WTOH

WTOH (98.9 FM, "The Answer") is a conservative talk radio station serving the Greater Columbus area, currently owned by the Salem Media Group and licensed to Upper Arlington, Ohio. The station's studios are shared with sister station WRFD (880 AM) and are located in North Columbus; WTOH's transmitter is northwest of downtown.

History

98.9 MHz in Columbus began in 1989 as adult contemporary WXMX "The Mix" by Twin Rivers Communications owned by Michael and Mary Mahaffey. In 1991 the station was purchased by Alan Gray's Tri-City Radio and changed to modern country music as WRVF "98.9 The River." In 1994 the station was sold to Carl Hirsch who re-imaged it as "Wild Country, The New 98.9" (under the WLLD calls) and again later as the decidedly less aggressive "Country 98-9". The station briefly stunted in late 1996 by simulcasting audio from 98.9 MHz on both 105.7 MHz and 107.1 MHz in a short-lived attempt to "surround" country competitor WCOL. Then-owner Jacor Communications programmed the station as the alternative rock "Channel Z" (under the WZAZ-FM calls) prior to an acquisition by Blue Chip Broadcasting (and subsequently Radio One). After "Channel Z" was relocated to 105.7 FM and Blue Chip's acquisition, the station flipped to urban oldies as "Magic 98.9", WXMG, in 1998, which later evolved to Urban AC in 2001, retaining the "Magic" moniker.

At 12:00pm on September 16, 2011, "Magic 98.9" moved to sister station WJYD, displacing the urban gospel format ("Joy 106.3"). 98.9 then flipped to variety hits, branded as "98-9 Jack FM." The first song on "Jack FM" was "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot. On September 23, 2011, WXMG changed their call letters to WJKR (at the same time, the WXMG calls moved to WJYD). The station was one of three non-urban radio stations owned by Radio One (the others being all-news KROI/Houston and Top 40 WNOU/Indianapolis), until the company sold it on October 23, 2012, to Salem Communications.^[1]

On November 1, 2012, at approximately 12:01 am, "Jack FM" signed off after playing "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" by R.E.M.. Salem Communications took over after a few seconds of dead air with a speech from Ronald Reagan, with the official launch of "98.9 The Answer" at 6 that morning.

On February 15, 2013, WJKR changed their call letters to WTOH.

The "Jack FM" format and WJKR callsign returned to Columbus on July 24, 2013 when WMNI-FM flipped from a simulcast of then sister station News/Talk WMNI (who flipped to adult standards 6 days earlier) back to Adult Hits as "103.9 Jack FM". The station had originally carried the format as WTDA "103.9 Ted FM" from 2005-2007.

References

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTOH
• Radio-Locator information on WTOH
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WTOH
• Query the FCC's FM station database for W240CX
• Radio-Locator information on W240CX