WRUM broadcasts using the HD radio hybrid format.[7] The HD2 subchannel carries a bilingual CHR format, known as "Mega 97.1". The subchannel feeds two FM translators at 97.1 MHz. The HD3 subchannel carries a bilingual classic hits format, known as “Retro 97.9”.
History
The station signed on the air on June 26, 1950. The call sign was WORZ-FM, originally simulcasting WORZ 740 AM (now WYGM).[8] The call sign changed in 1957 to WKIS-AM-FM. The two stations were owned by Central Florida Broadcasting and were network affiliates of NBC. They carried NBC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows, and big-band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio".
In 1971, the simulcast ended as WKIS and WKIS-FM were sold to separate companies, with the FM station acquired by the Shamrock Development Company.[9] The new management installed a progressive rock format, switching the call letters to WDIZ. Over time, the station's playlist focused on the top-selling albums and rock artists, as the station shifted to album-oriented rock.
In 1996, the station began stunting with sounds of a department store that included occasional talking, typewriter noises, and telephones ringing.[10] When the stunting had ended, it switched to all oldies as WSHE.[11]San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) acquired the station in 1997. On February 28, 2004, after stunting with the last two minutes of "Hey Jude" by The Beatles on a loop for an entire weekend, the station's call letters were then switched to WEBG.[12]
On April 19, 2017, WRUM's HD2 subchannel launched a bilingual CHR format, branded as Boom 97 Uno. It was simulcast on FM translators at 97.1 FM: W246BT in Clermont (about 20 miles west of Orlando), and W246CK in Kissimmee (a few miles south of Orlando).[13] However, due to a trademark claim by Radio One (which uses the "Boom" brand for its classic hip hop stations), the HD2 subchannel and FM translators were rebranded as Oi2 97 Uno (pronounced "Oidos") on May 4, 2017. On February 8, 2018, WRUM-HD2 became Mega 97.1.[14]
WRUM-HD3
From September 2018 until July 2024, WRUM’s HD3 subchannel simulcasted WRSO810 AM, which currently broadcasts a sports radio format, until the simulcast moved to sister station WXXL, where the stations’ respective HD3 subchannels swapped formats, with the bilingual classic hits “Retro” national feed that aired on WXXL’s HD3 subchannel being moved to WRUM’s HD3 subchannel and ended up being simulcast on the FM translator as “Retro 97.9”.[15]
