WREW

On September 20, 1962, the station first signed on, using the call sign WFOL-FM. It aired a beautiful music format, playing quarter hour sweeps of instrumental cover songs of pop hits, as well as Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.

The call letters were switched to WCNW-FM in 1965, co-owned and simulcast with Country-formatted WCNW 1560 AM. Beautiful music returned to the frequency in the mid 1970s as WLVV-FM "Love 95."

The station was sold off to Heftel Broadcasting in 1980, becoming WYYS-FM "Yes 95" with a Top 40-Rock format. The format changed within a year to soft rock under the same call letters and handle before becoming WLLT-FM "Lite 95" in January 1983.

On July 22, 1988, WOFX-FM "The Fox" replaced WLLT-FM, airing Classic rock.{{Cite web |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1988/RR-1988-07-29.pdf |title=American Radio History |access-date=November 28, 2018 |archive-date=March 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322181117/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1988/RR-1988-07-29.pdf |url-status=dead }}

On September 13, 1995, the WOFX call letters, format and intellectual properties were bought by Jacor and moved to 92.5 FM, with 94.9 flipping to smooth jazz, branded as "The Wave." New WVAE-FM call letters took effect on October 2, 1995.John Kiesewetter, "Rival Jacor buys rights to 'The Fox'," The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 14, 1995.{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9A0EAAAAMBAJ&q=94.9+the+wave+cincinnati+1995&pg=PA100 | title=Billboard| date=1995-09-23}}[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1995/RR-1995-09-22.pdf American Radio History] {{dead link|date=August 2023}}

{{main|WOSL}}On April 30, 1999, the station switched to a Rhythmic oldies format as "Mojo 94.9 FM" with the call sign WMOJ.John Kiesewetter, "'WAVE' changes to oldies," The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 1, 1999.{{cite web |url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/07/03/tem_kiesewetter_radio.html |title = Cincinnati News, Sports and Things to Do {{!}} Cincinnati Enquirer}} That format remained on 94.9 FM until September 22, 2006, when Radio One acquired the intellectual property and call letters of the station from Cumulus Media, and moved it to 100.3 FM.John Kiesewetter, "Radio listeners, prepare to change that dial," The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 15, 2006.

Cumulus then temporarily switched the 94.9 frequency to a simulcast of country-formatted WYGY as WPRV. (At the same time, Cumulus traded the station to Entercom in exchange for WGRR.) The simulcast lasted until November 7, when the station began stunting with an electronic countdown to noon on November 9.John Kiesewetter, "Radio stations paired to bring in advertisers," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 1, 2006.John Kiesewetter, "In radio, firings, swaps and more," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 5, 2006.

On November 9, 2006, at 12 p.m., 94.9 FM flipped to alternative rock, branded as "The Sound".John Kiesewetter, "FM station debuts at 94.9 today," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 9, 2006.John Kiesewetter, "FM 94.9 gets new rock format," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 10, 2006. The first song on "The Sound" was "Welcome to Paradise" by Green Day. Although the station used the WYGY call letters for the first month of the new format, the call letters were moved to 97.3 FM, with the WSWD call letters debuting on November 29. (The country format would move to 97.3 FM at the same time as the flip.)

On January 18, 2007, Entercom announced plans to swap its entire Cincinnati radio cluster, including WSWD, together with three of its radio stations in Seattle, Washington, to Bonneville International in exchange for all three of Bonneville's FM stations in San Francisco, California and $1 million cash.{{Cite web|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/300350_radioswap19.html|title=Entercom trades radio stations|accessdate=6 August 2023}} In May 2007, Bonneville officially took over control of the Cincinnati stations through a time brokerage agreement. On March 14, 2008, Bonneville officially closed on the stations.

On November 7, 2008, at 11:00 a.m., the formats and call signs of WSWD and WYGY switched frequencies, with the country music format returning to the 94.9 FM frequency, and the alternative format moving to 97.3 FM. All weekday disc jockeys were also let go with the move.

The last song to play on "94.9 The Sound" was "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" by Panic! at the Disco, which was also the same song that ended WAQZ at 97.3 FM nearly two years prior.John Kiesewetter, "Bonneville switches its country, rock stations on FM dial," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 8, 2008.

Another shakeup occurred at 5 p.m. on May 21, 2009, as Bonneville moved the "Wolf" back to 97.3, discontinuing the "Sound" format altogether ("The Sound" would move to 97.3-HD2, which was later moved to 94.9-HD2). At the same time, 94.9 FM flipped to a hybrid adult hits/rhythmic adult contemporary format, branded as "Rewind 94.9."{{Cite web|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/|title=Cincinnati News, Sports and Things to Do | Cincinnati Enquirer|website=The Enquirer|accessdate=6 August 2023}} The first song on "Rewind" was "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran.{{cite web |url=https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/1021/bonneville-rewinds-in-cincinnati/ |title = Bonneville Rewinds in Cincinnati – RadioInsight| date=22 May 2009 }} After re-acquiring the WSWD call letters on May 25, 94.9 would adopt new WREW call letters on June 2.

When WREW debuted, the station played a wide range of music from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with a core focus on the 80s, as stated in their slogan, "Feel Good Favorites of the 80s and More". The station experienced huge success after its debut, as it is normally a Top 10 rated station in the Cincinnati Arbitron ratings.

On January 19, 2011, Bonneville International announced the sale of WREW and several other stations in various markets to Hubbard Broadcasting for $505 million.[http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2011/01/19/another-big-radio-deal-q102-b105-rewind-wolf-sold/ Another big radio deal] cincinnati.com January 19, 2011 {{dead link|date=August 2023}} The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.{{cite news|title=Hubbard deal to purchase Bonneville stations closes|url=http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2174844&spid=24698|access-date=May 2, 2011|newspaper=Radio Ink|date=May 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312055419/http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2174844&spid=24698|archive-date=March 12, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

The station shifted to adult contemporary on September 6, 2011, by re-introducing music from the 2000 until today, while still playing retro hits.

On October 1, 2013, WREW rebranded as "The New 94.9, Cincinnati's Best Mix".{{cite web |url=http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/85269/a-new-mix-in-cincinnati/ |title = A New Mix In Cincinnati – RadioInsight| date=October 2013 }} On July 6, 2015, WREW rebranded as "Mix 94.9."

On January 18, 2018, WREW re-branded for several days as "Fiona 94.9" as a tribute to celebrate the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden's baby hippo, Fiona, on her first birthday. On January 21, the station switched back to "Mix" after the celebration wrapped up.

File:Mojo 94.9.gif File:949 the sound.png

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.949cincinnati.com Mix 94.9 website]
• {{FM station data|73369|WREW}}

{{Cincinnati Radio}}

{{Dayton Radio}}

{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Ohio}}

{{Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation}}

REW

Category:Hubbard Broadcasting

Category:Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States

Category:Radio stations established in 1962

Category:Fairfield, Ohio