Van Wert County has new FM radio station

Van Wert independent news

There is a new radio station in town, but with a familiar format many area residents enjoy.

The Van Wert area had a new FM radio station as of November 8. That’s the day Van Wert’s First Family Broadcasting powered up a newly installed transmitter at 104.3 on the FM dial.

Chris Roberts, president of the local broadcasting company, says the station will provide 24-hour stereo FM service to Van Wert County and beyond.

“It’s really exciting to be able to augment our popular WERT-AM 1220 format with a presence on FM that remains strong after local sunset,” Roberts said, noting that WERT-AM must reduce power at dusk so as to not interfere with other stations who were first on or near its frequency.

Roberts says the Federal Communications Commission recently made it possible for lower power AM stations like WERT to seek out and purchase existing FM facilities within 250 miles of their city of license.  “We moved our 104.3 FM signal to Van Wert, Ohio, after purchasing it from a broadcasting company in Elkhart, Indiana — a process that took the majority of the summer and early fall, due to FCC paperwork and engineering design requirements,” Roberts explained. “We’ve spent the past couple of weeks testing the system and it is now cleared for service to the community.”

The station, which will duplicate the WERT-AM programming, is licensed to cover all of Van Wert County, but gets into adjoining counties as well.

“This is going to be great for local sports coverage, giving us a strong night-time signal for Van Wert Cougar play-by-play as well as other teams,” Roberts added. “Plus, it’s great hearing all those ‘unforgettable’ songs in stereo.”

WERT operates at 1220 on the AM dial and now 104.3 on the FM dial.