WBCV(107.9 FM, "The Big Cheese") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting an adult hits/

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. Licensed to

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city into east and west. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and ...

, United States, the station serves the Wausau-

Stevens Point Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. The city was incorporated in 1858. Its 2020 population of 25,666 makes it the largest city in the county. Stevens Point forms the core of the United States Census Bur ...

area. The station is currently owned by

NRG Media NRG Media is a media company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and was founded in 2005. History NRG Media was founded on March 1, 2005, as a result of a merger of NewRadio Group and the radio assets of Waitt Media. At its inception it was t ...

, LLC. Its 100,000 watt signal can be heard as far west as Eau Claire, as far south as

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, and as far east as Brillion and Green Bay. It can also be heard as far north as

Ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in E ...

. Under certain conditions, it can be heard as far east as Manistee,

Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

, and Ludington.

History

During the construction phase of the station (early 1980s), the selected call letters were WXCO-FM. The call letters were named after its sister station WXCO-AM. It was later determined the station would not be a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

of WXCO. Shortly before sign-on in October 1984, Seehafer Broadcasting changed the station call letters to WYCO-FM. The station signed on using Unistar's

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format. The positioning statement was "Y-108". At that time, WYCO-FM was only a satellite receiver and several cart/tape machines. The on-air announcer at WXCO would manually load commercials and local pre-recorded announcements for each local commercial break. Despite WYCO not having a live studio or a way to produce local programming on its own, "Y-108" became the #1 radio station in the Wausau market in 1985. It has not been #1 since. Other positioning statements used were "The Great Y-108", and "Y-108 Come on Up To The Music". NRGStudios WBCV WGLX WYTE WLJY

The station had struggles with ratings and advertising revenue in the late 1980s. The automation system for WYCO-FM was moved to WXCO-AM, and the station went live. Adding the services of McVay Media in 1992, the station showed some potential in the Spring '93 book, but continued to struggle afterwards with live talent. In the mid-1990s, the station started to phase back in syndicated programming (adding

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

, and using

Jones Radio Networks Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

format during the overnight and weekends). Advertising revenue and ratings were still a major problem for the station. The station made several attempts to find a niche identity to increase listeners and revenue. WYCO-FM experimented with variations of

, Top 40 (CHR), and

Modern AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

formats, but had little success. In 2004, management decided to take an entirely new direction. Adult hits stations like

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand, licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs. Format c ...

and

Bob FM BOB FM is the on-air brand of a number of FM radio stations in the United States and formerly in Canada. The BOB FM format mostly concentrates on album rock, alternative rock and pop hits from the 1980s and 90s, especially those popular during t ...

were becoming the latest fad in radio formats. The station decided to take on different call letters and try a new developing format. The call letters became WLRK ("Rock-it 107.9"), "Rockin' Hits of the '70s, '80s, and '90s". The station had much better results. The station was sold from Seehafer Broadcasting to

in June 2006. "Rock-it 107.9" became "Big Cheese 107.9" and call letters were changed from WLRK to WBCV. The "Big Cheese" slogan and the adult hits/

format continues today.

References

External links

* {{NRG Media

BCV BCV could refer to: Places * Bruce Grove railway station, London, England Airports * Birchwood Airport (FAA LID code), an airport near Birchwood, Alaska * Hector Silva Airstrip (IATA code), Belmopan, Belize Banks * Central Bank of Venezuela * ...

NRG Media radio stations