WVMP (101.5 FM) is a

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

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

Vinton, Virginia Vinton is a town in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,059 at the 2020 census. Vinton is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Roanoke Region of Virginia. History By the late 18th century, settlers ...

, serving Metro

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 ...

. WVMP is owned by Todd P. Robinson's WVJT, LLC.

History

H. Edward Hale's Carousel Entertainment signed on country WZZI in December 1995. The station flipped to a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

format in January 1999. Roanoke residents Karen and Robert Travis purchased WZZI in January 2000, having just purchased WRVX (97.9 FM) in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, which they renamed to WZZU. Formats under the Travises included

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 ...

"Z101" and

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 we ...

"Oldies 101.5". In 2004,

Centennial Broadcasting Centennial Broadcasting is a small market radio broadcasting company based in Clemmons, North Carolina. The company is led by President and CEO Allen B. Shaw. Shaw began his career in 1959, at the age of 15, at radio station WRWB in Kissimmee, Fl ...

bought the two stations. WZZI began simulcasting WZZU: oldies "Bob-FM" from 2004 to 2006, and

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 ...

"The Planet" from 2006 to 2009, the latter of which continues airing on WZZU alone. In July 2008,

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

owner

Daniel Snyder Daniel Marc Snyder (born November 23, 1964) is an American businessman and owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Washington Redskins, ...

announced a purchase of Centennial's four-station Roanoke-Lynchburg cluster by his

Red Zebra Broadcasting Red Zebra Broadcasting was a sports marketing company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The company owned and operated four radio stations in the greater Washington, D.C. radio market, one in Hampton Roads, VA, and two stations in Richmond, ...

; the sale fell through and no paperwork was ever filed with the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

. Centennial instituted a locally focused

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

(AAA) format on October 12, 2009, branded "101.5 The Valley's Music Place" WVMP. Unusually for an FM music station, WZZI/WVMP was the Roanoke affiliate for

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

football and basketball from 2007 through 2012. Broadcasts moved back to longtime home

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 ...

at the beginning of the 2012 football season, as the university preferred to partner with a news-talk station. WZZU, which joined as Lynchburg's affiliate at the same time, remains affiliated with the network. Centennial placed WVMP on the market in 2010. Ed Walker's Cityworks Community Broadcasting purchased the station to preserve the AAA format. Walker sold to Dr. William E. "Eddie" Amos' Community Media Group in 2014. Todd Robinson, owner of several full-powered stations in the Roanoke/Lynchburg/Bedford market, began operating WVMP by LMA on August 1, 2016, and announced intentions to purchase the station from Community Media Group on August 3 for $600,000. Dr. Amos cited the decreasing amount of time he had to devote to the station, but was to become a minority shareholder in Robinson's WVJT, LLC. No changes to format or branding came with the agreement. WVJT withdrew the application to transfer control on October 19, and Community Media Group resumed operating the station. WVMP began simulcasting on separately-owned WBZS on December 1, 2016, to better cover the southwestern Roanoke area, Christiansburg and Blacksburg. WVMP's main transmitter on

Mill Mountain Mill Mountain () is a large flat-topped mountain, high, forming the eastern end of Festive Plateau in the Cook Mountains of Antarctica. This mountain was probably sighted by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04) under Captain Ro ...

is heavily shielded to the south and west by mountains. In January 2017, the two stations rebranded as "101.5 and 102.5 The Mountain". Todd Robinson made a second attempt to acquire the station by purchasing Community Media Group itself for $250,000 on October 20, 2017. The sale was granted on December 1, 2017. On February 1, 2018, the AAA format moved to WBZS alone and WVMP switched to a simulcast of oldies-formatted

WHTU WHTU (103.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Big Island, Virginia, and serving Lynchburg, Bedford, and Buena Vista. WHTU broadcasts a classic hits radio format. The station is owned by Gary Burns' 3 Daughters Media, through licens ...

(103.9 FM, Big Island) and WZZI (106.9 FM,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

) as "Oldies 101.5". WVMP returned to AAA "The Mountain" on December 1, 2019, as the three-year

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

with WBZS expired. On November 30, 2022, at midnight, WVMP's adult album alternative format ended on the 101.5 FM signal and went online-only. On December 2, 2022, Truth Broadcasting began operating the station and flipped it to Christian preaching as "The Truth".

References

External links

* {{Religious Radio Stations in Virginia 1995 establishments in Virginia Radio stations established in 1995 VMP VMP