| WDEL-FM | |
| Above: | Simulcast of WDEL, Wilmington, Delaware |
| City: | Canton, New Jersey |
| Country: | US |
| Area: | Wilmington, Delaware |
| Branding: | WDEL 101.7 FM 1150 AM |
| Frequency: | 101.7 MHz |
| Airdate: | January 15, 1972 (as WNNN) |
| Format: | News/talk |
| Erp: | 3,300 watts |
| Class: | A |
| Facility Id: | 51136 |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Coordinates: | 39.4316°N -75.3367°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | Delaware (from parent station WDEL) |
| Owner: | Forever Media |
| Licensee: | FM Radio Licenses, LLC |
WDEL-FM (101.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Canton, New Jersey. It simulcasts the news/talk format of co-owned WDEL (1150 AM), based in Wilmington, Delaware. As of May 20, 2019, WDEL-AM-FM is owned and operated by the Forever Media. It was previously owned by Delmarva Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Steinman Enterprises, a family-owned newspaper, broadcasting and mining company, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The station's FM transmitter is located on Macanippuck Road in Greenwich Township.[1] The signal extends from South Jersey into Northern Delaware, allowing listeners in the Wilmington area to hear WDEL's programming on FM as well as AM. Studios and offices are located on Shipley Road in Wilmington.
WDEL-AM-FM airs local talk and information shows as well as nationally syndicated talk shows, including Dave Ramsey, Rich Valdes America at Night, Red Eye Radio and America in the Morning. On weekends, WDEL-AM-FM airs shows devoted to money, sports, real estate, home repair, gardening and religion, including some paid brokered programming. Syndicated programming on weekends includes The Money Pit, Jill on Money and Motley Fool. World and national news is supplied by CBS News Radio.
WDEL-AM-FM carries Philadelphia Phillies baseball, Philadelphia Eagles football, plus other local and national sports. WDEL-AM-FM airs Wesley College football and numerous New Castle County high school football and basketball games. On weekends, WDEL-AM-FM also carries some sports programming from VSiN.
On January 15, 1972, the station signed on as WNNN. It carried Christian programming, including preaching shows and religious music. By March 1989 the station had adopted the slogan of "Win 101.7".
QC Communications purchased the station on July 1, 1997, for $1.8 million.[2] It briefly adopted a middle of the road (MOR) music format. On October 1, 1997, the station switched to urban adult contemporary music as "Kiss 101.7", using the call sign WJKS.[3] In December 2014, QC Communications announced it would sell WJKS to Delmarva Broadcasting.[4] As the license transfer was being completed, Delmarva began a local marketing agreement (LMA) to take over the running of WJKS, effective January 1, 2015.
On April 1, 2015, at 10:02p.m., Delmarva flipped WJKS to a simulcast of 1150 WDEL.[5] [6] [7] A call sign change to WDEL-FM took effect the next day.[8] (In the 1950s and 1960s, the WDEL-FM call letters had been used on 93.7 WSTW, which is co-owned with WDEL-AM-FM.) The sale to Delmarva Broadcasting was consummated on June 30, 2015, at a price of $3.25 million for WDEL-FM and sister station WFAI.
Forever Media bought Delmarva Broadcasting in early 2019 for $18.5-million. The deal closed on May 20, 2019.