WURV
FCC | |
Facility ID | 37230 |
---|---|
Class | B |
ERP | 20,000 watts |
HAAT | 256 meters (840 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°30′31.0″N 77°34′37.0″W / 37.508611°N 77.576944°W |
Translator(s) | |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | WURV Webstream |
Website | WURV Online |
WURV (103.7
WURV's studios and offices are on Moorefield Park Drive in Richmond.
History
WFMV
On December 23, 1961, the station first
WFMV was one of several Richmond FM stations receiving permission from the
In 1964, WFMV was sold to the Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company.
Benjamin F. Thomas acquired WFMV in 1967 for $60,000; Thomas owned part of WKSL, an FM station in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.[13] Thomas relocated the WFMV studios into two used office trailers at the rural transmitter site. The remote location was on a dirt road through the woods; during rain and snow, it was often accessible only by foot.
Thomas had financial problems, and employees, mostly college students, were bolstered by loyal listeners and continued to man the station even when payrolls were late and inclement weather blocked access to the site. Engineering staff from nearby stations, notably the well-funded WRVA ("The 50,000-watt Voice of Virginia"), loaned parts and repair talent to help maintain the aging transmitting equipment. Although privately owned, WFMV had become something of a community effort.
Beautiful music WEZS
While WFMV had a loyal following as a classical music outlet, it was not a high-profit venture. In 1969, EZ Communications bought WFMV.[14] As the name implies, the new owners specialized in FM stations airing an easy listening format. That triggered protests from listeners, fearing WFMV's fine arts programming would disappear. A group was formed calling themselves "Save Fine Music," which opposed the station's sale. WFMV made arrangements with a non-commercial Richmond station, 106.5 WRFK, to take over its classical music library and expand the hours it played classical works, while 103.7's sale was approved and the station became beautiful music as WEZS.
The easy format was popular through the 1970s, but by 1980, beautiful music had become less appealing to youthful and middle-aged listeners which advertisers usually seek. WEZS responded by adding more vocals to its largely instrumental
Adult Contemporary WMXB
In an effort to shake its "easy" image, in July 1988, the station switched its call sign and branding to WMXB, "B-103".[15] In August 1989, EZ sold the station to Ragan Henry Broadcasting of Philadelphia.[16] In February 1990, the station was sold to Radio Ventures which moved WMXB into a more up-tempo mainstream adult contemporary format, dropping softer acts like The Carpenters and Barry Manilow for more up-tempo artists like Gloria Estefan, Ace of Base, and Bruce Springsteen.[17] Liberty Broadcasting (in which entertainer Merv Griffin was an investor) took over the station in 1993, and the format became "Hot Adult Contemporary" under veteran programmer Steve Davis, adding more contemporary titles as well as vintage Top 40 hits from the 1980s.[18]
In the 1990s, WMXB's transmitter was relocated to a new tower, more than doubling its height above average terrain (HAAT) to 750 feet. That was coupled with a decrease in effective radiated power to 18,500 watts. Despite the lower wattage, the taller tower gave WMXB a similar coverage area.
In 1996, the station was sold to SFX Broadcasting, and the station shifted to a more
On March 22, 2004, the station dumped the Hot AC format and "B-103" moniker for a soft AC format that leaned toward 1980s, 1990s, and current titles, and rebranded as "Mix 103.7".[26]
On April 16, 2007, WMXB relaunched as a
The River
On April 22, 2010, at 3 pm, WMXB flipped to
On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio announced the sale of WURV and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.[31][32]
Play and Your Variety
On September 24, 2013, WURV returned to
References
- ^ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access Database. Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WURV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WURV Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- Arbitron. Archivedfrom the original on March 19, 2006. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
- ^ "1037play.com". Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ "HD Radio station guide for Richmond, VA". hdradio.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- ^ "FCC.gov". Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ "FCC.gov". Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-193" (PDF).
- ^ "Stereophonic Broadcasting To Begin Here Tomorrow". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 22, 1961. p. 37. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1970 page B-213" (PDF).
- ^ "Richmond Radio Station Is Sold". Progress-Index. April 30, 1964. p. 24. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
- ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 6, 1967. p. 92. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1972 page B-221" (PDF).
- ^ "WEZS now WMXB, but music stays mostly the same", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 26, 1988.
- ^ "Ranking cited in $23 million sale of WMXB-FM", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 16, 1989.
- ^ "Directory of Radio Stations in the U.S." (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
- ^ "Directory of Radio" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com.
- ^ "World Radio History" (PDF).
- ^ "Brown sells radio group stake; $37.5 million deal lets him continue overseeing ABS", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 22, 1996.
- ^ "Radio group selling rest of interest in 4 stations", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 28, 1997.
- ^ "Area radio stations to be sold in deal", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 26, 1997.
- ^ "10 local stations could have same owner", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 5, 1999.
- ^ "Sale of 4 stations here proposed; radio giant's plan part of merger", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 7, 2000.
- ^ "Directory of Radio" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
- ^ "B103 shifts format a little", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 23, 2004.
- ^ "WMXB debuts new format today | Entertainment | richmond.com". April 16, 2007. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "River Runs Through Richmond, Will It Get Hot? – RadioInsight". April 29, 2010. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "WMXB Loses The Mix For Alternative Hot AC | AllAccess.com". Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "More Changes In Richmond? | AllAccess.com". Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "Cox Puts Clusters Up For Sale – RadioInsight". July 20, 2012. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "Cox Sells Stations In Six Markets To Two Groups – RadioInsight". May 6, 2013. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "WURV Richmond Presses Play". RadioInsight. September 24, 2013. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ "WURV Stops The River, Starts To '103.7 Play'". All Access. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ "SummitMedia Makes Double Flip In Richmond". RadioInsight. March 4, 2021. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
Sources
- Fisher, Mark D. (2005). "A Brief History of WFMV: Virginia's first stereophonic good music station". Richmond, VA: Richmond Radio Group.[dead link]
- White, Thomas H. "Washington, D.C. AM Station History".
External links
- 103.7 Your Variety Online
- WURV in the FCC FM station database
- WURV in Nielsen Audio's FM station database