WFOM is an Atlanta-area radio station broadcasting on a frequency of 1230 kHz. The radio station is licensed to the city ofMarietta, Georgia, and currently is an Fox Sports Radio affiliate. WFOM, along with WCNN and WIFN, are owned by Dickey Broadcasting. The broadcast facilities are in Buckhead, even though the signal is weak in that area.
History
WFOM was known around Marietta, Georgia and Cobb County for its Top 40 format during the 1960s & 1970s. Despite a rather inferior signal, WFOM regularly placed within the top-five of rated Atlanta-area stations, Metro-wide. The Top 40 success of the station, which included prominence in the music industry, influenced Jerry Crowe, the radio executive co-owner in co-creating Video Concert Hall, precursor to MTV. WFOM ended its somewhat unusual format in June 1983. The last song that was played in that format was Barbara Mandrell's "In Times Like These". The next morning, WFOM started playing Contemporary Christian music. WFOM was known for breaking many new artists to the Atlanta-area audience over many years, including instrumental California-based surf acts, prior to the national breakout of the Beach Boys in 1963. WFOM was way ahead of its Atlanta-based competitors in adding many Soul tunes to its playlist in the mid to late 1960s, by acts such as The Chambers Brothers, Dyke & the Blazers and Johnny Nash. Also added were notable Album/Progressiverock cuts by Deep Purple, Janis Joplin, Vanilla Fudge, Jimi Hendrix and others, while the station maintained a "typical" Top 40-AM presentation style. WFOM was by far the first Metro station to air "The Ballad of John & Yoko", "Time" by The Chambers Brothers, "Oh Well" by the pre-pop Fleetwood Mac and "No Time" by The Guess Who, as well as cuts by groups such as Blondie and Culture Club. When Dickey acquired the station in the mid 1990s, the format changed to a quick information format specifically for Cobb County, Georgia. After that failed, the station became a simulcast of WCNN's sports format. In 2004, WFOM switched to a simulcast of WALR's talk format. In 2005, when WALR flipped to Spanish sports, the talk format remained on WFOM. In 2007 WALR briefly simulcast WFOM once again, only to drop the simulcast for sports as a Fox Sports Radio affiliate. On August 17, 2015, ESPN Radio returned to the station from WQXI. The station has since switched to a Fox Sports Radio affiliation, with parent WCNN picking up ESPN Radio. In 2015, WFOM and WIFN became the flagship stations of Kennesaw State Owls football. On January 4, 2018, WFOM rebranded as "The Sports X".
Station alumni
Former on-air staff include Barry Chase and Scott Woodside, Jack Hurst, Rick Ellis, Stan Mason, Dale Deason, Keith Connors, Dennis Allen, Larry Shierbecker, Connie Prichard, Tony Lype, Dain Schult, Scott Evans, Big Hugh "Baby" Jarrett, Garry Kinsey, Oscar Woodall, Mike Adams, Mike Durrett, Bob Middleton, Bob Owens/Bob Casey, Pete Owen, Boomer, Red Jones, Pepper Martin, Jack Jackson, Pat Kelly, David Lloyd, Randy K. Riggs, Barry Brooks, John L. Callihan, Mark Shierbecker, Scott Richards , Jon Kirby, Don Yow, Darlene Wofford, Mark McCain, Ross Brittian, Gene Lovin, John Drake, Vicki Kay, Herb Emory, John Long, Gary Pearcey, Bill Duncan, Rebecca Stevens, Vic Jester, Greg McClure, and David Raye, plus Wolfman Jack as a visiting DJ for one show.
