WDEL-FM

WDEL-FM

Simulcast of WDEL, Wilmington, Delaware
Canton, New Jersey United States
Broadcast area	Wilmington, Delaware
Frequency	101.7 MHz
Branding	WDEL 101.7 FM 1150 AM
Programming
Format	News/talk
Affiliations	CBS News Radio Philadelphia Eagles Radio Network Philadelphia Phillies Radio Network Westwood One VSiN
Ownership
Owner	Forever Media (FM Radio Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	WDEL WSTW WXCY-FM
History
First air date	January 15, 1972 (as WNNN)
Former call signs	WNNN (1972–1997) WJKS (1997–2015)
Call sign meaning	Delaware (from parent station WDEL)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	51136
Class	A
ERP	3,300 watts
HAAT	91 meters (299 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	39°25′53.6″N 75°20′12″W / 39.431556°N 75.33667°W / 39.431556; -75.33667 (WDEL-FM)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.wdel.com

WDEL-FM (101.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Canton, New Jersey. It simulcasts the news/talk format of co-owned WDEL (1150 AM), based in Wilmington, Delaware. As of May 20, 2019, WDEL-AM-FM is owned and operated by the Forever Media. It was previously owned by Delmarva Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Steinman Enterprises, a family-owned newspaper, broadcasting and mining company, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The station's FM transmitter is located on Macanippuck Road in Greenwich Township.^[2] The signal extends from South Jersey into Northern Delaware, allowing listeners in the Wilmington area to hear WDEL's programming on FM as well as AM. Studios and offices are located on Shipley Road in Wilmington.

Programming and sports[edit]

WDEL-AM-FM airs local talk and information shows as well as nationally syndicated talk shows, including Dave Ramsey, Rich Valdes America at Night, Red Eye Radio and America in the Morning. On weekends, WDEL-AM-FM airs shows devoted to money, sports, real estate, home repair, gardening and religion, including some paid brokered programming. Syndicated programming on weekends includes The Money Pit, Jill on Money and Motley Fool. World and national news is supplied by CBS News Radio.

WDEL-AM-FM carries Philadelphia Phillies baseball, Philadelphia Eagles football, plus other local and national sports. WDEL-AM-FM airs Wesley College football and numerous New Castle County high school football and basketball games. On weekends, WDEL-AM-FM also carries some sports programming from VSiN.

History[edit]

On January 15, 1972, the station signed on as WNNN. It carried Christian programming, including preaching shows and religious music. By March 1989 the station had adopted the slogan of "Win 101.7".

QC Communications purchased the station on July 1, 1997, for $1.8 million.^[3] It briefly adopted a middle of the road (MOR) music format. On October 1, 1997, the station switched to urban adult contemporary music as "Kiss 101.7", using the call sign WJKS.^[4] In December 2014, QC Communications announced it would sell WJKS to Delmarva Broadcasting.^[5] As the license transfer was being completed, Delmarva began a local marketing agreement (LMA) to take over the running of WJKS, effective January 1, 2015.

On April 1, 2015, at 10:02 p.m., Delmarva flipped WJKS to a simulcast of 1150 WDEL.^[6][7][8] A call sign change to WDEL-FM took effect the next day.^[9] (In the 1950s and 1960s, the WDEL-FM call letters had been used on 93.7 WSTW, which is co-owned with WDEL-AM-FM.) The sale to Delmarva Broadcasting was consummated on June 30, 2015, at a price of $3.25 million for WDEL-FM and sister station WFAI.

Forever Media bought Delmarva Broadcasting in early 2019 for $18.5-million. The deal closed on May 20, 2019.

See also[edit]

• WDEL (AM)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• ‹The template FMQ is being considered for deletion.› WDEL in the FCC FM station database
• WDEL in Nielsen Audio's FM station database