WWRE (105.1 FM) is a

Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

formatted broadcast

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 radi ...

licensed to Bridgewater, Virginia, serving Harrisonburg/ Staunton area. WWRE is owned and operated by Saga Communications, through licensee Tidewater Communications, LLC.

History

The station first took its callsign WRDJ on March 1, 1989 and officially launched two days later on March 3 and carried 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, prima ...

format.

WAMM 105.1

On November 26, 1993, the callsign was changed from WRDJ-FM to WAMM-FM. The WRDJ callsign was moved to 104.9 FM, located in

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 ...

two weeks later on December 15. While WAMM-FM flipped the format 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, prima ...

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

, branded as "WAMM 105.1; Great Country, Less Talk". It became a sister station of WAMM-AM at 1230 AM, which had also carried a

format at the time.

Lite Rock 105.1

WAMM-FM was a sister station of WAMM-AM until September 16, 2002, when the callsign was changed to WJDV and the

format was dropped for Light

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 ...

, branded as "Lite Rock 105.1".

Magic 105.1

On February 7, 2005, WJDV swapped calls and formats with WBHB-FM at 96.1 FM, making the station an

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as ...

format, branded as "Magic 105.1". The station played music from the 1950s through the 1970s. During its time with the WBHB-FM callsign, the station went through several formats until the callsign was changed to WTGD on December 1, 2008.

Classic Hits 105.1

On March 22, 2005, WBHB-FM swapped its "Magic 105.1" branding, and thus changing the format/branding to "Classic Hits 105.1",

Classic Rock 105.1

On the night of March 21, 2006, WBHB-FM yet again swapped its "Classic Hits 105.1" branding/format to "Classic Rock 105.1".

Rock 105.1

On September 20, 2007, WBHB-FM segued from

to Active rock, branded as "Rock 105.1". Previously, while carrying both a

and Active rock format, WBHB-FM had been carrying the syndicated radio program

Nights with Alice Cooper ''Nights with Alice Cooper'' is a radio show hosted by Detroit born rock and roll artist and shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper. It is syndicated by United Stations Radio Networks and broadcast on a wide variety of affiliate radio stations in the ...

, and was then moved to WACL at 98.5 FM.

Country Legends 105.1

On April 1, 2008, WBHB-FM yet again changed the format from Active rock to

Classic Country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

, branded as "Country Legends 105.1".

WTGD

M. Belmont Verstandig, Inc. bought the station, which had previously been owned by Verstandig Broadcasting, and on December 1, 2008, WBHB-FM switched its callsign to WTGD.

La Grand D

A week later on December 9 at midnight, WTGD dropped its

format for Spanish Top 40/ Regional Mexican, branded as "La Gran D" or in English, "The Great D". This was the first Spanish formatted station to broadcast in the Harrisonburg/Staunton market.

105.1 Bob Rocks

In mid-March 2010, WTGD returned to Active rock that it did from September 20, 2007 to April 1, 2008 when it held the WBHB-FM callsign, only this time, the branding would become "105.1 Bob Rocks; Harrisonburg's Real Rock Station".

Rewind 105.1

On July 31, 2015, WTGD changed the callsign to WWRE while the sale of Verstandig Broadcasting of Harrisonburg to Saga Communications was closed at a purchase price of $9.64 million. On August 1, 2015, the station began stunting with an announcement that the station had been "hacked" (like Saga's WREE in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

six months earlier) and demanded a list of requests for Harrisonburg businesses and colleges. They demanded "compliance" by the following Monday at 7:00 A.M. Among the requests were for

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

to change its name to "Dolley Madison Zinger University" (and to host a pickup basketball game between

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

and

Dell Curry Wardell Stephen Curry (born June 25, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1986 until 2002 and retired as the Charlotte Hornets' all-time leader in points (9,839) ...

at the JMU Convocation Center), for all the quilts at the Virginia Quilt Museum to be sewn together into one quilt (to be called "Mega-Quilt"), for

George Washington National Forest The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover of land in the Appalachian Mountai ...

to be cut down and entirely replaced with cherry trees (saying it was "payback time"), for the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative to collect all leftover feathers and make them into a giant pillow, as well as to make a chicken with six thighs (the reason given being the hacker likes chicken thighs), and for all the seats in the John C. Wells Planetarium to be removed and the planetarium to be turned into a giant ballpit. During the "hack", the station stunted with a wide variety of music, from the theme song to "

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' deb ...

" to beat poetry. At the time promised, at 7:00 A.M. on August 3, 2015, the station's format was flipped back to

that it did from March 22, 2005 to March 21, 2006 when it held the WBHB-FM callsign, as "Rewind 105-1; Upbeat, Fun Music", playing hits from the 1970s through the early 2000s. On the same date and time, its sister station, WJDV changed to

Hot 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 ...

as "More 96.1" as well as the callsign.

References

External links

Rewind 105-1 Online
* {{Saga Communications WRE Radio stations established in 1989 Classic hits radio stations in the United States