WKVV (101.7 FM) 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 ...

licensed to Searsport, Maine, United States. Established in 1994 as WBYA, the station serves the Bangor area. The stations is owned by the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

. The station carries

's K-LOVE Christian music format, simulcasting co-owned

WKVZ WKVZ (102.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format. Licensed to Dexter, Maine, United States, the station serves the Bangor area. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation and features programming fro ...

History

Prior to simulcasting K-LOVE, the station was an oldies station simulcasting co-owned

WGUY WGUY (1230 AM) is a radio station licensed to Veazie, Maine, United States. It is owned by Port Broadcasting, LLC. The station signed on in November 2011 as a simulcast of co-owned WNZS. In May 2012 WGUY broke away from the WNZS simulcast, a ...

and a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

station, owned by

Clear Channel Broadcasting iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

. Over Clear Channel's nearly 7 years of ownership the station shifted from

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 ...

, all while carrying the syndicated

Bob & Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Premiere ...

. Previous to Clear Channel's ownership, the station was owned by Moonsong Communications, owners of WVOM where it was an

Adult Alternative Rock An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

station and simulcasted WVOM for a time. During the 1990s it known as "The Wave" and with the call letters WBYA (no relation to the current

WBYA WBYA (105.5 FM; "The Wolf") is a radio station licensed to Islesboro, Maine, United States. The station serves the Mid Coast area with a country music format. The station is owned by Binnie Media, and broadcasts from a transmitter on U.S. 1 sout ...

105.5 in

Camden, Maine Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coas ...

) simulcasting the classical music of WAVX in Thomaston (now

WBQX WBQX (106.9 FM, "Frank FM") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits music format. Licensed to Thomaston, Maine, United States, it serves the Mid Coast region. It first began broadcasting in 1992 in radio, 1992 under the call sign WAVX. Th ...

). From 2001 to 2003 and 2004-2006 WFZX was simulcasted on 97.7

WNSX WNSX (97.7 MHz Star 97.7) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting a classic hits radio format. The station signed on in 1999 as WNSX. Licensed to Winter Harbor, Maine, the station's studios and offices are on Maine State Route 3 (High Str ...

Winter Harbor. From January 2001 to August 2006 the station primarily focused on Classic rock artists such as

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

. In September 2006, a shift in programming occurred, playing newer acts such as

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

, Three Doors Down,

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first a ...

and

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

and still playing harder edged classic rock artists like

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

. A year later, the station would dump the general rock format for Bangor's first modern rock station since the demise of 97X in the 1990s (Now

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

WBFB WBFB (97.1 MHz, "97-1 The Bear") is a commercial FM radio station in Bangor, Maine. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format, simulcast on sister stations WBFE in Bar Harbor and WMCM in Rockland. T ...

). The station also carried

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

football from 2002 to 2005 and

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

racing from

Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of N ...

. The station would carry the modern rock format until

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

sold their entire Maine group to Blueberry Broadcasting. Because of ownership limits in the Bangor market, WGUY and WFZX were to be sold off, carrying an oldies format from September 2008 to February 2009 before adopting the current K-LOVE format.

References

External links

* * * Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1995 K-Love radio stations Waldo County, Maine 1995 establishments in Maine Educational Media Foundation radio stations KVV {{Maine-radio-station-stub