WWEG
Encyclopedia
WWEG is a Classic Hits
formatted broadcast
radio station
licensed to Myersville, Maryland
.
The station can be heard throughout the "Four-State Region" of western Maryland
, south central Pennsylvania
, eastern West Virginia
and northern Virginia
. WWEG's distance grade signal can be heard in Washington, D.C.
, though it is prone to interference from WJFK-FM
.
WWEG is owned and operated by Nassau Broadcasting.
On October 6, 1982, WWCS became WARX, dropping its country
format for Album Oriented Rock using the tagline "107 X Marks The Rock". 107X was a hit immediately, although its popularity wained as the "AOR" format struggled in the 80's. On March 1, 1985, the AOR format gave way to a Soft Adult Contemporary format known as "Magic 106.9", yet the call letters stayed the same. In Early 1991, the station adopted an Oldies format (again with no call letter change) and became known as "Oldies 106.9", which eventually became its most popular incarnation.
Although the station was identified as "Hagerstown/Frederick" after the call letters on the station, it never had a dual-id. It was licensed only to Hagerstown for the stations entire existence in that city. In 2008, the city of license was changed to Myersville, Maryland.
On March 10, 2005, owner Manning Broadcasting sold WARX to Nassau Broadcasting for an unknown sum. Nassau immediately instituted a change to the current calls and format.
Nine days earlier, on March 1, 2005, nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
-based WWMD (now WBHB-FM
) had flipped from Contemporary Hit Radio
to Classic Rock under the callsign WEEG, with their new branding being "Eagle 101.5". On March 9, 2005, Nassau sued WEEG owner Verstandig Broadcasting for the use of the "Eagle" moniker, even though Verstandig had been using the name prior to Nassau's purchase of WARX.
On March 9, Verstandig dropped the "Eagle" branding and changed WEEG's calls to WFYN. On March 10, Nassau officially changed WARX's calls to WWEG.
Because of the lawsuit against Verstandig, ratings for WWEG were weak at the beginning but have picked up. WFYN, which now airs an active rock
format as WBHB-FM
, had consistently ranked higher than WWEG, though after the last ratings cycle in Summer of 2009, WWEG did rank higher than WBHB.
The WARX calls are now on a Lewiston, Maine station.
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
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 Myersville, Maryland
Myersville, Maryland
Myersville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,382 at the 2000 census.-History:The Peter of P. Grossnickel Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.-Geography:...
.
The station can be heard throughout the "Four-State Region" of western Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, south central Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, eastern West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. WWEG's distance grade signal can be heard in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, though it is prone to interference from WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM, known on-air as 106.7 The Fan, is a sports radio-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Manassas, Virginia, serving the metro Washington DC area...
.
WWEG is owned and operated by Nassau Broadcasting.
History
WWEG was launched in 1954 as WARK-FM. In the mid 1970s, the calls were changed to WWCS, standing for "Country Sunshine", an automated country format it ran at the time. In a market dominated with country stations (WYII & WAYZ) WWCS struggled in the ratings even though it had the most powerful broadcast signal.On October 6, 1982, WWCS became WARX, dropping its country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
format for Album Oriented Rock using the tagline "107 X Marks The Rock". 107X was a hit immediately, although its popularity wained as the "AOR" format struggled in the 80's. On March 1, 1985, the AOR format gave way to a Soft Adult Contemporary format known as "Magic 106.9", yet the call letters stayed the same. In Early 1991, the station adopted an Oldies format (again with no call letter change) and became known as "Oldies 106.9", which eventually became its most popular incarnation.
Although the station was identified as "Hagerstown/Frederick" after the call letters on the station, it never had a dual-id. It was licensed only to Hagerstown for the stations entire existence in that city. In 2008, the city of license was changed to Myersville, Maryland.
On March 10, 2005, owner Manning Broadcasting sold WARX to Nassau Broadcasting for an unknown sum. Nassau immediately instituted a change to the current calls and format.
Nine days earlier, on March 1, 2005, nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, located northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, 67 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The population within the borough limits was 9,614 at the 2000 census. When combined with the surrounding...
-based WWMD (now WBHB-FM
WBHB-FM
WTGD is an Active Rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Bridgewater, Virginia, Harrisonburg/Staunton area. WTGD is owned and operated by M. Belmont Verstandig, Inc.-WAMM 105.1:...
) had flipped from Contemporary Hit Radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
to Classic Rock under the callsign WEEG, with their new branding being "Eagle 101.5". On March 9, 2005, Nassau sued WEEG owner Verstandig Broadcasting for the use of the "Eagle" moniker, even though Verstandig had been using the name prior to Nassau's purchase of WARX.
On March 9, Verstandig dropped the "Eagle" branding and changed WEEG's calls to WFYN. On March 10, Nassau officially changed WARX's calls to WWEG.
Because of the lawsuit against Verstandig, ratings for WWEG were weak at the beginning but have picked up. WFYN, which now airs an active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
format as WBHB-FM
WBHB-FM
WTGD is an Active Rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Bridgewater, Virginia, Harrisonburg/Staunton area. WTGD is owned and operated by M. Belmont Verstandig, Inc.-WAMM 105.1:...
, had consistently ranked higher than WWEG, though after the last ratings cycle in Summer of 2009, WWEG did rank higher than WBHB.
The WARX calls are now on a Lewiston, Maine station.