WEZS
Encyclopedia
WURV is an Adult album alternative
formatted broadcast
radio station
licensed to Richmond, Virginia
, serving the Richmond
/Petersburg
area. WURV is owned and operated by Cox Radio
, Inc.
The station was later sold to a group of Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company, which worked out a Local Management Arrangement with brothers J. Sargeant Reynolds
and Major Reynolds who were on the Fidelity board and already owned local station WGOE
. WFMV was then co-located with WGOE in their Willow Lawn studios in Henrico County
and continued their classical music format. The station was later sold to Ben Thomas, of Greencastle, Pennsylvania
, who moved the station into two very "used" trailers at the transmitter site in Bon Air, Virginia
.
In 1969 the station was sold to EZ Communications
, a company founded by Art Kellar that pioneered easy listening
radio in major markets including WEZR (FM) (Manassas, Virginia
) in Washington, DC. EZ Communications changed the call sign to WEZS. After a brief skirmish and with loyal WFMV listeners and assistance from the new owners in moving the classical format to WRFK
(FM), a non-profit station, the easy listening format was very successful in Richmond as it had been in the Washington, DC metro market. Richmond television news anchor Sabrina Squire started her career at WEZS as an overnight DJ, and renowned talk show
host Bob Lassiter
spent six months there in the mid 1970s.
In 1970, the station started the first local progressive rock show on FM in Richmond on Friday and Saturday nights between Midnight and 3 AM called "Veronica Lake" (inspired by a Hollywood actress of the 1940s) which was hosted by local movie critic Jerry Williams. The show would start out with Williams saying "Quack Quack..Veronica Lake". The show garnered a cult audience, but only stayed on the station until early 1971 when the station decided to take its "Easy listening" format to 24 hours a day.
Other EZ Communications stations which used the easy listening format to find profitability in emerging FM markets were WEZC
(FM) 104.7 MHz in Charlotte, North Carolina
, and WEZB
(FM) 97.1 MHz in New Orleans, Louisiana
. In the years following, EZ Communications grew from a five station chain to the Federal Communications Commission
FCC maximum limit of the era, with stations in FM markets from Miami, Florida
to Seattle, Washington
. In 1982,as many stations around the country were facing the influx of younger baby boomers coming into the target age group of the Easy listening format, WEZS ditched the old "Easy" instrumental format and switched to a soft adult contemporary format as EZ104, playing music by such artists as The Carpenters
, Kenny Rogers
, and Barry Manilow
and using the a "Four in a Row" format,and eventually promoting themselves as "Four in a Row, Four-ever EZ104 FM."
By 1985, EZ Communications was #12 in the Top 25 Radio Groups in the U.S. measured by numbers of listeners as measured by Arbitron
(Spring 1995). Very popular WTVR-FM
morning personality Bill Bevins spent 15 years at the station—first in mornings, then afternoons, then back to mornings. Local legend Steve "Mr. Beach" Leonard's popular "Sunday Night Beach Party" ran on the station until 1996. In 1987, EZ sold the station to Ragan Henry Broadcasting of Philadelphia. At that time it changed calls to WMXB and dropped the "Four in a Row" stance and became known as "B103.7, The Best Mix of the 60s, 70s, and 80s".
In 1990, the station was sold to Radio Ventures which moved format intro a more up tempo "Mainstream Adult Contemporary" format, jettisoning the softer tracks like The Carpenters & Manilow for more up-tempo artists like Gloria Estefan
, Ace of Base
, and Bruce Springsteen
. 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. WMXB enjoyed a period of consistent ratings success at this time beating legacy CHR Q94/WRVQ in total audience.
In 1991, top-rated WWBT-TV (NBC) news anchor Bill Oglesby joined the station with a popular daily feature called "Where Were You." The concept was to spotlight a day in recent history ("recent" meaning within the station's format) and remember local headlines in news, sports and entertainment. Each edition ran twice a day and finished with a top ten song from that day in the spotlighted year. In 1994, other activities forced Oglesby to relinquish his announcing duties on the show, but he continued to write the show's script and narrations were carried on by Production Director Jym Geraci. "Where Were You" ran on WMXB until 1996.
At the end of 1995, longtime morning personilty Bill Bevins (who had been reassigned to the midday shift to make way for new morning man Mike McCarthy) ended his run at the station to take on Mornings at crosstown WTVR-FM /Lite 98. In 1996 the station was sold to SFX Broadcasting, jettinsoned what was left of the mainstream music, and the station shifted to a more "Modern" adult format with a Modern rock lean that included such artists as No Doubt
, Collective Soul
and Alanis Morissette
. (The new owners also dropped the longtime "Sunday Night Beach Party" as well). The station ownership went thru several corporate mergers, from SFX, to Capstar, and finally AMFM. When AMFM merged with Clear Channel, WMXB, along with several other stations owned by both AMFM and Clear Channel, was spun off to Cox Radio who adjusted the station back to a mainstream Hot A/C format. In March 2003, in an attempt to dethrone market leader Soft Adult Contemporary WTVR-FM (Lite 98) the station dumped the hot A/C format and B-103 logo for a soft A/C format that leaned toward eighties, nineties, and current titles and called it "Mix 103.7". Unable to make headway against WTVR-FM, the station since then has gradually added back more uptempo titles.
