WPZZ

WPZZ is an urban gospel-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Crewe, Virginia, serving the Southside and the Richmond/Petersburg metro area. WPZZ is owned and operated by Radio One.[1] The station's studios and offices are located just north of Richmond proper on Emerywood Parkway[2] in unincorporated Henrico County, and its transmitter is located near Blackstone, Virginia.[3]

WPZZ
CityCrewe, Virginia
Broadcast areaSouthside Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Frequency104.7 MHz
Branding"Praise 104.7"
Slogan"The Inspiration Station"
Programming
FormatBlack gospel
Ownership
OwnerUrban One
(Radio One Licenses, LLC)
Sister stationsWCDX, WKJM, WKJS, WTPS
History
First air date1949 (1949)
Former call signsWSVS-FM (1949–1991)
WKIK (1991–1995)
WBZU (1995–1996)
WVGO (1996–1998)
WKJS (1998–2004)
Call sign meaningW PraiZe Z
Technical information
Facility ID321
ClassC1
Power100,000 Watts
HAAT299 meters (981 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°10′15.0″N 77°57′16.0″W
Links
WebcastWPZZ Webstream
WebsiteWPZZ Online

History

104.7 started in 1948 as WSVS-FM, a complement to its AM sister WSVS. It broadcast just west of Crewe with 14,000 watts of power. In the late 1970s, the station upgraded to a class C1 station with 100,000 watts of power, which gave it an adequate signal that could be received in most of the Central Virginia area.[4] In 1988, they moved to their current tower location to not only send a better signal into Richmond, but also to make it more desirable to sell. It was at that time WSVS-FM became "Power Country 104.7," with all programming separate from WSVS-AM.[5] In 1991, the station was sold to ABS Communications in Richmond and became "104.7 The Bear," with the WKIK call letters.[6] The FM studios were moved out of Crewe and co-located in with ABS's Richmond based headquarters. ABS owned the only other country stations in the Richmond market with "K-95" and "The Bear." "The Bear" was designed to be a classic country format, while "K-95" was to be the new country format.

ABS flipped WKIK to modern rock on August 23, 1995 at 5 p.m. as WBZU, "104.7 The Buzz, Richmond's New Rock Alternative."[7] The success of this station caused Richmond's AAA station WVGO to lose listeners. ABS later purchased WVGO (and its sister station WLEE-FM), changed WVGO's AAA format (and ended the local broadcast of "The Howard Stern Show") and moved "The Buzz" and the WBZU calls to 106.5, while 104.7 became a satellite-fed oldies station as "Oldies 104.7" (the WVGO calls were moved to 104.7) in August 1996.[8][9][10]

In February 1998, the station was sold to Fifteen Forty Broadcasting, then owners of adult urban WSOJ (100.3 FM) and local gospel station WREJ-AM, who began a simulcast of WSOJ on both 100.3 and 104.7 beginning February 10, and rebranded as "104.7 Kiss FM", and adopted the WKJS calls three days later.[11] Radio One later purchased both 104.7 and 100.3 from Fifteen Forty in March 1999.[12] In November 2000, the 104.7/100.3 simulcast ended, and Radio One began simulcasting their then-country station, WJRV ("105.7 The River") on 100.3 with new calls WARV.[13] On November 18, 2004, as part of a complex series of moves, Radio One moved the urban gospel-formatted "Praise 99.3" to 104.7, while "Kiss FM" moved to 99.3 and 105.7 (this caused urban oldies WJMO to sign off). The WPZZ calls would be adopted on December 7 of that year.[14]

gollark: ++tel status
gollark: ++tel setup
gollark: ++tel setup
gollark: I wonder if I can turn on normal mode without someone hijacking it again, hm.
gollark: bee egg

References
  1. "WPZZ Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. https://kissrichmond.com/about/ About Us | 99.3–105.7 Kiss FM
  3. Radio-Locator.com/WPZZ-FM
  4. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1987/B2-BC-YB-1987.pdf
  5. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1989/B-2%20Radio%20Neb%20to%20Terr%201989-5.pdf
  6. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1992/Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1992-B&W.pdf
  7. "WKIK transformed into modern rock WBZU", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 24, 1995.
  8. "ABS cuts $14.5 million deal for WVGO, WLEE", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 4, 1996.
  9. "Shock jock Stern gets the hook; new owner pulls plug on WVGO, cites decline", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 25, 1996.
  10. "104.7 FM set to air 'good time oldies'", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 6, 1996.
  11. "WVGO gets new format, call letters to change soon", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 13, 1998.
  12. "Radio One will buy four more", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 16, 1999.
  13. "Radio One sells 2 FM stations here", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 17, 2000.
  14. "Radio One makes changes at local stations", The Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 20, 2004.
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