WYLR

WYLR

Hubbard, Ohio United States
Broadcast area	Youngstown Warren, Ohio
Frequency	101.9 MHz
Programming
Format	Contemporary Christian music
Network	K-Love
Ownership
Owner	Educational Media Foundation
Sister stations	WLRF
History
First air date	1995 (1995)
Former call signs	WRBP (1992–1998) WBTJ (1998–2001) WRBP (2001–2013)
Call sign meaning	Youngstown's (K) Love Radio
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	63498
Class	A
ERP	3,000 watts
HAAT	100 meters (330 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°5′29″N 80°30′5″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.klove.com

WYLR is a radio station in the Youngstown, Ohio, market. Licensed to Hubbard, the station broadcasts a contemporary Christian music format on 101.9 FM from the Educational Media Foundation 24-hour national feed K-Love.

History

The station signed on as a result of a construction permit issued on January 31, 1992, by Columbus atty. Percey Squire and local broadcaster Mr. Frankie 'Lucky" Halfacre who was the first African-American DJ in the greater Youngstown area who got his start on WNIO (1540 AM) in the 1960s.

From 1998 until 2001, the station was operated by Jacor Communications and successor Clear Channel Communications via a local marketing agreement (LMA), making it a part of their extensive Youngstown/New Castle cluster of stations. The call letters were WBTJ, and sported a rhythmic top 40 format as "101.9 The Beat". Then-owner Stop 26/Riverbend took Clear Channel to court, complaining to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that Clear Channel refused to preempt any of their programming upon Stop 26's request.

After settling in court, where Clear Channel paid a $25,000 fine to Stop 26 for unauthorized transfer of control of WBTJ, the "Beat" format was moved to the Sharpsville, Pennsylvania-licensed 95.9 facility (where it became "Kiss FM" WAKZ), and WNIO's adult standards programming was briefly simulcast until Stop 26 could re-assume control of the station. When that happened, the WRBP call letters, which were used prior to Jacor/Clear Channel's LMA, were revived.

Stop 26/Riverbend declared bankruptcy in 2006, and Bernard Radio purchased almost all of their stations, including WRBP, WASN and WGFT.

On June 13, 2012, it was announced that the Educational Media Foundation would acquire WRBP for $500,000. The last day for the urban format was December 31, 2012, at which time the station began to feature the contemporary Christian format of K-Love. As a result of the sale, the station became a non-commercial license. On January 24, 2013, the call letters were changed to WYLR.

External links

• K-Love website
• Valley 24.com Jamz 101.9 sold; to get Christian format
• Facility details for Facility ID 63498 (WYLR) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WYLR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• FCC filing of WRBP purchase