Rewind 93.5 broadcasts classic hits to Springfield, Illinois, but the frequency underneath it has been on the air far longer than the format currently riding it. The station is a digital HD subchannel and FM translator carried by WDBR, a Springfield fixture that first signed on in April 1948, making it the oldest continuously operating FM station in the market and giving Rewind 93.5 a genuinely deep-rooted signal to work from.
A Frequency That Has Worn Many Formats
WDBR launched as WTAX-FM in 1948, initially simulcasting its AM sister station before adopting a beautiful music format in the 1960s built around soft instrumental covers and show tunes. It rebranded as WDBR in January 1972, switching to Drake-Chenault's syndicated "Solid Gold" format, a blend of adult-appeal Top 40 and rock oldies delivered through automated programming, then moved to a locally voicetracked Top 40 sound by late 1973 under the branding Music 104. The station shifted to fully live programming in the early 1990s under Sentry Insurance ownership to fend off growing competition, a change that helped it reclaim its position as a leading Top 40 outlet in Springfield.
Surviving a Tornado
The station's shared tower with WTAX, standing since 1949, was destroyed during the severe tornado outbreak of March 2006, forcing a full rebuild of its transmitting equipment. That the station kept broadcasting through infrastructure loss on that scale says something about the operational depth behind a frequency that, on the surface, now just plays classic hits through an HD subchannel most listeners never think twice about.
Part of a Four-Decade-Old Local Group
WDBR and Rewind 93.5 operate under Saga Communications' Capitol Radio Group, which has run Springfield radio stations for nearly forty years since Ed Christian's company acquired WDBR, WYMG and WTAX in the mid-1980s. Saga formally took over operations in 1996 and completed the acquisition in 1997, building out a cluster that today includes WTAX, WQQL, WYMG, WLFZ and WDBR's own HD subchannels. Rewind 93.5 itself launched as WDBR's HD4 stream in July 2019, reaching FM listeners through the 93.5 translator W228DL rather than a standalone license, a common way modern radio groups add niche formats without applying for new spectrum.
Classic Hits on a Historic Signal
Rewind 93.5's programming, a mix of classic rock, pop and soul spanning multiple decades, is a familiar format nationally, but the frequency carrying it has a specific local history: a Springfield station that outlasted a tornado, several ownership changes and at least four format overhauls since 1948. That is the kind of durability that rarely shows up in a station's on-air identity but shapes what keeps a signal like this one running.