WERT
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| City | Van Wert, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Lima, Ohio |
| Branding | Unforgettable 1220 |
| Frequency | 1220 kHz |
| First air date | November 27, 1958 |
| Format | Adult Standards |
| Audience share | 1.2 (Fa'07, R&R) |
| Power | 250 watts day 29 watts night |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 56181 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°52′19.00″N 84°33′15.00″W / 40.8719444°N 84.5541667°W |
| Callsign meaning | Van WERT |
| Affiliations |
Agri Broadcast Network Ohio State IMG Sports Network |
| Owner | First Family Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WKSD |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
WERT (1220 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an adult standards featuring soft oldies chiefly from the 1940s through today. Licensed to Van Wert, Ohio, United States, the station serves Van Wert primarily but is considered part of the Lima market. The station is currently owned by First Family Broadcasting and broadcasts from its studios on the Lincoln Highway (County Highway 418) just east of Van Wert.
From its first day of broadcasting on Thanksgiving Day in November 1958, WERT/1220, then owned by its local founder The Van Wert Broadcasting Company, has traditionally been a middle of the road formatted music station. WERT's original design engineer was also instrumental in the founding of WMVR in Sidney in 1963. The original owners also built and launched WERT-FM/98.9 in 1962, giving Van Wert its own FM service. WERT AM and FM were then sold to a California company in 1967 for $160,000, according to an article in that year's Van Wert Times Bulletin newspaper. The west coast firm would absentee own and operate the stations for the next four years. Ray Livesay, from Matoon, Il. then purchased the local AM/FM combo in 1971 and operated it throughout much of the 1970s and 80s, boosting the power of WERT-FM to 50,000 watts in 1984. 1988 saw another change in ownership when Atlantic Resources, based in Cincinnati, Ohio bought the stations for a reported $1 million with intentions to move the high power WERT-FM to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where it remains today as 98.9 The Bear. WERT was then paired with a new FM station licensed to Paulding, Ohio at 99.7 MHz and sold to Community Broadcasting of Van Wert in 1991. In 1994 Chris Roberts (previously with WOWO in Fort Wayne) purchased the local stations after forming First Family Broadcasting, Inc.
WERT broadcasts a mix of adult standards from the '40s through today from its studios along historic Lincoln Highway. It is the heritage station serving the Van Wert area, and is co-owned with oldies/sports radio station WKSD 99.7 FM in Paulding (formerly WERT-FM; the original WERT-FM/98.9, is now WBYR serving the Fort Wayne market, and is no longer co-owned with WERT).
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