WNOR (98.7

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"FM99") is a

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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 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, serving the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

(Norfolk-

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

)

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. WNOR is owned and operated by Saga Communications. It airs an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. WNOR broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

(hybrid) format. Studios and offices are on Greenbrier Circle in

Chesapeake Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is next to Riverside Memorial Park in Norfolk. The Class B signal covers Southeastern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Northeastern North Carolina The Inner Banks is a neologism made up by developers and tourism promoters to describe the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of a ...

History

On July 16, 1962, WNOR-FM first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air, owned by the Norfolk Broadcasting Company. It was the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

AM 1230 The following radio stations 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 broad ...

WNOR (still co-owned but now defunct, was last called WJYI). WNOR-FM was an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

station, and at one point employed an all-female air staff, a revolutionary move at the time. In 1969, WNOR-FM began airing a progressive rock format from 9pm-6am. Eventually the rock music proved more popular than the easy listening sounds. WNOR-FM abandoned the "split-format" approach in 1974 and began playing rock full-time. The station’s

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings quickly took off, culminating in the station’s rise to #1 – the first time an FM station in the Norfolk market had achieved #1 status. By the 1980s, the station had moved to an

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orient ...

format, based more on album sales than the previous progressive rock sound. In 1986, WNOR-AM-FM were acquired by Saga Communications, the current owner. Saga decided to

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 ...

the FM station's rock format on the AM station. In 1994, Saga Communications acquired another FM station in the market,

WAFX WAFX (106.9 MHz, "106.9 The Fox") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Suffolk, Virginia. It serves the Hampton Roads (Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News) radio market. WAFX is owned and operated by Saga Communications. It airs a clas ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. With WAFX broadcasting a

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, WNOR-FM began to specialize in a current-based, harder-edged sound, bringing it into the

format In 2001, the AM station went to an adult standards format as WJYI, no longer simulcast with WNOR-FM.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2001 page D-474
/ref> A short time later, the "-FM" suffix was dropped from WNOR's official

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

. WNOR had major success with newer bands on air during the late 1990's and throughout the 2000's with a lot of local on air promotions and concert support and on demand requests to help further expose newer bands. The station does play "new rock" on air, every week they air their infamous "Hummer Of The Week" to debut a new band or a familiar band's new single throughout the whole week. Their music programming is still running as a Mainstream rock style to their Active rock format. consisting of the 1990's, the 2000's and newer all mixed in, 2000's nu Metal is not heard much on air, but every once in a while it can be played. All of the classic and older songs from the 1970's and 1980's have since been moved over to their sister station, 106-9 The Fox, as they have also updated their music format to including 1990's alternative and grunge into their playlist, expanding to 4 decades total of classic rock history.

References

External links

FM99 WNOR Online
* {{Saga Communications Active rock radio stations in the United States NOR Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Virginia