WHAN is an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

formatted

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

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 ...

licensed to

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is named after the Lexi ...

, serving Ashland and

Hanover County, Virginia Hanover County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover Courthouse. Hanover County is a part of the Greater Richmond Region. History Located in the wester ...

as well as the northern half of the Metro

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

region. WHAN is owned by Stu-Comm, Inc. WHAN currently simulcasts

WNRN WNRN (91.9 FM) is a Public Radio, Adult album alternative, and formatted radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Central and Western Virginia. WNRN is owned and operated by Stu-Comm, Inc. History In 1993, Mike Friend, a for ...

History

On February 1, 2015,

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

-based

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

WTJU WTJU is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. WTJU is owned and operated by University of Virginia. History WTJU was founded in 1955 when ...

began simulcasting its programming on WHAN in an attempt to use its FM translator to reach the Richmond market. WTJU operated the station daily from 1am to 6pm as part of a three-year

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

. Through a separate agreement with WTJU,

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

webcaster

WVCW WVCW's origins began in 1968 in the basement of the Millheiser House as a carrier current AM radio station known as WJRB, which stood for James River Broadcasting. After a successful run as WJRB, the station changed its call letters in apx 1977 to ...

broadcast on WHAN Monday through Thursday from 6pm to 1am and Friday from 9pm to 1am, with additional broadcasting time allowed for special events. Local programming filled the remaining timeslots 6pm-9pm on Friday evenings and 6pm-1am on weekends. WTJU terminated the local marketing agreement effective August 16, 2017, citing financial reasons. WHAN returned to a locally programmed music format, branded "102.9 The Mater", which it described as a mix of classic

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

and 1990s

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

but has transitioned since 2018 to "The RVA's Best Music Variety" featuring artists and genres from the past 65 years. On August 10, 2020, Fifth Estate Broadcasting filed an agreement to donate WHAN and W275BQ to Stu-Comm, Inc., operator of Charlottesville-based

station

, which complements its existing Richmond pair of

WFTH WFTH (1590 AM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, and serving the Greater Richmond Region. WFTH is owned and operated by Stu-Comm, Inc. It airs an adult album alternative radio format, simulcasting sister st ...

(1590 AM) and W203CB (88.5 FM). This action came less than a week after the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) repealed a longstanding rule that prevented co-owned AM stations with overlapping signals from broadcasting the same programming. The sale was completed on October 9, 2020. WHAN and W275BQ now simulcast WNRN.

Translator

In addition to the main station, WHAN is relayed by an FM translator to replicate the daytime signal of 1430 AM on the FM dial 24 hours a day.

References

External links

WHAN Online
{{Richmond Radio 1962 establishments in Virginia Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States Community radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1962

HAN Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...