WIL-FM

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WIL-FM (92.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. It airs a country music format and is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The studios are on Olive Boulevard, near Interstate 270 in Creve Coeur (with a St. Louis address).

WIL-FM is a Class C station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most stations.<ref>FCC.gov/WIL-FM</ref> The transmitter is on Butler Hill Road near Keller Road in St. Louis, amid the towers for other local FM and TV stations.<ref>Radio-Locator.com/WIL-FM</ref> WIL-FM uses HD Radio technology. Its HD2 subchannel plays Americana music, known as "Second Fiddle." The HD3 subchannel plays oldies and feeds FM translator W232CR at 94.3 MHz.

Format

WIL-FM plays a variety of country music, concentrating on the hits from the current charts and the last 25 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> WIL-FM personalities include Kasey and Marty Brooks. WIL-FM is programmed by Tommy Mattern and the music director is Marty Brooks. WIL-FM primarily competes with iHeartMedia's KSD-FM for country listeners in St. Louis.

History

WIL-FM signed on the air on Template:Start date and age, as the FM sister station to WIL (1430 AM).<ref>Broadcasting Yearbook 1965 page B-91. Retrieved June 2, 2024.</ref> In its first decade, it mostly simulcast the AM station, which aired a Top 40 format, and were owned by WIL, Inc., a subsidiary of Balaban Stations. At the time, their studios were in Broadcasting House in St. Louis. WIL-FM was only powered at 30,000 watts, a fraction of its current output.

WIL-FM took the call sign KFMS on March 30, 1973. After a year, it returned to WIL-FM, effective September 1, 1974.<ref>FCC’s history cards for WIL-FM; retrieved April 28, 2021.</ref> In the 1970s, WIL had switched to a personality country format, while the FM aired a more music-intensive country format, with less chatter and fewer commercials.<ref>Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-124. Retrieved June 2, 2024.</ref>

Over time, as more people tuned to the FM band for music listening, WIL-FM became the dominant station. Eventually, the AM station changed its call letters to KZQZ and is now dark. WIL-FM was later acquired by Salt Lake City-based Bonneville International.

Bonneville announced its sale of WIL-FM (and 16 other stations) to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011.<ref name=ri-saletohubbard>Template:Cite news</ref> The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.<ref name=ri-hubbardtakeover>Template:Cite news</ref>

On January 30, 2017, WIL-FM re-branded as "New Country 92.3".<ref>WIL Rebrands as New Country 92.3 Radioinsight - January 30, 2017</ref> On October 6, 2020, the station dropped the "New Country 92.3" branding and returned to using its call letters in its branding as "92.3 WIL".<ref>WIL Rebrands Back To Its Call Letters Radioinsight - October 6, 2020</ref>

HD Radio

Starting in 2012, WIL-FM's HD2 digital subchannel began airing Americana music, calling itself "Second Fiddle". Previously, WIL-FM-HD2 was branded as "Kerosene Country", and largely had the same playlist as WIL-FM.

On February 18, 2020, WIL-FM signed on a third subchannel, and began airing an oldies format, branded as "My Mix 94.3." The subchannel feeds FM translator W232CR at 94.3 MHz in Alton, Illinois.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• WIL Radio Collection finding aid at the St. Louis Public Library

• STLRadio.com - Historic information about St. Louis radio broadcasting
• Template:FCC-LMS-Facility
• Template:FMXL