WWWV

WWWV
City Charlottesville, Virginia
Broadcast area Central Virginia
Central Shenandoah Valley
Branding 97-5 3WV
Slogan Iconic Rock
Frequency 97.5 MHz
First air date March 5, 1960
Format Classic Rock
ERP 8,900 Watts
HAAT 345 meters (1,132 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 19837
Transmitter coordinates 37°59′5.0″N 78°28′49.0″W / 37.984722°N 78.480278°W / 37.984722; -78.480278
Former callsigns WCCV-FM (1960-1977)[1]
Owner Saga Communications
(Saga Communications of Charlottesville, LLC)
Sister stations WCNR, WINA, WQMZ, WVAX
Webcast WWWV Webstream
Website WWWV Online

WWWV (97.5 FM) is a classic rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, and serves Central Virginia and the Central Shenandoah Valley. WWWV is owned and operated by Saga Communications.[2]

History

WCCV-FM signed on March 5, 1960, with a middle-of-the-road format of post-war pop and light classical music. WCCV-FM was co-owned with WCHV (1260 kHz) by Roger and Louise Neuhoff's Eastern Broadcasting Corporation.[3] In December 1968, WCCV-FM and WCHV were sold to Charlottesville resident Edward S. Evans, Jr.[4] Two years later, the station flipped to country music during the day and a simulcast of WCHV's adult contemporary format between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. On May 1, 1971, WCCV-FM switched again to beautiful music.[5] In 1973, Evans sold the two stations to Lyell B. Clay's Clay Broadcasting, owner of several newspapers and television stations, most notably WWAY of Wilmington, but no other radio stations.[6]

On January 10, 1977, the station adopted its current identity – album-oriented rock music, the branding "3WV", and the callsign WWWV.[7]

Clay sold all of his broadcasting interests in 1987-88; WWWV and WCHV went to Eure Communications, then-owners of WXEZ Yorktown.[8] In 1998, Eure combined WWWV with Charlottesville Broadcasting Corporation's WINA (1070 kHz) and WQMZ (95.1 MHz) in a merger deal. Eure was ordered by the Department of Justice to spin off the merger's two remaining stations – WCHV and WKAV (1400 kHz) – to Clear Channel, as FCC regulators took issue with Eure's potential ownership of five stations in the small market. (The FCC under a different leadership permitted Clear Channel to own six stations just five years later.) [9][10]

Saga Communications bought Eure's three-station cluster in 2004.[11]

WWWV took over as the FM home of Virginia Cavaliers football and men's basketball at the beginning of the 2003-04 football season, complementing longtime state network flagship WINA.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "FCC History Card for WWWV".
  2. ↑ "WWWV Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ Staff (May 2, 1960). "On-the-air" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 56.
  4. ↑ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 4, 1967. p. 34.
  5. ↑ Staff (May 15, 1971). "WCCV-FM Goes Soft" (PDF). Billboard. p. 27.
  6. ↑ "Ownership changes" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 24, 1973. p. 82.
  7. ↑ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 24, 1977. p. 67.
  8. ↑ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 25, 1988. p. 83.
  9. ↑ Spencer, Hawes (March 13, 2003). "MIXed message: Will FCC "clear" WUMX sale?". The Hook (210).
  10. ↑ Brown, Sara (November 10, 1997). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. p. 133.
  11. ↑ Jaquith, Waldo (October 13, 2004). "Eure Communications To Be Sold". CVilleNews.
  12. ↑ "Radio Station WWWV-FM To Carry Virginia Football And Men'sBasketball Games In Charlottesville Area".
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