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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Champaign-Urbana |
| Frequency | 97.5MHz |
| Branding | Lite Rock 97.5 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1949 (1949) |
Former call signs | WDWS-FM (1949–1988) |
Call sign meaning | Helen M. Stevick, longtime publisher ofThe News-Gazette |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 14962 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 109 meters (358 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°5′4.1″N88°14′53.1″W / 40.084472°N 88.248083°W /40.084472; -88.248083 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WHMS-FM (97.5FM) is a commercialradio station licensed toChampaign, Illinois, United States. It broadcasts anadult contemporary format as "Lite Rock 97.5" and is owned byThe News-Gazette, the primary newspaper in theChampaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area.
WHMS-FM's transmitter is sited on South Nell Street (U.S. Route 45) at West Windsor Road in Champaign. Along withWDWS, WHMS-FM is the longtime broadcaster of theUniversity of Illinois sports, simulcasting allFighting Illini football andmen's basketball games.
In 1949, the station signed on as WDWS-FM, a sister station toWDWS (1400 AM). In its first decades, it mostly simulcast WDWS. In the late 1960s, it switched to abeautiful music format, playing quarter hour sweeps of mostly soft, instrumentalcover versions of popular songs, as well asBroadway andHollywood show tunes.
In the 1980s, as theeasy listening audience was beginning to age, the station added more vocals to the playlist, eventually making the transition tosoft adult contemporary music. It was renamed WHMS-FM in 1988 in honor of Helen M. Stevick, longtime publisher of the News-Gazette.