WIRK

For the television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, that operated from 1953 to 1956, see WIRK-TV.
WIRK
Broadcast areaThe Palm Beaches
Frequency103.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingNew Country 103.1
Programming
FormatCountry
Subchannels
Ownership
Owner
WEAT, WMBX, WRMF, WFTL, WMEN
History
First air date
1966
Former call signs
WLMC (1966–87)
WOKC-FM (1987–94)
WPBZ (1994–2012)
Call sign meaning
Play on the word "Work"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID1246
ClassC1
ERP90,000 watts
HAAT297 meters (974 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
27°01′32.00″N 80°10′43.00″W / 27.0255556°N 80.1786111°W / 27.0255556; -80.1786111
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitenewcountry1031.com

WIRK (103.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Indiantown, Florida, the station serves the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County area. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, LLC.[2] Its studios are in West Palm Beach and its antenna is located on the west side of Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida.

History

[edit]
For information on WPBF/WIRK-FM at 107.9 MHz from 1965 to 2012, see WEAT.

WLMC/WOKC-FM Okeechobee and move-in to West Palm Beach

[edit]

The 103.1 frequency began in Okeechobee in mid-1966 as WLMC, the FM counterpart to the town's established AM station, WOKC.[3] The station was a Class A outlet, covering largely Okeechobee and the immediate area.[4] On New Year's Day 1987, WLMC became WOKC-FM. The station aired a country format.

In 1992, Okeechobee Broadcasters was approved to move the station to its present tower near Hobe Sound, changing the city of license to Indiantown and making WOKC-FM a move-in into the West Palm Beach market; previously, the WOKC stations did not meet requirements to be reported by Arbitron in the West Palm Beach or Fort Pierce markets. Even before the move was completed, it immediately attracted a buyer: the Amaturo Group of Fort Lauderdale, owners of WKGR (98.7 FM) in Fort Pierce.[5] While initial rumors had the station remaining country as "The Frog" to complement WKGR's "Gator" imaging,[6] Amaturo completed the move-in and relaunched 103.1 as WPBZ, named for (and using) the Z Rock syndicated service from Satellite Music Networks.[7]

In 1995, American Radio Systems (ARS), which already owned WIRK-FM 107.9 and WBZT 1290 in West Palm Beach, acquired the Amaturo Group stations; as FCC rules of the time prohibited a company from owning more than two FM stations, American assigned the rights to buy the station, for $10 million, to Palm Beach Radio Broadcasting, whose principal was National Enquirer publisher Peter Callahan.[8] Callahan's involvement came about because Steve Dodge, the chairman of American Radio Systems, was a director of the parent company of the Enquirer.[9]

The Buzz

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Logo as 103.1 The Buzz.

On July 3, 1995, WPBZ flipped to alternative as "The Buzz".[7][10] It was the fourth station to flip to alternative in south Florida in 1995, but the only one in West Palm Beach.[11] Later in the year, Palm Beach Radio Broadcasting bought two stations in Martin County, again using financing from American Radio Systems.[12]

The Buzz was an immediate success with younger audiences: a year after launching, it was the second radio station in the market among the 18-34 audience, only losing to WRMF.[13] ARS dissolved its joint sales agreement to operate WPBZ on October 31, 1996, citing a "changing regulatory climate".[14] WPBZ was cited in 1998 as "a highly successful model" for the alternative format.[15]

Palm Beach Radio sold its cluster, along with a station in Buffalo, New York, to Infinity Broadcasting, later known as CBS Radio, in 2000 for $4 million and assumption of liabilities.[16] The move made WPBZ the sister station to WEAT and WIRK. WPBZ aired The Howard Stern Show from 2004[17] to 2005, when he was replaced by David Lee Roth amid Stern's move to satellite radio.[18]

Now 103.1 and the move of WIRK to 103.1

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On December 5, 2011, WPBZ changed its format to adult top 40, branded as Now 103.1. The Buzz active rock format moved to the HD2 subchannel, replacing the alternative-formatted Buzz Lite.[19]

In 2012, CBS Radio, citing a desire to focus on larger markets, sold its entire cluster in West Palm Beach to Palm Beach Broadcasting for $50 million.[20] The sale included the intellectual unit of adult contemporary WEAT (104.3 FM), but as Palm Beach already owned one FM station (WRMF), it had to divest two of CBS's stations to other buyers. Because the 104.3 FM facility could be moved into the Miami market, it was tagged for sale. On June 1, 2012, Sunny and the WEAT call letters moved from 104.3 (which became WMSF) to 107.9, while WIRK and its long-running country format moved to 103.1 MHz, marking the end for the Now format.[21]

