WXTG (AM)

WXTG
	Urban Oldies
Ownership
Owner	Terry Suggs; (TL Broadcasting LLC);
History
First air date	1948 (as WVEC at 1050)
Former call signs	WVEC (1948–1978); WWDE (1978–1981); WPEX (1981–1992); WOJY (1992–1997); WBYM (1997–2003); WLRT (2003–2007)
Former frequencies	1050 kHz (1948–1951)
Call sign meaning	W X The Game (for former sports format)
Technical information
Facility ID	25917
Class	C
Power	970 watts day and night
Transmitter coordinates	37°1′50.0″N 76°22′32.0″W / 37.030556°N 76.375556°W
Translator(s)	101.9 W270DA (Hampton)
Links
Webcast	Listen live
Website	TheGroove1019.com

WXTG (1490

urban oldies radio format

.

WXTG’s transmitter power output is 970

FM translator station 101.9 W270DA, with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 175 watts.^[4]

History

WVEC and WWDE

The station

daytimer, transmitting with 250 watts and required to go off the air at night. In 1953, the station launched a television station, WVEC-TV

.

The station moved to full time broadcasting by switching to 1490 kHz. The station was later sold and changed its

Big Band music to Oldies. In the 1990s, the station played the "Music of Your Life" adult standards

format and adopted WBYM call letters.

WBYM

In the late 1990s, the station was purchased by Hampton Radio II, Inc., co-owned with the "Anna's Pizza" restaurant chain. It changed to classic country as "Classic Hit Country 1490 The Goldmine."^[6] The station was the only one in the region to continue online streaming when all others stopped because of royalty disputes with copyrighted music.

On several occasions, the classic country format saw the station make the top 20 in the

Arbitron ratings

for Hampton Roads. Listeners in foreign countries could hear the station via streaming.

WLRT

WBYM became WLRT in late 2003, and flipped to a

Washington Redskins and NASCAR coverage. It hosted several fundraising radiothons lasting over 72 hours to help victims of Hurricane Isabel, hosted continuously by morning disc jockey Chuck Hall. The station later switched to a hybrid talk radio, country music and sports format.^[7]

WXTG

On July 30, 2013, Red Zebra sold WXTG and sister station WXTG-FM to Williamsburg-based Davis Media, LLC for $1.2 million. Davis Media, LLC owns WTYD and WBQK. The sale to Davis Media was consummated on April 7, 2014. On August 1, 2013, sister station WXTG-FM broke from its simulcast of WXTG to simulcast new sister station WTYD. WXTG continued to carry a sports format under the branding "1490 The Game" until April 14, 2014, when WXTG switched to simulcasting WTYD.

On August 1, 2015, WXTG reverted to the

syndicated "Imus in the Morning" show was carried during the morning drive time.^[9]

Davis Media, LLC began the process of selling WXTG to Speedway Media Group, owner of Langley Speedway, on August 6, 2016.^[10]^[11] Speedway Media Group began operating WXTG via a local marketing agreement (LMA) on August 1, 2015.^[10]^[11] The station continued to carry the Classic Country, Talk and Sports format launched on August 1.^[11]

The LMA with Speedway Media Group expired in January 2017, and WXTG switched to a simulcast of adult album alternative WXTG-FM, branded as "The Tide."^[12]

The station signed on a new

FM translator at 101.9 on April 27, 2018, continuing the album adult alternative (AAA) format.^[13]