WSLC-FM (94.9

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 ...

) 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 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 ...

. WSLC-FM is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. It airs a

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, ...

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, ...

, using the moniker "94.9 Star Country." WSLC-FM's studios and offices are on Electric Road in Roanoke. 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 off Honeysuckle Road in

Bent Mountain Bent may refer to: Places * Bent, Iran, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran * Bent District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Bent, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Rijnwoude, the Netherlands * Bent County, Colorad ...

. The station is powered at 100,000

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 ...

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

(ERP) on a tower 1962 feet in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

(HAAT). The Class C signal can be heard over much of

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 into

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. On occasion, WSLC-FM can be picked up more than 200 miles away.

History

WDBJ-FM

On July 11, 1948, 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 ...

as WDBJ-FM. It was owned by the Times World Corporation, publisher of '' The Roanoke Times-World'', which in 1955 started Channel 7

WDBJ-TV WDBJ (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke– Lynchburg market. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Danville-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WZBJ, chann ...

. At first, WDBJ-FM

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 ...

its AM counterpart,

AM 960 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 960 kHz: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) classifies 960 AM as a regional frequency. CFAC is the only station in Canada and the United States on 960 AM which broadcasts w ...

WDBJ (now

WFIR WFIR (960 kHz "WFIR 960 AM - 107.3 FM") is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia and serving the Roanoke Valley. It is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. and airs a News/Talk radio format. WFIR broadcasts at 10,000 wat ...

). In the early 1960s, WDBJ-FM was separately programmed with an

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

format, which lasted till the mid-1990s. The station concentrated on instrumental versions of popular songs, as well as

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

showtunes.

WPVR

In 1969, Jim Gibbons Radio, Inc. bought the station. While the format remained beautiful music, on November 1, the

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 changed to WPVR. In the 1980s, the station began playing several vocal songs each hour, moving to 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 ...

sound. In the 1990s, many easy listening stations began decreasing the orchestrated instrumentals, and by 1992, WPVR had evolved into

soft 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, quiet sto ...

, branded as "Lite 95." In 1995, WPVR became "Arrow 94.9" with 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.

94.9 Star Country WSLC-FM

In 2000, Mel Wheeler, Inc. bought the station, along with 99.1

WSLQ-FM 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 ...

and 960

. At noon on May 25, the call sign was switched to WSLC-FM. The format flipped to

, branded as "The New 94.9 Star Country". 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 ...

of WSLC-FM, AM 610 WSLC, had played country music for over 50 years, so both the AM and FM carried the same call letters and country music imaging for two years. On March 13, 2002, AM 610 ended its run as a country station, becoming

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 ...

WVBE, "The Vibe." In 2016 it flipped to

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 ...

as WPLY. After April 1, 2004, WSLC-FM stopped calling itself "The New 94.9 Star Country," and began using the branding "94.9 Star Country; Your Big Giveaway Station". The station's logo appeared during a segment in Borat where he mocked the US National Anthem in a county fair in Salem, VA.youtube.com/watch?v=ePQ9_re7f1A

References

External links

94.9 Star Country
* {{Country Radio Stations in Virginia SLC Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948