WYGY

After being issued a construction permit with the initial call sign WAAR, the station changed their call sign to WMMA in June 1993, and would sign on April 18, 1994, with an oldies format.John Kiesewetter, "Clearing the static on your radio dial," The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 14, 1994. The station then flipped to classic rock as WYLX, "Alex 97.3", on October 16, 1997.John Kiesewetter, "Newer oldies," The Cincinnati Enquirer, October 16, 1997.{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-11-28.pdf#page=12 |title=WGRR's Finney Adds OM Duties At WMMA| date=1997-11-28|publisher=Radio & Records|pages=12}}

{{main|WAQZ}}

The WAQZ call sign and Alternative rock format abandoned by owner of 107.1 FM (Jacor Communications) was re-introduced by Infinity Broadcasting on 97.3 FM as "Channel Z" on April 3, 2000.John Kiesewetter, "WAQZ could signal radio war," The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 4, 2000.{{cite web|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2000/RR-2000-04-07.pdf |title=MORE AMERICANS LISTEN TO OPEN HOUSE PARTY THAN ANY RADIO PROGRAM IN THE WORLD!|publisher=Radio & Records

| date=2000-04-07|access-date=2023-09-11}} (no exact citation found) On March 4, 2003, WAQZ was rebranded "New Rock 97.3" with a shift to more current modern rock artists.John Kiesewetter, "WAQZ cranks up new tower of power," The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 2, 2003. WAQZ was rebranded again on December 16, 2005 as 97.3 Everything Alternative.John Kiesewetter, "Heating up the airwaves," The Cincinnati Enquirer, December 15, 2005.

On August 21, 2006, Entercom Communications bought WAQZ, along with several other stations, from CBS Radio (which Infinity was renamed as in December 2005). On October 30, 2006, Entercom abruptly fired the entire on-air staff, signaling the end of WAQZ.

{{main|WYGY}}

On November 9, 2006, at noon, after playing "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage" by Panic! at the Disco, Entercom moved WYGY's Country format to 97.3 FM and relaunched it as "The Wolf", this time as a top 40-styled country format, in order to appeal to a younger demographic than its other country station, WUBE-FM ("B-105").John Kiesewetter, "Country music station WYGY moving again, changing name," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 2, 2006. (WYGY was formerly "The Star", located at 96.5 FM and owned by Cumulus Media, but was traded to Entercom in exchange for WGRR.) At the same time as the flip, Entercom relaunched the alternative rock format on 94.9 FM as "The Sound". The WAQZ call letters remained on 97.3 for a month until the WYGY calls were finally in place on November 29.

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 news| url=http://www.seattlepi.com/business/300350_radioswap19.html | work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer | first1=Bill | last1=Virgin | title=Entercom trades radio stations | date=January 18, 2007}} 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 a.m., WSWD and WYGY switched frequencies, returning an alternative rock format to the 97.3 FM frequency, while the country format would move back to 94.9 FM. (The call letters between the two stations would switch four days later.)John Kiesewetter, "Bonneville switches its country, rock stations on FM dial," The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 8, 2008.

On May 21, 2009, at 5 p.m., Bonneville discontinued the "Sound" format altogether, with 97.3 FM re-adopting the country format and the "Wolf" moniker (at the same time, 94.9 FM flipped to 80s-leaning adult hits as "Rewind 94.9"). The last song on "The Sound" was No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand. (The Sound was moved to 94.9-HD2 and on the internet at thesoundcincinnati.com.){{Cite web|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/|title=Cincinnati News, Sports and Things to Do | Cincinnati Enquirer|website=The Enquirer|accessdate=6 August 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/1021/bonneville-rewinds-in-cincinnati/ |title = Bonneville Rewinds in Cincinnati – RadioInsight| date=22 May 2009 }}

On January 19, 2011, it was announced that Bonneville International will sell WYGY and several other stations to Hubbard Broadcasting for $505 million.{{cite web| url=http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2011/01/19/another-big-radio-deal-q102-b105-rewind-wolf-sold/|title=Another Big Radio Deal: Q102, B105, Rewind, Wolf Sold|date=2011-01-19|access-date=2023-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122015234/http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2011/01/19/another-big-radio-deal-q102-b105-rewind-wolf-sold/|archive-date=2011-01-22}} 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}}

On December 6, 2018, Hubbard eliminated all the DJs on the station and began running jockless.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wvxu.org/media/2018-12-06/wygy-fm-the-wolf-eliminates-djs|title=WYGY-FM 'The Wolf' Eliminates DJs|date=December 7, 2018|website=WVXU}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.theworldwidewolf.com 97.3 The Wolf]
• {{FM station data|40915|WYGY}}

{{Cincinnati Radio}}

{{Country Radio Stations in Kentucky}}

{{Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation}}

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Category:Country radio stations in the United States

YGY

Category:Hubbard Broadcasting

Category:Radio stations established in 1993

Category:1993 establishments in Kentucky