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WVBW-FM (100.5
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 ...
, "100.5 The Vibe") is a commercial
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
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 ...
. The station broadcasts to 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 ...
area. WVBW-FM is owned and operated by
Max Media Max Media is a company that owns radio stations throughout the United States. It is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. History Max Media was founded in 2001. Prior to this, some of the company's management had run the TVX Broadcast Group from 1979 ...
. The studios and offices are on Greenwich Road in
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 ...
. 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 Gammon Road, also in Virginia Beach.


History


Early years as WCMS-FM

WVBW-FM traces its roots back to July 1, 1954, when WCMS (1050 AM) first went on the air. It replaced a legendary
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
-oriented radio station,
WRAP Wrap, WRAP or Wrapped may refer to: Storage and preservation * Gift wrap or wrap paper, used to enclose a present * Overwrap, a wrapping of items in a package or a wrapping over packages * Plastic wrap, a thin, clear, flexible plastic used to co ...
, which moved to 850 AM. In 1961, WCMS was purchased by George A. and Marjorie Crump of
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 ...
. The Crumps took the unprecedented step of playing only
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, ...
on WCMS when other Norfolk-area radio stations carried different musical styles, as country music was still looked down on in that era. Critics at the time assured the Crumps that their bold decision would fail quickly.HighBeam
/ref> WCMS was originally a
daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...
, broadcasting on a clear-channel frequency reserved for XEG in
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. WCMS had to go off the air between sunset and sunrise to avoid interfering with XEG. On October 1, 1962, WCMS-FM
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. The FM station allowed WCMS' country music to be heard around the clock, even though only a small number of radios were equipped at that time to pick up FM broadcasts. During the Crump family's ownership, WCMS-AM-FM received a number of awards from the
Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...
and
Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...
for its dedication to music and contribution to the industry. Because there are many recreational boat owners in the Tidewater region of
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 ...
, WCMS-AM-FM maintained a boat to assist sailors who ran into trouble while on
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
and the rivers that flow into it. George A. Crump died in 2005, but up until the 1990s, he was occasionally heard on WCMS-AM-FM giving editorials. His famous line at the end of every commentary was "And that, in our opinion, is that."


Purchase by Barnstable Broadcasting

In 1999, Marjorie Crump sold WCMS-AM-FM for $15.5 million to Barnstable Broadcasting. The deal included the corporate office building and studios at 900 Commonwealth Place in Virginia Beach. Barnstable began firing longtime employees, such as Eric Stevens, who had worked at the station for nearly 20 years. As longtime staffers were being let go, the station began using DJs from 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 ...
WGH-FM. With co-owned WGH-FM airing a mainstream country format, at 3:00 p.m. on April 10, 2003, WCMS-FM shifted 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 ...
music, after playing "
Goodbye Says It All "Goodbye Says It All" is a debut song by American country music band Blackhawk, written by Bobby Fischer, Charlie Black and Johnny MacRae. It was released in October 1993 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album. It peaked at #11 in ...
" by Blackhawk. The new format lasted only seven months. After more than 40 years of country music, the format was dropped entirely at 11:30 p.m. on November 28, 2003, with " On the Road Again" by
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
as its final song. WCMS-FM then began stunting with a loop of
AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
's "
You Shook Me All Night Long "You Shook Me All Night Long" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, from the album ''Back in Black''. The song also reappeared on their later album ''Who Made Who''. It is AC/DC's first single with Brian Johnson as the lead singer, rep ...
."