WMXB did not have ratings success as Mix 103.7. The station let go morning co-host Linda Thomas, 16-year afternoon drive host Jon Barry, longtime news and public affairs director Leslie Taylor (the last surviving personality from the station's EZ Communications days), transferred longtime middays host Sheri Blanks to sales, and let go Traffic Reporter Kyla Thomas, who did traffic reporting for the entire Cox Radio Richmond cluster.
In April 2007, the station re-launched with a similar format to its B-103 days, with many more up-tempo titles.
Former on-air staff consisted of Jack Indigo and Jen Towner in the morning, Madison James in middays, Program Director Fisher in afternoon drive, Angie (from sister station WDYL) in evenings and Richard Jacobs on the weekends.
Melissa Chase, formerly of crosstown Clear Channel CHR Q94
, hosts morning drive and is the station's Program Director.
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
formatted broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, serving the Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
/Petersburg
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
area. WURV is owned and operated by Cox Radio
Cox Radio
Cox Radio, Inc. is a division of Cox Enterprises that holds a number of radio stations. Cox Radio is headquartered at 6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Road in Sandy Springs, Georgia....
, Inc.
History (1961-2007)
The station first came on the air in 1961 as a classical music station WFMV (with call letters which stood for Fine Music Virginia). One of its first announcers was Dick Hemby who was still in high school at the time. He would later become one of the well known personalities in the Richmond market. The station acquired a large classical music library which became one of its assets. It operated from an old refrigeration plant, which turned out to be a good thing due to the buildings heavy insulation against heat also working for sound.The station was later sold to a group of Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company, which worked out a Local Management Arrangement with brothers J. Sargeant Reynolds
J. Sargeant Reynolds
Julian Sargeant Reynolds of Richmond, Virginia was a teacher, businessman, and politician. He served in both the House and Senate of the Virginia General Assembly and served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the first Republican to serve in that position since Reconstruction...
and Major Reynolds who were on the Fidelity board and already owned local station WGOE
WGOE
-Present:WGOE currently operates as an Internet Radio Station serving the Richmond, Virginia region.In its current form, the website operates as a searchable information resource for the many thousands of fans of the old station as well as others who are interested in discovering things to see and...
. WFMV was then co-located with WGOE in their Willow Lawn studios in Henrico County
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and continued their classical music format. The station was later sold to Ben Thomas, of Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,722 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, who moved the station into two very "used" trailers at the transmitter site in Bon Air, Virginia
Bon Air, Virginia
Bon Air is a census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,366 at the 2010 census. The community is considered a suburb of the independent city of Richmond in the Richmond-Petersburg region, and shares a post office with Richmond...
.
In 1969 the station was sold to EZ Communications
EZ Communications
EZ Communications, Inc. was a corporation with its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. In the 1970s, the small company was one of the pioneers of the easy listening on the FM broadcasting radio spectrum with 2 stations in Manassas and Richmond. Within 25 years, the company grew to 20 stations...
, a company founded by Art Kellar that pioneered easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
radio in major markets including WEZR (FM) (Manassas, Virginia
Manassas, Virginia
The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...
) in Washington, DC. EZ Communications changed the call sign to WEZS. After a brief skirmish and with loyal WFMV listeners and assistance from the new owners in moving the classical format to WRFK
WRFK
WRFK was the callsign for an FM broadcast radio station in Richmond, Virginia. As a non-profit station in 1958, it was originally assigned to 91.1 MHz in the non-commercial band by the Federal Communications Commission...
(FM), a non-profit station, the easy listening format was very successful in Richmond as it had been in the Washington, DC metro market. Richmond television news anchor Sabrina Squire started her career at WEZS as an overnight DJ, and renowned talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host Bob Lassiter
Bob Lassiter
Bob Lassiter, also known as "Mad Dog", was a controversial and highly influential American radio talk show host in the 1980s and '90s...
spent six months there in the mid 1970s.
In 1970, the station started the first local progressive rock show on FM in Richmond on Friday and Saturday nights between Midnight and 3 AM called "Veronica Lake" (inspired by a Hollywood actress of the 1940s) which was hosted by local movie critic Jerry Williams. The show would start out with Williams saying "Quack Quack..Veronica Lake". The show garnered a cult audience, but only stayed on the station until early 1971 when the station decided to take its "Easy listening" format to 24 hours a day.
WKQC
WKQC is a CBS Radio adult contemporary radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The station goes by the name "K 104.7" with the slogan "Cool Songs."The station receives exceptional interference from another 104.7 in Columbia, just 75 miles south...
(FM) 104.7 MHz in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, and WEZB
WEZB
WEZB, aka B-97 today, is a mainstream Contemporary hit radio radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. The station is owned by Entercom and they broadcast their format at 97.1 MHz with an effective radiated power of 99 kW...
