WARH

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WARH
File:WARHFM.jpg
City of license Granite City, Illinois
Broadcast area St. Louis, Missouri
Branding 106.5 The Arch
Slogan You never know what we're going to play next.
Frequency 106.5 MHz FM (also on HD Radio) 106.5-2 FM "The Deep"
106.5-3 FM "Mormon Channel"
First air date 1965
Format Adult Hits
ERP 90,000 watts
HAAT 309 meters
Class C1
Facility ID 74577
Callsign meaning The ARcH (taken from St. Louis' most famous landmark, the Gateway Arch)
Former callsigns WGNU (1965-1976)
WWWK (1976-1987)
KWK (1987-1988)
WKBQ (1988-1994)
WKKX (1994-2000)
WSSM (2000-2005)
Owner Hubbard Broadcasting
(St. Louis FCC License Sub, LLC)
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1065thearch.com

WARH (106.5 MHz FM) is a radio station licensed to Granite City, Illinois and serving the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. WARH is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.

WARH features a locally programmed adult hits format known as "106.5 The Arch" using the primary slogan "You never know what we're going to play next." The station's name pays tribute to the iconic Gateway Arch monument in downtown St. Louis on the western bank of the Mississippi River. The format is musically similar to the syndicated Jack FM stations in the U.S. & Canada. The major difference that distinguishes "The Arch" from the "Jack" branded stations is that "The Arch" uses a live and local airstaff around the clock, whereas "Jack" stations are for the most part without Disc jockeys.

WARH-HD2 features a format of songs from the 60's to the current decade, and goes deeper into the rock and pop music of each era. Branded as "106-5 The Deep", the HD2 station is currently unhosted and commercial-free.

WARH-HD3 carries "The Mormon Channel", supplied by its former owners, Bonneville International.

WARH broadcasts from studios in the St. Louis suburb of Creve Coeur, sending out a signal of 90,000 watts effective radiated power from its transmitter located near Resurrection Cemetery in Shrewsbury, Missouri.

History

Originally, the station took to the air in 1965 as WGNU-FM under the ownership of Chuck Norman. The station was programmed with a country music format and was simulcast on WGNU 920 AM. Norman sold the station to Doubleday Broadcasting in 1976. Doubleday changed the station's call letters to WWWK (later KWK-FM) and the format to AOR (Album Oriented Rock) calling itself "Stereo WK", and later to Top 40. Eventually, KWK became WKBQ-FM, retaining the Top 40 format and rechristening themselves as "Q106.5."

When the station was purchased by Zimmer Radio Group of Cape Girardeau, Missouri in the mid 1990s,[citation needed] the station switched dial positions with sister station WKKX (currently WHHL) on 104.1, which had a country format[1] known as "Kix 104." The station became "New Country Kix 106.5", where it would remain until 8 PM on October 6, 2000, when it was purchased by Bonneville, who changed the call letters to WSSM and adopted a Smooth Jazz format as "Smooth 106.5" (later "106.5 Smooth Jazz"). In April 2005, the station adopted its current format and call letters and was initially programmed by Jules Riley. The Program Director since 2008 is Kevin Robinson.

Bonneville announced the sale of WARH, as well as 16 other stations in four markets (St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.), to Hubbard Broadcasting on January 19, 2011.[2] The sale was completed on April 29, 2011.[3]

On-air personalities

WARH has a full lineup of local on-air personalities who do their shows live with no voice-tracking. The morning show is hosted by Spencer Graves, Ricki and Brando, middays feature Sherry Farmer, afternoons are handled by Van Lorenz, the evening show is hosted by Robert Fithen, and overnights hosted by April Ruebke. Weekend air talent includes Tom Settles, Mark Hyken, Shaun Anthony, Melanie Streeper, Troy "T-Bone" Kueker and Tom Casey. The voice of the station, Simon Archer, is portrayed by actor John O'Hurley (Seinfeld, Dancing With the Stars, and Family Feud).

References

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External links

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