WVMP

WVMP (101.5 FM, "The Mountain") is an adult album alternative formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Vinton, Virginia, serving Metro Roanoke, Virginia.[1] WVMP is owned by Todd P. Robinson's WVJT, LLC.[2]

WVMP
CityVinton, Virginia
Broadcast areaMetro Roanoke
Frequency101.5 MHz
Branding101.5 The Mountain
Programming
FormatAdult album alternative
Ownership
OwnerTodd Robinson
(WVJT, LLC)
Sister stationsWZZI, WZZU, WKHF, WHTU
History
First air dateDecember 12, 1995
Former call signsWAJB (1994-1995)
WZZI (1995-2009)
Call sign meaningValley's Music Place
Technical information
Facility ID9047
ClassA
Power650 watts
HAAT216.1 meters (709 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°21′54.0″N 79°51′57.0″W
Links
WebcastWVMP Webstream
WebsiteWVMP Online

History

H. Edward Hale's Carousel Entertainment signed on country WZZI in December 1995. The station flipped to a modern rock format in January 1999.[3]

Roanoke residents Karen and Robert Travis purchased WZZI in January 2000, having just purchased WRVX (97.9 FM) in Lynchburg, Virginia, which they renamed to WZZU.[4] Formats under the Travises included alternative rock "Z101" and oldies "Oldies 101.5".[5]

In 2004, Centennial Broadcasting bought the two stations. WZZI began simulcasting WZZU: oldies "Bob-FM" from 2004 to 2006, and classic rock "The Planet" from 2006 to 2009, the latter of which continues airing on WZZU alone.[6] In July 2008, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder announced a purchase of Centennial's four-station Roanoke-Lynchburg cluster by his Red Zebra Broadcasting; the sale fell through and no paperwork was ever filed with the Federal Communications Commission.[7]

Centennial instituted a locally focused adult album alternative (AAA) format on October 12, 2009, branded "101.5 The Valley's Music Place" WVMP.[8]

Unusually for an FM music station, WZZI/WVMP was the Roanoke affiliate for Virginia Cavaliers football and basketball from 2007. Broadcasts moved back to longtime home WFIR for the 2012 football season, as the university preferred to partner with a news-talk station. WZZU remains affiliated with the network.[9]

Centennial placed WVMP on the market in 2010. Ed Walker's Cityworks Community Broadcasting purchased the station to preserve the AAA format.[10] Walker sold to Dr. William E. "Eddie" Amos' Community Media Group in 2014.[4][11]

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.[12] WVJT withdrew the application to transfer control on October 19, and Community Media Group resumed operating the station.[13]

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 is heavily shielded to the south and west by mountains.[14] In January 2017, the two stations rebranded as "101.5 and 102.5 The Mountain".[15]

Todd Robinson made a second attempt to acquire the station by purchasing Community Media Group itself for $250,000 on October 20, 2017.[16] 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/classic hits-formatted WHTU (103.1 FM, Big Island) and WZZI (106.9 FM, Bedford).[17]

WVMP returned to AAA "The Mountain" on December 1, 2019, as the three-year local marketing agreement with WBZS expired.[18]

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gollark: Only 4G causes coronavirus. 5G causes cancer. Obviously.

References
  1. "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  2. "WVMP Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  3. "Looking Back, Jan. 26". Roanoke Times.
  4. "WVMP Facility Data". fccdata.org.
  5. Corbin, Robert (February 9, 2004). "Z101 throws in the towel". VARTV.
  6. Corbin, Robert (December 27, 2004). "BOB's a Star". VARTV.
  7. Corbin, Robert (July 2, 2008). "Redskins owner to buy Roanoke area radio stations". VARTV.
  8. "Triple A Comes To Roanoke". All Access.
  9. Doughty, Doug (July 5, 2012). "University of Virginia will once again partner with WFIR radio". Roanoke Times.
  10. Skeen, Michelle (February 1, 2011). "Cityworks Community Broadcasting purchases 101.5 the music place". Roanoke Times.
  11. Berrier Jr., Ralph (4 January 2018). "Lynchburg Radio Group buys Roanoke radio station The Mountain". Lynchburg News and Advance.
  12. Venta, Lance (August 3, 2016). "WVJT Inc. Acquires 101.5 WVMP Roanoke". Radio Insight.
  13. Venta, Lance (October 28, 2016). "Station Sales Week of 10/28". Radio Insight.
  14. Venta, Lance (December 14, 2016). "WVMP Expands to Blacksburg". Radio Insight.
  15. Venta, Lance (26 January 2017). "WVMP Rebrands As The Mountain". RadioInsight.
  16. "Membership Interest Purchase Agreement".
  17. Venta, Lance (5 February 2018). "Roanoke's Mountain Loses One Of Its Signals". RadioInsight.
  18. Roanoke's Mountain Returns to 101.5 Radioinsight - December 2, 2019
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