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{{about|radio station WNIO in [[Youngstown, Ohio]]|the radio station serving [[Niles, Ohio]] which carried the call letters from 1963 to 1990, and from 1995 to 1999|WYOH}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WNIO
| logo             = Y-Town Gambler.png
| logo_size        = 175px
| city             = [[Youngstown, Ohio]]
| area             = [[Youngstown metropolitan area]]<br>[[Mahoning Valley]]
| branding         = ''1390 The Gambler''
| frequency        = {{Frequency|1390|[[Hertz#SI multiples|kHz]]}}
| airdate          = {{start date|1939|9|7}} (as WFMJ)
| format           = [[Sports radio|Sports]]
| power            = 9,500 [[watt]]s day<br>4,800 watts night
| class            = B
| facility_id      = 13669
| coordinates      = {{coord|41|7|17|N|80|42|5|W}} (day)<br>{{coord|40|59|11|N|80|35|54|W}} (night)
| callsign_meaning = Previously used on the former WNIO (1540&nbsp;AM) in [[Niles, Ohio|<u>NI</u>les, <u>O</u>hio]], now [[WYOH]]
| former_callsigns = WFMJ (1939–1990)<br>WHOT (1990–1995)<br>WRTK (1995–1999)
| affiliations     = [[Fox Sports Radio]]<br>[[Vegas Stats & Information Network|VSiN Radio]]<br>[[Pittsburgh Steelers Radio Network]]<br>[[Ohio State Sports Network]]<br>[[Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network]]
| owner            = [[iHeartMedia, Inc.]]
| licensee         = iHM Licenses, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WAKZ]], [[WBBG]], [[WKBN (AM)|WKBN]], [[WMXY]], [[WNCD]]
| webcast          = {{iHeartRadio|1390-the-gambler-2760}}
| website          = {{URL|https://1390thegambler.iheart.com}}
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}

'''WNIO''' (1390 [[AM broadcasting|AM]] - branded '''1390 The Gambler''') — is an American [[radio station]] in [[Youngstown, Ohio]] with a [[sports radio|sports talk]] [[radio format]], serving as the Youngstown affiliate for [[Fox Sports Radio]] and [[Vegas Stats & Information Network|VSiN Radio]].  WNIO also carries [[Ohio State University]] [[American football|football]] and [[basketball]], [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] football, and the [[Indianapolis 500]] from the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network]].

==History==
The station was founded in 1939 as WFMJ by William F. Maag, Jr. from whose initials the call letters were derived. Maag was also publisher of ''[[The Vindicator|The Youngstown Vindicator]]''. It was originally at 1420&nbsp;kHz, and moved to 1450&nbsp;kHz during the [[North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement|NARBA]] frequency shift on March 29, 1941. It moved to its present location 1390&nbsp;kHz during the mid-1940s. During the 1940s and early 1950s WFMJ was an affiliate of the Blue Network and its successor ABC.

In 1948, Maag launched WFMJ-FM at 105.1&nbsp;MHz; the FM station is now [[WQXK]]. On March 8, 1953, Maag started Youngstown's second television station [[WFMJ|WFMJ-TV]] on channel 73. The television station moved to its present location, channel 21, on August 7, 1954. WFMJ later aired a [[Top 40]] music format.

The station ran an [[adult contemporary]] music format until 1989 when it flipped to adult standards for a short time. The AM station changed its callsign to WHOT on April 23, 1990, when it was sold by its original owners to the owner of [[WHOT-FM]], and it used the historic call sign from the former Top 40 AM station that originally broadcast daytime only on 1570&nbsp;kHz and later full-time on 1330&nbsp;kHz. Four years later, it was sold to Connoisseur Communications, and it changed to WRTK on February 15, 1995, assuming a talk radio format as "Real Talk 1390."

In order to obtain Justice Department approval to purchase [[WQXK]] (FM) and [[WRQX (AM)|WSOM]] (AM),<ref>[http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/October97/441at.htm.html #441: 10-23-97 - Connoisseur Communications Gets Justice Department Clearance to Acquire Two Youngstown, Ohio Radio Stations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Connoisseur was forced to sell WRTK as well as [[WBBG]] (FM). The stations were sold on February 23, 1998 to a subsidiary of Bain Gocom, the Boston venture capital company that was a major investor in WKBN-TV's former parent company. In a few months, [[Jacor Communications]] entered into a [[Local marketing agreement|LMA]] with Bain Gocom for all of their radio stations in Youngstown and New Castle, including WRTK and WBBG. Combined with Jacor's existing station holdings in the area - and a merger with Clear Channel months later - ten stations were under the same operational and management control in the New Castle/Youngstown region.

The station became WNIO on November 1, 1999, after Clear Channel relocated WNIO's adult standards format and callsign from the daytime-only 1540&nbsp;kHz facility in [[Niles, Ohio]] (that station would assume the [[WRTK]] calls and would be spun off to different owners in early 2001).

Clear Channel Communications purchased WNIO along with [[WNCD]] (which switched dial positions with WBBG in late 2000) and [[WAKZ]] from Bain in 2005, after it had dropped its petition on January 14, 2004 to purchase those three stations along with [[WYLE (FM)|WICT]] due to FCC objections,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.business-journal.com/archives/20040311andreawood.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040821091412/http://business-journal.com/archives/20040311andreawood.asp |archive-date=2004-08-21 |title=Media Scope}}</ref> and also included Clear Channel selling off their station clusters in New Castle and [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]] to Forever Broadcasting, LLC.

From 2000 until 2010, WNIO also served as the flagship station for [[Mahoning Valley Scrappers]] minor league [[baseball]].

In November 2010, Clear Channel announced that WNIO would drop its standards format in favor of [[Fox Sports Radio]] on December 27. The move will coincide with the displacement of the network from crosstown [[WHTX (AM)|WANR]] 1570 AM in [[Warren, Ohio|Warren]], which switched back to its former [[classic hits]] format under the moniker "The Blizzard."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/nov/02/gross-revenues-for-movies-for-the-weeken/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320083150/http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/nov/02/gross-revenues-for-movies-for-the-weeken/ |archive-date=2012-03-20 |title=Youngstown News, Gross revenues for movies for the weekend of Oct. 29-31 in U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to}}</ref> This is one of two Standards stations changing their format in the Youngstown region. Cumulus owned WSOM AM 600 has flipped to News Talk on December 13 of 2010.

On September 7, 2020, WNIO rebranded as "1390 The Gambler", becoming the second iHeart sports station in Ohio to carry the "Gambler" name (after Cleveland market station [[WARF]] AM 1350).  With the new branding, WNIO also added sports gambling oriented programming from [[VSiN|the BetR Network]], during the evenings.  Fox Sports Radio however still comprises the bulk of the daily and weekend schedule.<ref>[https://radioinsight.com/headlines/197290/iheart-brings-the-gambler-to-youngstown/ iHeart Brings The Gambler To Youngstown] Radioinsight - September 8, 2020</ref>

==Former logos==
[[Image:WNIO logo.png|200px]]
[[Image:WNIO-AM 1390 2010 radio logo.png|200px]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.maag.ysu.edu/oralhistory/cd1/OH236.pdf WFMJ Oral History, Transcript of interview of Bill Crooks]
{{AM station data|13669|WNIO}}

{{Youngstown Radio}}
{{Sports Radio Stations in Ohio}}
{{Fox Sports Radio stations}}
{{IHeartMedia}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Youngstown, Ohio|NIO]]
[[Category:Sports radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Fox Sports Radio stations]]
[[Category:IHeartMedia radio stations]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1939]]
[[Category:1939 establishments in Ohio]]