WIFT

WIFT (102.1 FM, "Bigfoot Country 102.1 & 101.3") is a country music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to DuBois, Pennsylvania, serving the DuBois/Punxsutawney/Clearfield area. WIFT is owned and operated by Kristin Cantrell, through licensee Southern Belle, LLC.

WIFT
CityDuBois, Pennsylvania
Broadcast areaDuBois, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Frequency102.1 MHz
BrandingBigfoot Country 102.1 & 101.3
SloganToday's Hot Country
Programming
FormatCountry
AffiliationsWJAC-TV
for news and weather
Ownership
OwnerKristin Cantrell
(Southern Belle, LLC)
Sister stationsWLUI, WLAK, WMRF-FM, WZWW, WQQP, WKFT
History
First air date1948
Former call signsWCED-FM (1948-1981)
WOWQ (1981-2000)
WMOU-FM (2000-2002)
WOWQ (2002-2017)
Call sign meaningW BIgFooT
Technical information
Facility ID67696
ClassB
ERP28,000 watts
HAAT202 meters
Transmitter coordinates41°2′43.0″N 78°42′11.0″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitelovemybigfoot.com

History

For many years, the then-WOWQ had been the sister station of WCED, also licensed to DuBois. The station made its debut seven years after WCED first signed on. Like many FM stations that were part of an AM portfolio, this station made its debut as WCED-FM, simulcasting its AM sister for portions of the broadcast day, separating for a period during the day as part of a 1965 FCC mandate requiring combination AM/FM licensees to originate separate programming for at least half of the broadcast day.

In 1981, the separate-programming rule was repealed by the FCC, but WCED-FM went the opposing direction and adopted the call letters WOWQ and the moniker Q102, becoming a fully independent station with its own programming. It began this identity initially with a Top 40 format, mostly automated. By 1988, the station had switched its format from Top 40 to Country, and began putting live local DJs on during the daytime hours, with a satellite-delivered country music format programmed offsite from another location during the evening hours. Though the format had changed, the Q102 moniker was retained. It was at this time that the station had begun pretty much what it is today.

WOWQ and WCED were also two of the very first stations in the U.S. to use hard-disk audio storage technology in the early 1990s, developed by Computer Concepts Corporation.

Sale to Vox Media

Tri-County Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Oil City, PA-based Derrick Publishing (which publishes the Oil City Derrick and the Clarion News daily newspapers), had owned WCED and WOWQ since its inception in 1948. Company president E. Michael Boyle decided to sell both stations to Vox Media in 1999.

Upon acquisition, Vox Media changed WOWQ's call letters to WMOU-FM in December 2000 and adopted the moniker "Moo 102", though it maintained the popular country music format. The move was made to presumably create the same top-of-mind-recall generated by its competitors in Altoona, whose stations were branded as "Froggy". Vox Media then decided to put both WOWQ and WCED up for sale, with WOWQ being sold in October 2001 to First Media Radio, LLC, for $4.2 million. WCED would be spun off to another owner five years later.

Q102 returns

Shortly after the acquisition by First Media, the station reverted to the Q102 moniker and moved out of its longtime home at 80 North Park Place on the outskirts of DuBois. The station then moved to a new building shared with the DuBois news office of Johnstown NBC affiliate WJAC-TV, where it remains today. Effective January 3, 2017, First Media sold WIFT, WCPA, WQYX, WZDB, and WZDD to Southern Belle, LLC for $4.5 million.

Bigfoot Country

On May 30, 2017, WOWQ rebranded as "Bigfoot Country 102.1 & 101.3" (simulcast on WKFT 101.3 FM Strattanvile) under new WIFT calls.[1]

Weekday programming
  • 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.- Blair Garner Overnight
  • 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.- Bigfoot Country
  • 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.- The Bigfoot Family Show with Scott and Julie Squatch
  • 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.- Jay Paul Yeti
  • 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.- Harry Mann
  • 7p.m. to 12 a.m.- The Lia Show

Saturday Programming
  • 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.- Blair Garner Overnight
  • 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.- Bigfoot Country
  • 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.- Thunder Road
  • 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.- Retro Country USA
  • 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.- Bigfoot Country
  • 7 a.m. to 12 a.m.- Red Cup Country

Sunday Programming
  • 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.- Blair Garner Overnight
  • 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.- Crook and Chase Top Country Countdown
  • 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.- Bigfoot Polka Party
  • 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.- Bigfoot Country
  • 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.- Honky Tonkin' with Tracy Lawrence
  • 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.- Bigfoot Country

On-air

Weekdays

  • Tom Howard
  • Scott Ryan
  • Courtney Paige
  • Scott Keen
  • Lia Knight

Weekends

  • Brian Folmar
  • Krista
  • Moose Rosana

gollark: Exactly.
gollark: Which did work.
gollark: I suppose it might not have helped that I was continuously convincing people it was me.
gollark: I know! It was so obvious.
gollark: Wow, I was right.

References
  1. Seven Mountains Media Shuffles Northern PA Formats Radioinsight - May 31, 2017
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