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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | North County,Pioneer Valley |
| Frequency | 99.9MHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Contemporary Christian |
| Affiliations | K-Love |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| History | |
First air date | December 4, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-12-04)[1] |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 51124 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 1,850 watts |
| HAAT | 124 meters (407 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°35′39.3″N72°12′0.2″W / 42.594250°N 72.200056°W /42.594250; -72.200056 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WKMY (99.9FM; "K-Love") is a radio station broadcasting acontemporary Christian music format. Licensed toAthol, Massachusetts, United States, it serves theNorth County andPioneer Valley areas. The signal for WKMY can be heard in north central Massachusetts, southernNew Hampshire, and southernVermont. It first began broadcasting in1989 under thecall sign WCAT-FM. The station is owned by theEducational Media Foundation.
The station first signed on December 4, 1989,[1] as WCAT-FM, acontemporary hit radio station owned by P&S Broadcasting along with WCAT (700 AM, nowWQVD).[3] By 1992, the station had shifted to anadult contemporary format,[4] then tohot adult contemporary a year later.[5]
In 1998, P&S sold WCAT-FM and WCAT to CAT Communications Corporation (a company controlled by Jeff Shapiro),[6][7] who in turn sold the stations toCitadel Broadcasting in 2000.[8] Citadel operated the WCAT stations as part of itsWorcester group of stations, even thoughArbitron considered the stations to be within theBoston market.[9] That September, WCAT-FM changed to anoldies format;[10] from 2001 until 2002, this was simulcast on the AM sister station.[11][12] On April 19, 2002, the call letters were changed to WAHL,[13] after Citadel moved the WCAT-FM call sign to a Cat Country-branded station on106.7 FM inHershey, Pennsylvania[14] (WCAT-FM is now assigned to 102.3 FM inCarlisle, Pennsylvania).
Citadel sold WAHL and WCAT to Northeast Broadcasting, controlled by Steve Silberberg, in 2003.[9] That October, the station was renamed WNYN-FM[13] and introduced aclassic rock format branded as "99.9 The Eagle".[15] In April 2008, the station became WXRG,[13] a simulcast ofadult album alternative sister stationWXRV inAndover;[16] in late 2011, the simulcast was extended to the AM station, by then WTUB. The call letters were changed to WFNX on May 6, 2013.[13] The WFNX call letters were previously used byan alternative rock station in Boston owned by theBoston Phoenix, first on 101.7 FM (nowWBWL) and later as anInternet radio station; after that station shut down along with thePhoenix, Northeast Broadcasting acquired the call sign for 99.9 FM in April 2013.[17]
WFNX and what had become WWBZ dropped the WXRV simulcast in May 2014 and beganstunting with a wide range of music while preparing to launch new formats for the stations on June 9, with listeners being asked to vote on which of the songs being played should be included in the new formats.[18] On June 9 at 9 a.m., the station launched its permanentvariety hits format, asking listeners to now vote for its nickname; the simulcast on WWBZ ended two hours earlier, when that station introduced a separate oldies format.[18] On July 1, WFNX officially began branding as simply "99-9 WFNX".[18] In May 2016, the station announced that it would end its variety hits format after May 29 and return to simulcasting WXRV, citing a lack of advertiser support; in its announcement, WFNX said it needed ten businesses to advertise on the station on an annual basis to cover its costs.[19]
Northeast Broadcasting agreed to sell WFNX to theEducational Media Foundation for $250,000 in January 2020; EMF already owned WKMY (91.1 FM) in nearbyWinchendon, which carried itsK-Love network.[20] The sale was one of two EMF acquisitions inWorcester County in early 2020; it announced its purchase ofWAAF a month later.[21] The sale was completed on May 4, 2020;[22] on May 19, it took on the WKMY call sign,[23] reflecting the move of K-Love'scontemporary Christian programming from 91.1,[24] which becameAir1 stationWRWX.[25]