In 1939, a construction permit was issued to the Fort Myers Broadcasting Company to build a 250-watt radio station. WFTM began broadcasting the following year, Southwest Florida's first radio station. It switched its call sign to WAAC in 1942, becoming an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network, airing its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts during the Golden Age of Radio. The call letters changed to WINK in 1944, with a boost in power to 1,000 watts by day, but still running 250 watts at night. In 1954, Channel 11 WINK-TV went on the air. Because 1240 WINK was a CBS affiliate, WINK-TV also carried CBS programs, and still is Fort Myers' CBS affiliate today, even though it is under different ownership now. 96.9 WINK-FMsigned on in 1964, and is still co-owned with the TV station, but not with 1240 WFSX. In the 1970s and ‘80s, 1240 WINK carried a full service format, playing Middle of the Road music and running CBS News at the beginning of each hour. By the 1990s, the music had been eliminated and the station concentrated on news and talk. Between 1999 and 2003, the WINK call letters moved to AM 1200, with AM 1240 renamed WTLQ. Both stations ran separate talk programming. From 2003 to 2010, the WINK call sign returned to AM 1240. Then in 2010, the WINK call letters again moved to 1200 AM, as 1240 began a simulcast with co-owned 92.5 WFSX-FM, airing different talk shows than 1200 AM.
History of WNOG
On October 14, 1954, WNOG first signed on. In the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, WNOG carried a full service format, playing Middle of the Road music and running NBC News at the beginning of each hour. In 1971, the station added an FM counterpart, 93.5 WNOG-FM. By the 1980s, WNOG had become a talk station, carrying programming from NBC Talknet and the ABC Talkradio Network. Even though 1240 in Fort Myers and 1270 in Naples were separately owned, they began sharing talk shows, simulcast on both stations. In 2006, both stations came under common ownership when 1240 WINK was acquired by the Meredith Corporation, which already owned WNOG. Meredith later sold both stations to their current owner, Sun Broadcasting.
Switch to Sports Programming
Sun Broadcasting announced that as of July 22, 2013, Fox News and Talk programming would be dropped on 1240 AM and 1270 AM. The stations became affiliates of NBC Sports Radio on July 22, 2013 at 6:00 a.m. On October 17, 2016, WFWN changed its call letters to WFSX and rebranded as "Fox Sports FM," to stress the FM translators.
Translators
On July 3, 2015, Sun Broadcasting acquired 97.3 W247AQ in Tropical Gulf Acres, Florida from Reach Communications for $35,000, to rebroadcast WFSX. Effective April 20, 2017, the translator was relocated to Naples as W290DB, rebroadcasting WNOG at 105.9 FM. Two other translators were set up in Fort Myers and Bayshore to rebroadcast WFSX.
