WPLY (610

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, and serving

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Vir ...

and the

New River Valley The New River Valley is a region along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States. It is usually defined as the counties of Montgomery (including the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg), Pulaski, Floyd, and Giles and the ...

. WPLY

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 ...

s a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

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 ...

with

WPLI WPLI (1390 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia. WPLI simulcasts a sports radio format with WPLY 610 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 610 kHz: The Federal Communications Commissi ...

1390 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1390 kHz: 1390 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency. Argentina * LR11 in La Plata, Buenos Aires * LRA6 in Valle de Uspallata, Mendoza (960 kHz. Defunct?) Guatemala (Channel 86) * ...

in Lynchburg. Both stations are owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. Most programming is supplied by

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

. By day, WPLY is powered at 5,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s. But at night, when radio waves travel farther, it reduces power to 1,000 watts to protect other stations on

610 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 610 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission classifies 610 AM as a regional broadcast frequency. In Argentina * LRK 201 in Añatuya, Santiago del Estero. In Bolivia * CP 63 CP, ...

. WPLY has a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

, using a five-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower a ...

. 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 at the end of Newman Drive in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

. Programming is also heard on 175 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

W266CY at 101.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

in Roanoke.

History

WSLC Country

Just before noon on , the station

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 original

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 ...

was WSLS. During the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment, entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcastin ...

," the station carried programs from the

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

, dramas, comedies, news, sports,

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

s and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

broadcasts. (The Blue Network later became

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

.) A partner FM station, 99.1 WSLS-FM, launched in 1947, largely

ing the AM station.

WSLS-TV WSLS-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving the Roanoke– Lynchburg market as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Graham Media Group, the station maintains studios on Fifth Street in Roanoke, an ...

followed five years later on Channel 10. As network programming moved from radio to television, 610 WSLS switched to a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

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, ...

format. In 1969,

Park Communications Roy Hampton Park (15 September 1910 – 25 October 1993) was an American media executive and entrepreneur. He is known for creating the Duncan Hines brand of packaged food products, and for his television/radio/newspaper conglomerate, Park Commun ...

purchased WSLS-AM-FM-TV. Due to FCC ownership restrictions, Park kept the television station and sold the radio stations to Bass Brothers Telecasters. As the stations could no longer share a call sign after the purchase, the AM became WSLC at midnight on August 1, 1972, keeping its country sound. The FM switched to

album-oriented 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-oriente ...

and briefly became WSLC-FM before settling on current call sign

WSLQ WSLQ (99.1 FM "Q99") is a commercial radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, serving the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia. The station airs an adult contemporary radio format and is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. The studios ...

. Only the TV station still carries the original call letters. Mel Wheeler purchased the two stations in 1976.

Urban AC and Sports

At noon on May 25, 2000, WSLC began simulcasting with its new

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 ...

94.9

WSLC-FM WSLC-FM (94.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia and serving the New River Valley. WSLC-FM is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. It airs a country music radio format, using the moniker "94.9 Star Country." WS ...

, formerly

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 ...

turned

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 ...

station WPVR, after that station was purchased by Mel Wheeler Inc. This continued until March 13, 2002, when the country format moved full-time to WSLC-FM. 610 WSLC was flipped to new call letters as WVBE, simulcasting co-owned 100.1

WVBE-FM WVBE-FM (100.1 MHz) is an Urban Adult Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, serving Metro Lynchburg. WVBE-FM is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc.. and is simulcast on WVBB 97.7 FM in Elliston-Lafa ...

Lynchburg, and brought

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

and R&B music full-time to Roanoke. On January 20, 2016, the station dropped its Urban AC format for

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

with the new call sign WPLY. The station became an affiliate of

References

External links

WPLY OnlineWPLY Livestream
* * {{Sports Radio Stations in Virginia Sports radio stations in the United States PLY (AM) Radio stations established in 1940 1940 establishments in Virginia