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| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 103.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Warm 103.3 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | September 1, 1962 (63 years ago) (1962-09-01) |
Former call signs | WSBA-FM (1962–1988) |
Call sign meaning | "Warm" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73980 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 6,400 watts |
| HAAT | 398 meters (1,306 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°1′38.3″N76°35′58.8″W / 40.027306°N 76.599667°W /40.027306; -76.599667 (WARM-FM) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | www |
WARM-FM (103.3FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serveYork, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated byCumulus Media through licensee Radio License Holding SRC LLC and airs anadult contemporary format. For much of November and December, it switches toChristmas music.Syndicated programming on WARM-FM includesThe John Tesh Radio Show on weeknights, both the 1980s and 1990s versions ofBacktrax USA on Saturday nights, andYour Weekend with Jim Brickman Sunday mornings.
WARM-FM's radio studios and offices are on Vartan Way inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.[2] Thetransmitter is off Brummer Lane inHellam Township.[3]
On September 1, 1962, the station firstsigned on as WSBA-FM.[4] It was owned by theSusquehanna Radio Corporation, which also ownedWSBA (910AM) and WSBA-TV (Channel 43, nowWPMT) in the Yorkmedia market. Susquehanna, headquartered in York, eventually owned more than 40 stations in Pennsylvania and other parts of the country.
At first, WSBA-FMsimulcast its AM counterpart. But a short time later, WSBA-FM switched to abeautiful music format of soft instrumentals with limited talking and commercials. The station remainedeasy listening for the next two decades, competing withWGAL-FM (101.3 FM), a station in nearby Lancaster. But by the 1980s, the easy listening format started to age. WSBA-FM added more vocals, and in the mid-1980s, switched to asoft adult contemporary sound.
In 1988, the WARM-FMcall sign was moved to the station, having previously been used by a Susquehanna-owned station in Atlanta called "Warm 99", nowWWWQ. (There is another station holding theWARM call letters at 590 AM inScranton, also owned previously by Susquehanna). WARM-FM has always broadcast some type ofadult contemporary (AC) music format from the time of its inception and was repeatedly ranked at the number one spot in the York radio market into the early 2000s, with significant listening also in the adjacentLancaster andHarrisburg radio markets.
However, following the trends of other AC stations in the country, the station "freshened up" its playlist in the mid-2000s and discarded all but a handful of pre-1980 titles, focusing more heavily on current and recent pop hits. The station began leaning slightly in ahot AC direction, although still positioned as a mainstream AC, as it continued to play a considerable percentage of soft hits from the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2006, Susquehanna Radio's stations, including WARM-FM, were sold toCumulus Media, one of the biggest owners of radio stations in the US.[5][6]
On September 8, 2011, WARM-FM officially changed its branding to "Wink 103". This was similar to co-ownedWNNK-FM (104.1 FM), often the number one station in nearby Harrisburg, which has been known as "Wink 104" for many years.[7] As Wink 103, WARM-FM straddled the line between AC and hot AC.
It dropped the Wink identification on December 26, 2012, returning to the "Warm 103.3" branding.[8]
On November 23, 2012, WARM-FM began playing allChristmas music. On December 26, after the Christmas season, the station returned to its adult contemporary format.[8] Each year it has followed the same pattern of going All-Christmas in early to mid-November and returning to its AC format on December 26, though in 2022, the station expanded the 24/7 Christmas format by four days, ending on December 30. While the FM station plays holiday tunes, the website also offers what it calls its "Scrooge Stream" playing the usual format.
WARM-FM is short-spaced toWPRB (licensed to servePrinceton, New Jersey) as they operate on the same channel and the distance between the two stations' transmitters is only 103 miles as determined by FCC rules.[9] The minimum distance between two Class B stations operating on the same channel according to currentFCC rules is 150 miles.[10]