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WSFS (FM)

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Coordinates: 27°01′34″N 80°10′41″W / 27.026°N 80.178°W / 27.026; -80.178
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WSFS
Broadcast areaMiami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area
Frequency104.3 MHz (HD Radio)
HD-2: WAXY
Branding104.3 The Shark
Programming
FormatAlternative Rock
Ownership
Owner
WAXY, WLYF, WMXJ
History
First air date
August 30, 1969 (as WEAT-FM in West Palm Beach)
Former call signs
West Palm Beach:
WEAT-FM (1969-2012)
WMSF (2012)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale:
WAXY-FM (2012-2015)
Call sign meaning
W South Florida Shark
Technical information
Facility ID29567
ClassC1
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT283 meters (928 ft)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Website1043theshark.com

WSFS (104.3 MHz) – branded 104.3 The Shark – is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Miramar, Florida. WSFS is owned by Entercom Broadcasting and it airs an Alternative Rock radio format for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. Its studios are in Miami Gardens and the transmitter is in Pembroke Park.

History

The station first signed on the air in West Palm Beach on August 30, 1969 as WEAT-FM.[1] The station served as an FM simulcast for AM 850 WEAT, now called WFTL. It was originally on 104.5 MHz. It moved to 104.3 some time in the 1970s or 1980s in order to increase its signal while not being short spaced with a Coral Gables station on 105.1. For many years it was a top station in the West Palm Beach media market airing an easy listening mostly instrumental music format. By the 1990s, the station had moved to a soft adult contemporary format.

WEAT-FM moved to 107.9 on June 1, 2012. It was replaced on 104.3 by the Jazz/AC-formatted "Smooth FM," whose first song was "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain. Meanwhile, WIRK, which was previously located at 107.9, was moved to 103.1 and replaced WPBZ, which at that time was carrying a Hot AC format. During the "Smooth FM" format, 104.3 had the call letters WMSF. The change came about due to WEAT's previous owner, CBS Radio, selling its entire West Palm Beach cluster of radio stations to Palm Beach Broadcasting. To meet ownership limits, Palm Beach needed to divest one station to a different company, which was WMSF, and operated the station via an LMA until it could find a buyer. Before the sale was announced, WEAT-FM's owners had planned to move it into the more lucrative Miami-Fort Lauderdale radio market.

On August 24, 2012, Palm Beach Broadcasting announced its intention to sell WMSF to Lincoln Financial Media for $13 million. Five days later, on August 29, after playing "Caribbean Breeze" by The Rippingtons, WMSF began simulcasting sports radio station WAXY, branded as "790 & 104.3 The Ticket."[2] On August 31, 2012, WMSF changed its call letters to WAXY-FM. The purchase of WAXY-FM was consummated on December 10, 2012.

On September 19, 2013, WAXY-FM completed its move to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market with its city of license changing to Miramar.

WAXY-FM's call sign was not new to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market as it was used on 105.9 FM, as "WAXY 106", for many years under RKO General and Metroplex Communications (as a sister station to WHYI-FM) before being relegated to the AM station now at 790 through multiple acquisitions. (The station at 105.9 became WBGG-FM, "Big 106".)

On December 8, 2014, Entercom announced that it was purchasing Lincoln Financial Group's entire 15-station lineup (including WAXY-FM) in a $106.5 million deal, and would operate the outlets under a LMA deal until the sale is approved by the FCC.[3] The sale was approved on July 14, 2015.[4]

On August 21, 2015, at 11 a.m., WAXY-FM changed its format to Alternative Rock, branded as "104.3 The Shark", launching with 5,000 songs in a row commercial free.[5] This marked the first Alternative Rock station in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale radio market since February 11, 2005, when WZTA flipped to Reggaeton, becoming WMGE. The first song played on The Shark was "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. The WAXY sports radio simulcast was moved to the HD-2 digital subchannel.

On August 28, 2015, WAXY-FM changed its call letters to WSFS to match the "Shark" branding.

References

  1. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 pg. C-48
  2. ^ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/70124/lincoln-financial-media-acquires-104-3-wmsf-will-flip-to-sports/
  3. ^ "Entercom Acquires Lincoln Financial Media" from Radio Insight (December 8, 2014)
  4. ^ https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/93470/fcc-approves-entercom-acquisition-of-lincoln-financial-media/
  5. ^ Entercom Brings Alternative 104.3 The Shark to Miami

27°01′34″N 80°10′41″W / 27.026°N 80.178°W / 27.026; -80.178

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