2000–2002)
  • WUXL (2002–2003)
  • WXLM (2003–2008)
Call sign meaning
Mohegan Sun
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60251
ClassA
ERP3,000 watts
HAAT100 meters (330 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°24′23″N 71°50′13″W / 41.4065°N 71.8370°W / 41.4065; -71.8370
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.1023thewolf.com

WMOS (102.3 FM, "102.3 The Wolf") is a classic rock radio station that targets the Connecticut and Rhode Island coastlines from New London, Connecticut, to Wakefield, Rhode Island (according to Radio-Locator) and it is licensed to Stonington, Connecticut. It broadcasts at 102.3 MHz with 3 kilowatts ERP from a tower located in Westerly, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by Cumulus Media and is "powered by Mohegan Sun", the casino in Uncasville. The Mohegan Sun casino also hosts the station's studios.

On March 17, 2008, WMOS changed its frequency from 104.7 FM to 102.3 FM, swapping frequencies with sister station WXLM.

History

The station was assigned the call letters WFAN on November 3, 1981,[3] playing a full service mix of news, sports and adult contemporary music. Later, the music shifted to a contemporary hit radio format with the slogan "Better Hit Music Fun 102". The format changed to satellite delivered AC and the call letters were changed to WORQ on June 20, 1984.[3] The slogan was "102 WORQ, Working for you". The call letters changed again August 17, 1987, to WVVE, starting as a gold based AC and then moving to a full oldies format known as 102.3 The Wave The station kept the call letters WVVE until December 29, 1999, when Citadel Broadcasting purchased the station and flipped formats to hard rock as ROCK 102.[4] They soon changed calls to WAXK.[5] ROCK 102 flipped to a classic hits format under the moniker XL 102 and the WUXL call letters in February 2002.[6] XL 102 featured the syndicated Bob & Tom morning show.

In February 2003 XL 102 was one of two stations (the other being Clear Channel's WHJY in Providence, Rhode Island) that gave away tickets to a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, which ultimately became the scene of one of the deadliest fires in Rhode Island's history.[7] In March 2003, a few weeks after the fire XL 102 flipped formats to adult contemporary music and changed its calls to WXLM. (The format change was rumored to be just a coincidence.) As AC formatted MIX 102, WXLM competed against long-time ratings leader Soft Rock 106.5, WBMW.[8]

WXLM dropped its adult contemporary format and began simulcasting the news/talk format of sister station WSUB (980 AM) in April 2005. WSUB began promoting the simulcast in mid-March.[9] WXLM officially became News-Talk 102.3 FM in late June 2005, after WSUB went Spanish as Magia 980.[10]

On March 17, 2008, WXLM's news/talk format moved to 104.7 FM; concurrently, the classic rock programming of WMOS moved to 102.3. Both formats remained the same. In 2010, the news/talk format migrated back as WXLM to AM 980; 104.7 now operates as WELJ.

Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[11]

References

  1. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. D-80. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WMOS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ a b "FCC Call Sign History". FCC Call Sign History.
  4. ^ Fybush, Scptt (January 7, 2000). "Citadel Bulks Up in Worcester". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Fybush, Scott. "2000 Year in Review". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  6. ^ Fybush, Scott (February 11, 2002). "More on WMTW's Move". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  7. ^ "At least 96 killed in nightclub inferno". CNN.com. February 21, 2003. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  8. ^ Fybush, Scott. "2003 Year in Review". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  9. ^ Fybush, Scott (March 21, 2005). "Remembering "Uncle Gus" and New York's Ted Brown". NorthEast Radio Watc. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  10. ^ Fybush, Scott (July 4, 2005). "Pop Goes "Cool Pop" in Harrisburg". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  11. ^ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.