WIFE-FM

This article is about the station in Rushville, Indiana. For the Indianapolis station that formerly used the call sign WIFE-FM from 1963 to 1976, see WIFE-FM (Indianapolis). For other stations, see wife (disambiguation).
WIFE-FM
Frequency94.3 FM (MHz)
BrandingHometown Country
Programming
FormatCountry music
Ownership
OwnerRodgers Broadcasting Corporation
WLPK
History
First air date
August 5, 1971 (1971-08-05)
Former call signs
  • WRCR (1971–2000)
  • WKWH-FM (2000–2007)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID54151
ClassA
ERP1,050 watts
HAAT171 meters (561 ft)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wifefm.com

WIFE 94.3 FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Rushville, Indiana, the station is owned by Rodgers Broadcasting Corporation.[2]

History

WIFE first signed on the air on August 5, 1971, as WRCR, owned by the Rush County Broadcasting Company.[3][4] The station's facilities were built on North Perkins Street, east of the Rushville courthouse square.[3][4] A Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate, WRCR's format included an "up-tempo" mix of popular, rock, and country music in addition to local community news and Rushville Consolidated High School sports.[3][5] Upon its founding, WRCR's broadcasting hours were between 5:40 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. seven days a week, but WRCR could sign off later in case of a live sporting event running long.[3]

Before his political career as U.S. Representative for Rushville, Governor of Indiana, and Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence began his radio career on WRCR. His first show on WRCR, a weekly half-hour program called Washington Update with Mike Pence, debuted in 1988 after an unsuccessful debut run for Congress.[6] Pence began hosting a daily three-hour call-in talk show on WRCR in 1992, The Mike Pence Show. WRCR continued to broadcast The Mike Pence Show after it began statewide syndication in 1994.[7][8] The Mike Pence Show ended in September 1999 as Pence prepared for his successful run for Congress in 2000.[9]

From 2000 to 2007, its call sign was WKWH-FM.[10] WKWH-FM was branded "Power Country" from 2001 to 2006, and it shared call signs with a co-owned oldies station on 1520 AM, WKWH (now WSVX) licensed to nearby Shelbyville.[11] Its branding was "94.3 Buddy FM" heading into 2007. Late in 2006, WKWH began de-emphasizing talk shows and community-oriented programming to play more country music.[5]

On July 23, 2007, Whitewater Broadcasting took over operations of WKWH from RushShelby Energy, changed the call letters to the current WIFE-FM, and launched the current "Hometown Country 94.3" branding.[10][5][12]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WIFE-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ WIFE-FM fcc.gov Accessed August 23, 2012
  3. ^ a b c d "Local radio station goes on air tomorrow". Rushville Republican. August 4, 1971. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved April 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "The Indiana Radio Archive | Stations | WIFE-FM".
  5. ^ a b c Denzler, Frank (July 23, 2007). "Local radio station sold". Rushville Republican. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Hall, Steve (September 11, 1995). "The kind conservative". The Indianapolis Star. p. C2.
  7. ^ "Mike Pence Congressional Papers". Indiana University Bloomington. 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  8. ^ "Hear Mike Here!". WIBC. Archived from the original on June 11, 2000.
  9. ^ Trares, Ryan (January 17, 2017). "Pence used radio show to build name". The Republic. Columbus, Indiana. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Call Sign History".
  11. ^ "WKWH-Power Radio". Archived from the original on 2001-11-29. Retrieved 2001-11-29.
  12. ^ "Indiana RadioWatch". IndianaRadio.net. October 20, 2007. Archived from the original on April 14, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2018.

39°42′22″N 85°29′41″W / 39.70611°N 85.49472°W / 39.70611; -85.49472