River Network has officially announced that Classic Hits “Kool 105.5” WUKL Bethlehem OH/Wheeling WV will relocate and rebrand as “100.5 WOMP-FM” on Monday, January 3 at 5:30am. Simultaneously, “Biggie Country” WBGI-FM Bellaire OH will move from 100.5 to 105.5.
A representative of 101.9 WOMP-LP Cambridge OH tells us that they have not given the required permission for WUKL to reclaim the WOMP-FM call letters.
Original Report 12/28: Ohio Midland Newsgroup’s River Network is preparing a frequency shuffle and rebranding at its recently acquired Wheeling WV cluster.
Classic Hits “Kool 105.5” WUKL Bethlehem OH will relocate to 100.5 and reclaim the frequency’s heritage “WOMP-FM” brand. 100.5 held the WOMP-FM calls from 1959 until its 2005 flip from CHR to Variety Hits “Jack-FM“. Cluster OM/PD ‘Johnny O’ Marple, who previously programmed WOMP-FM from 1995 to 2001, has begun teasing the flip to come in January with the logo seen here.
The WUKL and WBGI-FM call letters have already swapped places, indicating 100.5’s current “Biggie Country” brand will relocate to the third signal in its history. WBGI-FM debuted on 96.5 in December 2011 before moving to 100.5 the following September.
Since closing on its acquisition in November, River Network relaunched Classic Rock “Rocky 96.5” WRQY Moundsville/Wheeling WV to Rock as “Rage 96.5” and flipped Classic Country “Willie 1290/100.1” WLIE Bellaire OH/W261DH Wheeling to Conservative Talk as “River Talk” simulcasting 1430 WEIR/100.9 W265ED Weirton WV under new WLYV call letters.
