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WMFN (640AM) is aradio station broadcasting aBlack-oriented newsformat from theBlack Information Network. The station is owned byBirach Broadcasting, and under alocal marketing agreement withiHeartMedia, specifically its Chicago cluster.

Licensed toPeotone, Illinois, the station currently targetsChicago, specifically the city'sSouth andWest Sides, where most of the city's Black population resides. The station's transmitter site is northwest of the intersection ofInterstate 57 and (Will/Kankakee) County Line Road south of Peotone.

Though the station in technicality serves the radio market of Will County seatJoliet, along withMorris andCrete, the station's schedule is completelyautomated with the master feed of BIN and its coverage areade facto serves Chicago and its suburbs, with occasional contributions from personalities from iHeart'sWVAZ,WGRB, andWGCI-FM. The station isde facto a full-marketsatellite station of WVAZ's secondHD Radio subchannel, which broadcast BIN before Birach and iHeartMedia entered into the LMA.

The station is a "move in" frequency which originally servedWest Michigan, and first began broadcasting inZeeland, Michigan in 1990 under the WBMX call sign, servingMuskegon andGrand Rapids. The station has since been through a number of different formats and call signs, and changed market areas, which is rare for a station.

640kilohertz is a United Statesclear-channel frequency, on whichKFI in Los Angeles andKYUK in Bethel, Alaska are the dominantClass A stations.

AM 640 was originally aMOR station in 1990 when it signed on as WBMX, using the call sign that had recently been vacated bya popular urban contemporary station inChicago. The following year, the owners ofWROR-FM 98.5 inBoston, Massachusetts, bought the WBMX call letters from 640 in order to debut "Mix 98.5" there; in return, AM 640 received the WROR calls. Its format did not change. In 1993, WROR (AM) was sold and converted toRadio AAHS as WISZ, freeing theWROR calls to be used again in Boston, where they were again placed beginning in 1996.

For a time, the station also playedadult standards (Westwood One'sAM Only) at night as a continuation of daytimer sister stationWMJH 810 AM's format. Since WMJH was known at the time as "Majic 810," WMFN's nighttime standards programming was called "Night Majic."

In 1995, AM 640 became WMFN, taking a sports format branded "West Michigan's Fan". During its sports talk days former NFL linebackerRay Bentley hosted an afternoon program. In 1999 WMFN adopted a Business News format branded "West Michigan's Financial News". Starting in 2000 WMFN evolved into a News Talk Sports format eventually becoming "Hot Talk 640". In 2005 WMFN's talk format was dropped in favor of an Adult Urban Contemporary format branded "Smooth Vibes AM 640".^[2]

From about 2006 until November 2008, the station was leased to Tyrone Bynum, a controversial talk show host and deejay who hosted many of his programs on this station, which went under the name "Smooth Vibes"; during periods when there was no talk programming, Bynum (or his staffers) would playUrban Adult Contemporary music.

In November 2008, due to low advertising revenues, Bynum opted not to renew his lease with Birach; on November 7, 2008, the station began carrying Regional Mexican programming, moved from WMJH. Bynum soon relaunched "Smooth Vibes" as an online-only station free from music licensing fees.

As "La Poderosa," the station became the exclusive Regional Mexican station in West Michigan, as former competitor stationsWYGR andWNWZ have switched to other formats. The "Poderosa" format has since moved back to WMJH, which has also launched an FM translator at 93.3. At that time, WMFN became Radio Activa.

In 2014, the FCC allowed the station to be moved to south of Chicago inPeotone.^[3][4] The station aired aSpanish Contemporary format. In summer of 2018, the station aired aPolish language format, Polski FM, simulcasting 92.7WCPY.^[5]

On July 14, 2022, at 1 p.m., WMFN changed their format from Regional Mexican to African-American-oriented news from the Black Information Network.^[6]

• WMFN (Corporate) Website
• Michiguide.com - WMFN History
• Facility details for Facility ID 55089 (WMFN) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• WMFN inNielsen Audio's AM station database

42°48′59″N85°57′24″W / 42.81639°N 85.95667°W /42.81639; -85.95667

• Radio stations in Illinois
• Radio stations established in 1990
• Birach Broadcasting Corporation stations
• All-news radio stations in the United States
• Black Information Network stations

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