WREF (FM)

Last updated
WREF
Broadcast area Evansville, Indiana
Frequency 97.7 MHz
BrandingESPN 97.7 The Ref
Programming
Format Sports
Affiliations ESPN Radio
Ownership
Owner
  • Henson Media, Inc.
  • (Henson Media of Henderson County, LLC)
WSON, WMSK-FM, WUCO
History
First air date
April 9, 1976;48 years ago (1976-04-09) [1]
Former call signs
WHRZ (1976–2004)
WWKY (2004–2017) [2]
Technical information [3]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 67479
Class A
ERP 6,000 watts
HAAT 96 meters
Transmitter coordinates
 37°42′41″N87°31′43″W / 37.71139°N 87.52861°W / 37.71139; -87.52861
Links
Public license information

WREF (97.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Sebree, Kentucky, United States, serving Hopkins and Webster counties, as well as the greater Evansville, Indiana, area. The station is owned by Henson Media, Inc.

Contents

History

The station's construction permit for a new radio station, originally licensed to Providence, Kentucky, was issued on May 22, 1975. [4] The started its first broadcast as WHRZ in April 1976, with former WOMI general manager Doug Gabby as manager of this station. Under original ownership by Tradewater Broadcasting Company, the station aired an adult contemporary format in its early years as the only radio station within Webster County boundaries. [5] : 100  The station became a country music- formatted station in 1983. [5] : 100 

In 1991, the station's transmission was relocated near Dixon, Kentucky, with the opening of a second studio/office facility in Madisonville. [5] : 100 

The station changed its callsign to WWKY (unrelated to the current WWKY-FM (104.9 MHz) in Providence) on July 14, 2004. [2]

Rebirth as an ESPN Radio affiliate

On March 27, 2017, WWKY went silent. On April 13, 2017, WWKY, under current ownership by Henson Media, changed callsigns to WREF, and relocated its broadcast license location to Sebree, Kentucky, with studios in Henderson. The station resumed broadcasting June 1, 2017 with an ESPN Radio affiliation, branded as ESPN 97.7, The Ref. [6]

Programming

Past Programming

Rick Stevens was heard on weekdays from 9 until noon.

Howdy-FM covered local news of Madisonville and Hopkins County with Boyce Tate.

WWKY was the sports voice of Webster County High School, the University of Kentucky and the Tennessee Titans.

Current Programming

WREF now broadcasts ESPN Radio and a local sports talk show called "All About Sports" on weekdays. WREF also broadcasts local high school sporting events along with local collegiate sports.

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References

  1. ↑ Broadcasting Cablecasting Yearbook (1985 ed.). Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1985. p. B-112.
  2. 1 2 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  3. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WREF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ↑ FCC History Cards for WREF (as WHRZ, 1976-1980)
  5. 1 2 3 Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State (PDF). HOST Communications. ISBN   9781879688933 – via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ "ESPN Radio to Return to Evansville Market". RadioInsight. May 16, 2017.


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