WIRK

WIRK

Indiantown, Florida
Broadcast area	The Palm Beaches
Frequency	103.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	New Country 103.1
Programming
Format	Country music HD2: Sports (WMEN simulcast)
Ownership
Owner	Hubbard Broadcasting (WPB FCC License Sub, LLC)
Sister stations	WEAT, WMBX, WRMF, WFTL, WMEN
History
First air date	August 1, 1965 (as WPBF at 107.9)
Former call signs	WPBF (1965-1972) WIRK-FM (1972–2012)
Former frequencies	107.9 MHz (1965-2012)
Call sign meaning	Play on the word "Work"
Technical information
Facility ID	1246
Class	C1
ERP	90,000 watts
HAAT	297 meters
Transmitter coordinates	27°01′32.00″N 80°10′43.00″W
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	newcountry1031.com

WIRK (103.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Indiantown, Florida, the station serves the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach County area. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, through licensee WPB FCC License Sub, LLC. The station has broadcast a country format since September 9, 1973, originally on 107.9 FM. Its studios are in West Palm Beach and its antenna is located on the west side of Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida.

History

Logo as 103.1 The Buzz.

103.1 FM used to be WPBZ, which got its callsign because it was an affiliate of the "Z Rock" radio network. It became "103.1 The Buzz" on July 3, 1995.

On December 5, 2011, WPBZ changed its format to adult top 40, branded as Now 103.1. The Buzz active rock format moved to the HD2 subchannel, replacing the alternative-formatted Buzz Lite. It was the second hot AC station under CBS Radio using the Now FM branding, the first being on Sacramento, California's KZZO. It was reported as a CHR by CBS Radio, but due to most of the rap being on sister rhythmic contemporary station WMBX.

On April 10, 2012, CBS Radio announced that it was selling WPBZ and its sister stations to Dean Goodman's Palm Beach Broadcasting for $50 million, pending FCC approval. On June 1, 2012, the country radio station WIRK relocated to the 103.1 frequency, replacing the ill-fated Now format.

Later in 2013, Palm Beach Broadcasting and its sister company GoodRadio.TV was merged into Goodman's larger holding company Digity, LLC. Digity was in turn acquired by Alpha Media in February 2016.

On September 27, 2018, Alpha Media announced the sale of its West Palm Beach stations to Hubbard Broadcasting. The sale was consummated on January 23, 2019 at a purchase price of $88 million. WIRK rebranded as New Country 103.1 on July 22, 2019, with no change in format.

Programming

As WPBZ, the station had a morning show called The Morning Buzz. The station also syndicated The Howard Stern Show, The David Lee Roth Show, and the Opie & Anthony Show until October 29, 2007. The original program director for The Buzz was Amy Doyle, now of MTV. John O'Connell had been the Program Director/Operations Manager since 1996.

Specialty music shows included Buzz Junior, which aired Sunday nights at 10:00pm with host Jeremy Steve Clark and featured new music, unsigned local bands, indie bands, and classic songs; and Rock Hard Buzz, which aired Saturday nights at 11:00pm with host Metal Mick and featured mostly heavy metal.

Buzz Bake Sale

The Buzz hosted an all-day music festival each year called the "Buzz Bake Sale" which was one of the largest annual music festivals in South Florida. It was usually held on the first Saturday in December in West Palm Beach. The show was always held at the Cruzan Amphitheatre. The name was chosen because the first two years featured 13 bands (a "baker's dozen" of bands).

Band lineups

1996: Black River Circus, Local H, Muzzle, Orange 9mm, Patti Rothberg, Pluto, Howlin' Maggie, Primitive Radio Gods, Velocity Girl (their farewell show), Evan Dando (of The Lemonheads, acoustic), Soul Coughing, Butthole Surfers, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

1997: Wobble, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Superdrag, Marcy Playground, Lazlo Bane, The Honeyrods, Save Ferris, Echo & the Bunnymen, Dance Hall Crashers, Less Than Jake, MxPx, Goldfinger, and Green Day.

