Due west of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH metropolitan area is Portsmouth, Ohio, and on the southern banks of the Scioto River the town of Garrison, Ky.
It is in Garrison where a Class A FM with several identities in recent years is being spun. The buyer will take this station back to its roots by adopting a non-commercial religious format.
As such, a virtual bonfire, perhaps, is in the works for WIRO-FM “Hot 98.3,” presently a Hot Adult Contemporary station.
That’s because Fowler Media Partners, headed by media broker Bryan Fowler, has announced the sale of WIRO-FM to Strong Tower Christian Media of Xenia, Ohio.
Fowler shared the news ahead of a Form 314 filing with the FCC, in which details including the price Strong Tower agreed to can be found. Fowler declined to share this information with the media.
Once the transaction closes, WIRO will return to non-commercial status. The signal debuted as a “Docket 80/90” drop-in as WNNU “Joy FM.” In 1997, it took call letters that, incredibly, aren’t being used by any station in the U.S. today — WOKE-FM. Under those call letters, a transition to a commercially licensed Top 40 format transpired.
That ended with the sale of the station to Fowler for $300,000 in March 2019, which came after a 2018 LMA agreement allowing it to change the station to Country under the WPAY-FM call letters. Prior to the format shift, the radio station gained attention by stunting as “TRUMP FM,” with a variety of money, wall and patriotic-themed songs.
A series of changes came to the station in 2021, with call letters WFHT briefly in place before a change to WZGR as Southern Gospel as “Grace FM.” Earlier this year, the WFHT calls returned and “Grace FM” disappeared. This saw the birth of “Hot 98.3,” while the WFHT calls were changed to WITO in March 2022. On May 10, 2022, the WIRO-FM calls were then adopted by the station.
Once the transaction is completed, WIRO-FM will be paired with Strong Tower’s WEEC-FM 100.7 in Dayton-Springfield, which reaches much of Columbus, Ohio; and WFCJ-FM 93.7 “The Light,” licensed to Miamisburg and serving Dayton and much of Cincinnati.
“Strong Tower Christian Media is excited about coming to the Tri-State area with our Southern Gospel Hits format,” Strong Tower President Tracy Figley said. “This is a new market for us and we’re beyond thrilled about reaching new listeners.”
Strong Tower will begin operating the station through an LMA in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the transaction, Bryan Fowler said, “Strong Tower Christian Radio Stations are solid, well programmed and their group is humble. I have no problem saying one of my best accomplishments for this station is placing it in the hands of Strong Tower and we cannot wait to celebrate their success and see what God does through this frequency. I love their mission, vision and their team.”
