WVBX (99.3 FM "Live 99.3") 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 radi ...

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 ...

Spotsylvania, Virginia Spotsylvania Courthouse is a census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, located 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Fredericksburg. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census designated place (CDP), t ...

and serving the Metro Fredericksburg area. WVBX is owned and operated by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

LLC, through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC. It airs a contemporary hit radio format.

History

The station first launched on January 26, 1988, with 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 assign ...

WYND-FM. It aired a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

new age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than tr ...

format and was owned by Richard J. Hayes and Associates. On April 10, 1989, WYND-FM changed to WPLC, simulcasting the

Urban Contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

format of then- WPLZ in Petersburg, also on 99.3. It became WYSK on September 30, 1994. In 1994, the station was purchased by ''

The Free Lance–Star ''The Free Lance–Star'' is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, ...

'', a daily newspaper in Fredericksburg. On July 16, 1996, WYSK modified its call letters to WYSK-FM, switching to an

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 ...

format. On March 4, 2002, WYSK-FM flipped to

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 mainstream or commerci ...

, branded as "99.3 WYSK – The Rock Alternative." At noon on January 7, 2008, WYSK-FM dropped its Alternative format and switched to

Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses h ...

with the station's first song being Justin Timberlake's "

SexyBack "SexyBack" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his second studio album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006). It was released on July 18, 2006, to US mainstream and rhythmic radio stationsRadio single releases . FMQ ...

". The call letters were changed from WYSK to WWVB-FM on January 11, 2008 to go along with the new moniker "The Vibe." WVBX-FM 2014

On August 13, 2009, the call sign was changed from WWVB-FM to WVBX. On January 23, 2015,

"entered into a definitive agreement" to purchase WVBX and sister stations WFLS-FM, WNTX, and WWUZ from Free Lance-Star License, LLC. The purchase was consummated on May 1, 2015, at a price of $8.1 million. On June 1, 2018, WVBX rebranded as "Live 99.3." The station is now airing a more traditional contemporary hit radio playlist, moving away from the rhythmic format.http://www.alphamediausa.com/alpha-media-fredericksburg-launches-live-99-3/

References

External links

Live 99.3 Online
* Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States VBX Radio stations established in 1988 Alpha Media radio stations {{Virginia-radio-station-stub