The call letters “WANY” will remain the same, but the spot on the dial for the local AM/FM radio station will soon change, possibly as early as this coming weekend.

Although the exact changeover date wasn’t finalized as of press time Tuesday morning, WANY will soon move from its current 106.3 FM location on the radio dial to 100.9. So, if listeners turn on to the current spot on the dial and nothing is there, they want to go back to the new frequency that is coming at 100.9FM.

The change in the frequency, approved by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) as part of a multi-station changeover to improve the quality and power of each station, has been in the works with a Glasgow, Kentucky station owner since late 2008 and is finally becoming a reality for those stations, including WANY.

The change in the spot on the dial, however, is not the major focus of the planned overall improvements, but rather the changes and upgrades that will be coming to the local station in the weeks and months ahead, according to station owner Pam Allred.

The best news for listeners is that the station will more than double its power wattage output, meaning a stronger, long-distance signal to several areas not currently being reached by WANY AM or FM.

The current FCC allowed power wattage for the station is 2,700 watts and will increase to 6,000 watts once the new transmitter tower and inside transmitters and equipment are switched over. That part of the change may come as early as this Friday, October 5 but if not that date, definitely within the coming weeks.

Listeners should be advised that when the new higher tower and equipment is installed, the station will be off the air for one day for the installation to take place. People should listen to the station for more definite days in the near future.

The change in frequency and increase in power wattage will be the most major change, but listeners can also expect several other changes in the months ahead–including automation. Although daytime and early evening hours with live DJ’s will remain about the same, in the months ahead, possibly by the end of the year or early 2013, WANY will be included as being a 24-hour a day FM station.

Another change being planned as of now is separating the AM, which will remain at 1390 on the dial, and making it an all gospel format to be on the air daytime only, generally between hours of sunrise to sunset, or as otherwise approved by the FCC.

Allred also said with the changes, she hopes to upgrade news and weather information, especially having upgraded weather information available to listeners directly from National Weather Service sources at all hours of the day and night, whether the station is manned manually or not.

Regular programming, otherwise, will remain the same with such programs as the Trading Post, local live sports broadcasts, live remotes of events, etc. will still be heard on WANY.

Anyone who has visited the radio station over the past couple of weeks have noted all the new equipment in the lobby of the station and hopefully that equipment will soon be installed.

The entire process to make the complete changes to automation, including new equipment inside the station and separating the AM and FM transmitters, will not take place overnight, but will occur over a period of a few months and more complete details on some of the changes will be published in later issues.

Allred also noted that the major changes that are about to take place are coming at a good time for her and the station’s employees–the month of October. WANY will be celebrating its 54th anniversary later this month, having first gone on the air October 26, 1958.