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WPOK (FM)

WPOK
Broadcast area
Bloomington-Normal
Frequency93.7 MHz
BrandingRoute 24 Radio
Programming
Format
Ownership
Owner
  • Kent Casson
  • (Casson Media, LLC)
History
First air date
July 1969 (1969-07) (as WPOK-FM at 103.1)[1]
Former call signs
  • WPOK-FM (1969–1984)
  • WJEZ (1984–2003)
  • WTRX-FM (2003–2010)
  • WJBC-FM (2010–2026)
Former frequencies
103.1 MHz (1969–1990s)
Call sign meaning
named for former sister station WPOK (1080 AM)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
37818
ClassB1
ERP12,000 watts
HAAT144 meters (472 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
40°45′27.1″N 88°37′40.2″W / 40.757528°N 88.627833°W / 40.757528; -88.627833 (NAD83)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.route24radio.com

WPOK (93.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Pontiac, Illinois, in the Bloomington-Normal radio market. It is owned by Kent Casson's Casson Media and broadcasts a full service format featuring classic hits, calling itself "Route 24 Radio". The transmitter is on County Road 3200 North in Weston, Illinois.[3]

WPOK-FM went on the air in 1969 as the FM sister station to WPOK (1080 AM). It became WJEZ in 1984, and by 1989 was a country music station. During the 2000s, it was WTRX-FM, playing classic rock and then oldies. In 2010, it became WJBC-FM, the FM simulcast to news/talk station WJBC (1230 AM); in 2014, the simulcast was replaced by the Nash Icon country network. Cumulus Media closed WJBC-FM in 2025 and sold it to Casson Media; in 2026, it retook the WPOK call sign and relaunched with the full service "Route 24 Radio" programming that Casson already operated as an Internet radio station.

History

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The station signed on the air in July 1969 as WPOK-FM. It had 3,000 watts and broadcast on 103.1 MHz. WPOK-FM served as an FM simulcast of its sister station, WPOK (1080 AM).[4]

WPOK-FM changed its call sign to WJEZ in November 1984.[5] WJEZ was a modern country station by 1989,[1] and received authorization to move from 103.1 MHz to 93.7 MHz in the early 1990s.[6] WPOK AM went off the air in 1998.[7]

In 2003, the WJEZ callsign was moved to sister station 98.9 at Dwight, Illinois. Replacing WJEZ on 93.7 was WTRX-FM, a classic rock station with the nickname "Thunder 93.7 WTRX". It later became "WTRX, The Oldies Channel", from the name of the Westwood One's music network format it used; the music network was purchased by Dial Global and WTRX-FM began using Dial Global's Kool Gold format, except during mornings.[citation needed]

Logo as "93.7 Nash Icon"

In 2010, the station changed its call sign to WJBC-FM and began simulcasting the talk radio format on sister station WJBC (1230 AM) in Bloomington. On August 15, 2014, at 3 pm, WJBC-FM split from the simulcast and became one of the first stations to flip to the new "Nash Icon" country network as 93.7 Nash Icon.

WJBC-FM went silent in March 2025. It was one of 11 Cumulus stations to close the weekend of March 14, as part of a larger shutdown of underperforming Cumulus stations.[8] On December 1, 2025, Cumulus sold WJBC-FM to Kent Casson's Casson Media for $90,000; the terms of the deal required the station to stop sharing the WJBC call sign.[9] On March 16, 2026, the station returned to the air as "Route 24 Radio", with a full service classic hits format that Casson had already operated as an Internet radio station; the call sign was changed to WPOK, a nod to the original WPOK (1080 AM) and a partial return to the FM station's original call sign.[10]

References

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  1. 1 2 Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook (1989 ed.). p. B-96.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WPOK". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/WJBC-FM
  4. ↑ Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook (1975 ed.). p. C-60.
  5. ↑ FCC callsign history. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  6. ↑ Federal Communications Commission file BPH-19920421IF. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ 1080 WPOK (AM) at Pontiac was FCC facility ID 37822; see Application Search Results. Its license was surrendered on March 24, 1998, and deleted on June 18, 1998, per FCC file number BR-19960724YV.
  8. ↑ Venta, Lance (March 14, 2025). "Twenty Cumulus & Townsquare Media Stations Cease Operations With More To Come". RadioInsight. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  9. ↑ Casson Media Aqcuires WJBC-FM From Cumulus
  10. ↑ Route 24 Radio Comes to FM in Pontiac IL Radioinsight - March 17, 2026
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