Later in 2013, Palm Beach Broadcasting and its sister company GoodRadio.TV was merged into Goodman's larger holding company Digity, LLC.[22] Digity was in turn acquired by Alpha Media in February 2016.[23]

On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media announced the sale of its West Palm Beach stations to Hubbard Broadcasting.[24] The sale was consummated on January 23, 2019 at a purchase price of $88 million. WIRK rebranded as New Country 103.1 on July 22, 2019, with no change in format.[25]

Programming

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As The Buzz, the station had a morning show called The Morning Buzz. The station also syndicated The Howard Stern Show, The David Lee Roth Show, and the Opie & Anthony Show until October 29, 2007. The original program director for The Buzz was Amy Doyle, now of MTV.[7] John O'Connell had been the program director/operations manager since 1996.

Specialty music shows included Buzz Junior, which aired Sunday nights at 10:00pm with host Jeremy Steve Clark and featured new music, unsigned local bands, indie bands, and classic songs; and Rock Hard Buzz, which aired Saturday nights at 11:00pm with host Metal Mick and featured mostly heavy metal.

The Buzz hosted an all-day music festival each year called the "Buzz Bake Sale" which was one of the largest annual music festivals in South Florida. It was usually held on the first Saturday in December in West Palm Beach. The show was always held at the Cruzan Amphitheatre. The name was chosen because the first two years featured 13 bands (a "baker's dozen" of bands).[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WIRK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "WIRK Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ "Okeechobee Radio Station on Air". Tampa Tribune. July 26, 1966. p. 2-B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  4. ^ FCC History Cards for WIRK
  5. ^ "WOKC-AM & FM/Okeechobee" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 17, 1993. p. 8. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  6. ^ Smith, Thom (April 4, 1994). "Swamp themed radio in the air". Palm Beach Post. p. 1D. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Benarde, Scott (July 4, 1995). "WPBZ turns to alternative rock format". Palm Beach Post. p. 2B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  8. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. March 24, 1995. p. 6. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  9. ^ "Street Talk" (PDF). March 31, 1995. p. 18. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  10. ^ "WPBZ/West Palm Beach Leaves Z-Rock For 'The Buzz' Of Alternative" (PDF). Radio & Records. July 14, 1995. p. 10. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  11. ^ Benarde, Scott (July 18, 1995). "Radio's Rock of Ages". Palm Beach Post. pp. 1D, 4D. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  12. ^ McKenney, Mitch (September 12, 1995). "2 Martin AM radio stations sold". Palm Beach Post. p. 11B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  13. ^ Passy, Charles (July 3, 1996). "What's all The Buzz about?". Palm Beach Post. pp. 1D, 3D. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  14. ^ "ARS Ups Strasser To Market GM In WPB" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 8, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  15. ^ "Plugging West Palm Beach's CHR Hole" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 4, 1998. pp. 96, 98. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  16. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. March 10, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  17. ^ Jicha, Tom (July 1, 2004). "Stern's show set for return to S. Florida". Sun Sentinel. pp. 1B, 2B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  18. ^ "Replacing Howard Stern is a task for many mouths". Pensacola News Journal. Associated Press. October 26, 2005. p. 6B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "WPBZ Gets Into The Now". RadioInsight. 2011-12-05. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  20. ^ Heroux Pounds, Marcia (April 12, 2012). "Deal calls for sale of 3 local radio stations". Sun-Sentinel. p. 3D. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  21. ^ Glade, Dennis (June 1, 2012). "Changing Frequencies". Palm Beach Post. p. 1B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  22. ^ "Digity Acquires NextMedia". RadioInsight. October 28, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  23. ^ Ink, Radio (February 25, 2016). "Larry Wilson's Alpha Now 4th Largest Radio Company". Radio Ink. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  24. ^ "Hubbard/Alpha Media West Palm Beach Purchase Price Revealed". RadioInsight. November 15, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  25. ^ "WIRK Rebrands As New Country 103.1". RadioInsight. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  26. ^ Travis, Scott (November 6, 2000). "Recipe for fun". Sun Sentinel. pp. 1B, 2B. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
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