WHTE-FM is a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

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

Ruckersville, Virginia Ruckersville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greene County, Virginia, United States, located in a rural area north of Charlottesville. The population as of the 2020 Estimate was 1,321, a 17.7% increase from the 2010 census with 1,141. Th ...

, serving

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 Ch ...

and Central Virginia. WHTE-FM is owned and operated by

Monticello Media Monticello Media is a broadcast corporation that operates six radio stations and two translators in the Charlottesville, Virginia area. The company was formed in 2007 following the purchase of stations previously owned by Clear Channel Communic ...

History

Ridge Broadcasting Corporation obtained a permit for new station WXZY on 92.1 MHz in 1989. The initial transmitter site was a flat area near the intersection of

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington me ...

and

U.S. Route 33 U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north– ...

in Ruckersville, which had Charlottesville on the edge of its local-grade service area. The station signed on in March 1990 with an

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 station evidently had difficulty covering Charlottesville, as Ridge filed in 1992 to move to a higher transmitter site on Snow Mountain west of

Stanardsville Stanardsville is a town in Greene County, Virginia, United States. The population was 349 at the 2020 census, down from 367 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greene County. The name is from Robert Stanard, a benefactor who donated lan ...

, increase power, and change frequencies to 101.9 MHz. 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 ...

granted permission to build on November 11, 1992. In late November 1992, the station's new facilities went live, and it switched its branding to "Y101.9" WVSY, while keeping the adult contemporary format. Ridge sold the station to Jay Hicks' Radio Piedmont in 1995. This was followed the next year by a sale to Clark Broadcasting Company, owner of

WCYK-FM WCYK-FM (99.7 FM) is a country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Staunton, Virginia, serving Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Staunton in Virginia. WCYK-FM is owned and operated by Monticello Media. History WANV-FM signed on A ...

(99.7 MHz) and WVAO-FM (102.3 FM). Clear Channel entered the Charlottesville market by buying Clark's three FM stations in June 1999. After taking control, Clear Channel first flipped the station to

rhythmic oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic ...

. As that format proved to be a short-lived fad, the station flipped again to

as "Hot 101.9" WHTE-FM in February 2001. Clear Channel announced a sale of its entire Charlottesville cluster to George Reed's Sistema 102, LLC on June 27, 2007. Sistema 102 later changed its name to

. Monticello did not change the station's identity upon assuming control in October 2007.

Translator

WHTE-FM has one translator to help the

rimshot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the rim and head of a drum with a drum stick. The sound and various techniques The sound of rimshots can be ...

main signal cover downtown Charlottesville. The translator went to air in February 2006.

References

External links

Hot 101-9 Online
* 1990 establishments in Virginia Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1990 HTE-FM Greene County, Virginia {{Virginia-radio-station-stub