WFOR (AM)

WFOR (1400 AM, "TheScore1400") is a radio station licensed to serve Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. The station is owned by Eagle Broadcasting, LLC.

WFOR
CityHattiesburg, Mississippi
Frequency1400 kHz
BrandingTheScore1400
Programming
FormatSports
AffiliationsFox Sports Radio
Ownership
OwnerEagle Broadcasting, LLC
(Eagle Broadcasting, LLC)
History
First air date1928
Former call signsWRBJ (1928-1931)
WPFB (1931-1936)
Call sign meaningFORrest County[1]
Technical information
Facility ID54612
ClassC
Power1,000 watts (unlimited)
Transmitter coordinates31°20′03″N 89°19′08″W
Translator(s)W224DP (92.7 MHz, Hattiesburg)

Programming

WFOR broadcasts a sports talk format as an affiliate of the FOX Sports Radio Network.[2] Syndicated sports talk programming on WFOR includes The Dan Patrick Show.[3] Local programming includes "The Pine Belt Sports Drive" and "To The Top Talk" with Jamie Arrington.

History

WFOR's initial Construction Permit, with the sequentially assigned call letters WRBJ, was issued in March 1928 to the Woodruff Furniture Co. at 119 West Pine Street in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[4] In late 1931 the call letters were changed to WPFB,[5] and in 1936 they became WFOR.[6]

In October 1945 B. B McLemore joined WFOR as its chief engineer.[7] The station's first high-powered 250 watt transmitter, hand built by McLemore, was at the time the most powerful in southern Mississippi. The original studio was in an old two story building on Hemphill Street. In the early 1950, a new tower and an office location on West 7th Street were constructed. While constructing the current tower the top section came ajar, and a 30 foot (10 meter) section fell to the ground, leaving a worker dangling by rope on the tower in shock. Weeks passed but finally the new section was installed and proper guide tension wires attached. When the original transmitter was retired it was returned to McLemore, who maintained it as a keepsake for over 50 years.

In September 1998, Radio Hattiesburg, Inc., reached an agreement to sell WFOR to Cumulus Media as part of a multi-station deal valued at a combined $4.5 million.[8][9] The deal was approved by the FCC on December 18, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on April 2, 1999.[10]

In October 2000, Cumulus Media, LLC, announced an agreement to sell WFOR to Clear Channel Communications as part of a large station swap and sale, including seven Cumulus stations in the Laurel-Hattiesburg radio market.[11] The deal was approved by the FCC on December 19, 2000, and the transaction was consummated on January 18, 2001.[12]

A fire was noticed at the station's transmitter site at around 7:45 p.m. local time on December 15, 2015. WFOR's owner iHeartMedia's senior vice president of programming Jackson Walker noted that there was no timetable for returning the station to the air and that the fire marshal said the building was a total loss.[13]

On July 20, 2016, iHeartMedia announced that WFOR would be sold to Eagle Broadcasting, LLC for $120,000,[14] and the transaction was consummated on October 5, 2016. The next day "TheScore1400 WFOR-AM" was relaunched at 11:45 local time by the new owners.

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References
  1. Nelson, Bob (March 2, 2020). "Radio/TV Station Call Letter Origins". Broadcast Archive.
  2. "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  3. "Where To Tune In To The Dan Patrick Show". DanPatrick.com. Retrieved June 19, 2009. Hattiesburg, WFOR-AM 1400, 8:00a-11:00a
  4. "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, March 31, 1928, page 4.
  5. "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1931, page 9.
  6. "Changes to list", Radio Service Bulletin, August 15, 1936, page 2.
  7. "Meet The WFOR Staff", Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American, June 24, 1949, page 6.
  8. "Changing Hands - 1998-09-14". Broadcasting & Cable. September 14, 1998. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012.
  9. "Cumulus Media Inc acquires WHER-FM, WFOR-AM, Hattiesburg,MS from Radio Hattiesburg". Thomson Financial Mergers & Acquisitions. September 3, 1998.
  10. "Application Search Details (BAL-19981028EA)". FCC Media Bureau. April 2, 1999.
  11. "Cumulus Media Inc. Announces Several Transactions". Business Wire. October 3, 2000. Laurel-Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Market Rank #208 of 276) -- WEEZ-AM, WJKX-FM, WHER-FM, WUSW-FM, WMFM-FM, WFOR-AM, WNSL-FM.
  12. "Application Search Details (BAL-20000817ADK)". FCC Media Bureau. January 18, 2001.
  13. Article on WFOR's transmitter fire from WDAM-TV: December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  14. "iHeartMedia Sells Mississippi AM", July 20, 2016 (allaccess.com)
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