(FM) 97.1 MHz in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. In the years following, EZ Communications grew from a five station chain to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
FCC maximum limit of the era, with stations in FM markets from Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. In 1982,as many stations around the country were facing the influx of younger baby boomers coming into the target age group of the Easy listening format, WEZS ditched the old "Easy" instrumental format and switched to a soft adult contemporary format as EZ104, playing music by such artists as The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
, and Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
and using the a "Four in a Row" format,and eventually promoting themselves as "Four in a Row, Four-ever EZ104 FM."
By 1985, EZ Communications was #12 in the Top 25 Radio Groups in the U.S. measured by numbers of listeners as measured by Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
(Spring 1995). Very popular WTVR-FM
WTVR-FM
WTVR-FM is a Adult Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Central Virginia. WTVR-FM is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications.-History:...
morning personality Bill Bevins spent 15 years at the station—first in mornings, then afternoons, then back to mornings. Local legend Steve "Mr. Beach" Leonard's popular "Sunday Night Beach Party" ran on the station until 1996. In 1987, EZ sold the station to Ragan Henry Broadcasting of Philadelphia. At that time it changed calls to WMXB and dropped the "Four in a Row" stance and became known as "B103.7, The Best Mix of the 60s, 70s, and 80s".
In 1990, the station was sold to Radio Ventures which moved format intro a more up tempo "Mainstream Adult Contemporary" format, jettisoning the softer tracks like The Carpenters & Manilow for more up-tempo artists like Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
, Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren...
, and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. Liberty Broadcasting (in which entertainer Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...
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. WMXB enjoyed a period of consistent ratings success at this time beating legacy CHR Q94/WRVQ in total audience.
In 1991, top-rated WWBT-TV (NBC) news anchor Bill Oglesby joined the station with a popular daily feature called "Where Were You." The concept was to spotlight a day in recent history ("recent" meaning within the station's format) and remember local headlines in news, sports and entertainment. Each edition ran twice a day and finished with a top ten song from that day in the spotlighted year. In 1994, other activities forced Oglesby to relinquish his announcing duties on the show, but he continued to write the show's script and narrations were carried on by Production Director Jym Geraci. "Where Were You" ran on WMXB until 1996.
At the end of 1995, longtime morning personilty Bill Bevins (who had been reassigned to the midday shift to make way for new morning man Mike McCarthy) ended his run at the station to take on Mornings at crosstown WTVR-FM /Lite 98. In 1996 the station was sold to SFX Broadcasting, jettinsoned what was left of the mainstream music, and the station shifted to a more "Modern" adult format with a Modern rock lean that included such artists as No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
, Collective Soul
Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally formed in Stockbridge, Georgia. Collective Soul broke into mainstream popularity with their first hit single, "Shine", which came from their debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, released in 1993...
and Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
. (The new owners also dropped the longtime "Sunday Night Beach Party" as well). The station ownership went thru several corporate mergers, from SFX, to Capstar, and finally AMFM. When AMFM merged with Clear Channel, WMXB, along with several other stations owned by both AMFM and Clear Channel, was spun off to Cox Radio who adjusted the station back to a mainstream Hot A/C format. In March 2003, in an attempt to dethrone market leader Soft Adult Contemporary WTVR-FM (Lite 98) the station dumped the hot A/C format and B-103 logo for a soft A/C format that leaned toward eighties, nineties, and current titles and called it "Mix 103.7". Unable to make headway against WTVR-FM, the station since then has gradually added back more uptempo titles.
WMXB did not have ratings success as Mix 103.7. The station let go morning co-host Linda Thomas, 16-year afternoon drive host Jon Barry, longtime news and public affairs director Leslie Taylor (the last surviving personality from the station's EZ Communications days), transferred longtime middays host Sheri Blanks to sales, and let go Traffic Reporter Kyla Thomas, who did traffic reporting for the entire Cox Radio Richmond cluster.
In April 2007, the station re-launched with a similar format to its B-103 days, with many more up-tempo titles.
Former on-air staff consisted of Jack Indigo and Jen Towner in the morning, Madison James in middays, Program Director Fisher in afternoon drive, Angie (from sister station WDYL) in evenings and Richard Jacobs on the weekends.
Today
On April 22, 2010, the station flipped formats from "Mix 103-7" to a new format -- a crossbreed between triple-A and Hot AC, station branding itself as "103-7 The River" with 52 minutes of music every hour and a promise to not talk over the music. On April 30, 2010, the FCC authorized a change in call letters from WMXB to WURV.Melissa Chase, formerly of crosstown Clear Channel CHR Q94
WRVQ
WRVQ is a Contemporary Hit Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Central Virginia. WRVQ is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications.-External links:*...
, hosts morning drive and is the station's Program Director.
Sources
- Fisher, Mark D. (2005) A Brief History of WFMV: Virginia's first stereophonic good music station, Richmond Radio Group on Yahoo; Richmond, VA
- Washington, D.C. AM Station History by Thomas H. White