1998: Athenaeum, The Amazing Royal Crowns, Alien Fashion Show, Sprung Monkey, Shawn Mullins, Possum Dixon, The Urge, Reel Big Fish, Gravity Kills, Soul Coughing, Seven Mary Three, Dishwalla, Better Than Ezra, Fuel, and Goo Goo Dolls.

1999: Bolt Upright, Showoff, The Sheila Divine, Pennywise, Staind, Local H, Joydrop, Stroke 9, Citizen King, Marvelous 3, Powerman 5000, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Guster, Kottonmouth Kings, and Kid Rock.

2000: Orbit, 8Stops7, Wheatus, Veruca Salt, 6Gig, The Union Underground, Harvey Danger, U.P.O., Local H, Our Lady Peace, Fuel, Eve 6, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Everclear, and Foo Fighters. MxPx was scheduled to play but canceled. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ended up playing two sets.

2001: Handsome Devil, New Found Glory, Reveille, Sugarcult, Alien Ant Farm, Jimmy Eat World, Stroke 9, Sum 41, M.A.S.K., Adema, Drowning Pool, Tantric, Lit, Static-X, Disturbed, and Staind.

2002: Marc Copely, Socialburn, OK Go, Seether, Blindside, SR-71, Authority Zero, Bowling for Soup, N*E*R*D, Earshot, Nonpoint, Our Lady Peace, Everclear, Unwritten Law, Good Charlotte, Hoobastank, and Cypress Hill.

2003: M.A.S.K., The Ataris, Switchfoot, Something Corporate, Yellowcard, Fuel, Sevendust, Alien Ant Farm, Jet, Hoobastank, One, Trapt, Eve 6, Smile Empty Soul, Less Than Jake, and Die Trying.

2004: Lit, Taking Back Sunday, The Explosion, The Presidents of the United States of America, One, Muse, Lostprophets, Sevendust, Kottonmouth Kings, The Music, Story of the Year, Nonpoint, Skindred, New Found Glory, The Used, and Korn.

2005: Morningwood, On Watership Down, Sunny Ledfurd, The Fray, Pepper, Art of Dying, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Socialburn, Taproot, Nonpoint, One, Hot Hot Heat, Local H, Story of the Year, Trapt, Our Lady Peace, My Chemical Romance, and Staind.

2006: Cartel, Kill Hannah, One, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Flyleaf, Sugarcult, Reel Big Fish, Anberlin, Buckcherry, Hawthorne Heights, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Three Days Grace, Taking Back Sunday, Papa Roach, and My Chemical Romance.

2007: Sick Puppies, Fiction Plane, The Starting Line, The Almost, Saosin, Silversun Pickups, Against Me!, Chevelle, Nonpoint, Coheed and Cambria, Paramore, The Used, Rise Against, Three Days Grace, and Papa Roach.

2008: Sponge, Anberlin, Jack's Mannequin, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Flogging Molly, Saving Abel, Mayday Parade, Pepper, Flobots, Skindred, Hawthorne Heights, Reel Big Fish, Saliva, Atreyu, Shinedown, and Avenged Sevenfold.

2009: Ladies and Gentlemen, Halestorm, After Midnight Project, Fall of Envy, Transmit Now, Metric, Say Anything, Dharmata, Manchester Orchestra, Sick Puppies, Anberlin, The Mission Veo, Our Lady Peace, Cage the Elephant, Atom Smash, Panic! at the Disco, Skindred, The Used, Matisyahu, Chevelle, and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

2010: Stellar Revival, D.V.N.O., Hollywood Love Scene, A Silent Film, American Bang, New Politics, Hawthorne Heights, A Day to Remember, Paper Tongues, Fall of Envy, Against Me!, Leading the Heroes, Sick Puppies, Anberlin, Atom Smash, Switchfoot, Pepper, The Dirty Heads (featuring Rome Ramirez), Chevelle, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Finger Eleven.

2011: Falling in Reverse, One:, Middle Class Rut, Everlast, Art of Dying, Hinder, Behold the Wolf, Adelitas Way, Chevelle, Dharmata, Fallen From The Sky, Seether, and Awolnation. (Staind was the original headliner)

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID WIRK ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database