Rock era

At 3 p.m. on November 30, 2003, the station flipped to
Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...
as "100.5 MAX-FM." The first song on "MAX-FM" was "
Start Me Up "Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album ''Tattoo You''. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two in Canada, number two on the ''Bi ...
" by
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 ...
."WCMS-FM CANS COUNTRY SOUND: CHANGE IN 40-YEAR RADIO TRADITION CATCHES STATION'S LISTENERS BY SURPRISE.(FRONT)." The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA). McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 2003. Retrieved August 22, 2012 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-110889725.html 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 ...
changed to WXMM on December 18, 2003. With the format change, the country music format returned to its original frequency, 1050 AM. Morning drive time DJ Joe Hoppel continued his duties alongside newscaster Jim Long and co-host Jennifer Roberts. In 2004, Barnstable announced that the country format would end on WCMS just shy of the station's 50th anniversary. Joe Hoppel was inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
in
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
. The WCMS call letters moved to
1310 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1310 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission classifies 1310 AM as a regional frequency. In Argentina * LRA42 in Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos. * LRG379 in Piedra del Aguila, Neuquén. ...
as 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 ...
station, while the 1050 frequency was acquired by Davidson Broadcasting, a company specializing in
Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
stations, and became WVXX. In 2005, Barnstable Broadcasting sold all its stations to Max Media. At 5 p.m. on April 23, 2009, the station began stunting as " Kung Pao 100.5 FM," playing " Classic Chinese Hits"; the stunt had previously been heard on
KDOG KDOG (96.7 FM, "Hot 96.7") is a radio station serving Mankato, Minnesota. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) format. They are licensed to North Mankato, Minnesota and serves the Mankato area and the Minnesota River Valley. KDOG is owned by Linde ...
in
Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 United States ...
a few years prior.


Contemporary hits as WVHT

At 7:00 a.m. on April 27, 2009, WXMM flipped to Top 40/CHR, branded as "Hot 100.5." The first song was " Boom Boom Pow" by
The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...
. The station changed its call sign to WVHT on May 4, 2009. On January 13, 2014, at 8:45 a.m., after stunting for an hour with construction sounds, WVHT was relaunched, keeping the "Hot 100.5" name and Top 40 format, but took a more music-intensive approach, as the home for "25 hits in a row." The logo was also changed with the adjustment in format. On August 7, 2016, WVHT made another format adjustment, moving to Adult Top 40, and rebranded as "Hot 100". A few months later, the station returned to a mainstream direction. WVHT now competes with WNVZ; around 2015, the Entercom-owned station also moved to a Top 40/CHR format after previously being a
rhythmic CHR Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics * Rhythmic (chart) The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...
for more than a decade. In May 2019, WVHT added
American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
,
Elvis Duran and the Morning Show Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
, and Most Requested Live after WNOH flipped to an
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
format the year prior. In addition, the station added
Zach Sang Zach Sang is an American radio DJ. Early life Sang worked in a local grocery store when he began broadcasting from his parents' home in Wayne, New Jersey at 14 years old. Sang was interested in the local news and studied Al Roker and Bill Evans ...
's nightly syndicated show, which ran until its cancellation in 2022.


The Vibe

On June 17, 2022, at 6 p.m., after playing " Never Be The Same" by Camila Cabello, WVHT began stunting with a loop of " Vivrant Thing" by Q-Tip as a prelude to a flip to a new format under the "100.5 The Vibe" branding. At 5 p.m. on June 20, WVHT flipped to what station management describes as " urban adult hits" under the "Vibe" branding, launching with " Sir Duke" by
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
. The format is described by Max Media as featuring a "massive playlist" of songs from the hip hop, classic hip hop, R&B, and
classic soul Classic soul is a radio format that focuses on the more raw types of soul music from the 1950s-1970s that draw from certain rhythm and blues and soul music influences, after 1980 is generally considered “contemporary R&B” with the smoother ...
genres, under the oversight of new vice president of operations and programming Eddie Haskell, and new program director Anthony ‘Tone Hollywood’ Wheeler. On June 26, 2022, radio industry website ''RadioInsight'' disclosed that Max Media had applied to move the WVBW call letters from their sister station on 92.9 FM to match the new format; upon the move, 92.9 would change their callsign to WTWV-FM. The change was approved by the FCC on June 29.FCC Report 6/26: FCC Clarifies Class D FM Public File Obligations
/ref>


References


External links


100.5 The Vibe Online
* {{Max Media VBW-FM Radio stations established in 1964 Max Media radio stations 1964 establishments in Virginia Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States