WCYK-FM
 | |
| Broadcast area | Charlottesville - Harrisonburg - Lexington |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 99.7 FM MHz |
| Branding | 99-7 CYK |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | MRN Radio PRN Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCHV, WCHV-FM, WHTE-FM, WHUK, WKAV | |
| History | |
First air date | August 1, 1984 |
Former call signs | WANV-FM (1984–1994) WVAO-FM (1994–1996)[1] |
Call sign meaning | CountrY K |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 70861 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 3,300 watts |
| HAAT | 516 meters (1,693 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°3′52.0″N 78°48′18.0″W / 38.064444°N 78.805000°W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | WCYK-FM Webstream |
| Website | 997CYK.com |
WCYK-FM (99.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Staunton, Virginia, and serving Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Lexington, Virginia. It is owned and operated by Monticello Media and it broadcasts a country music format. The studios and offices are on Hillsdale Drive in Charlottesville.
WCYK-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 3,300 watts as a Class B FM station. The transmitter is on Bear Den Mountain in Waynesboro.[2]
History[edit]
WANV-FM[edit]
The station signed on the air on August 1, 1984.[3] Its original call sign was WANV-FM and it had a soft adult contemporary format. The station was co-owned by M. Robert "Bob" Rogers' High Fidelity Music Show, Inc. WANV-FM served as a sister station to country WANV 970 AM in Waynesboro.[4] Bob Rogers was the former manager of WGMS in Washington, D.C. With his wife Terry, he ran a series of annual High Fidelity Music Show expos to showcase the latest in home audio technology.[5] The station initially transmitted from Elliott Knob west of Staunton, high enough to cover the Staunton-Waynesboro-Harrisonburg portion of the Shenandoah Valley.[6]
In 1989, WANV-FM received a construction permit to move to Bear Den Mountain, just east of Waynesboro and north of Afton Mountain. Although this site is roughly 1,500 feet lower than Elliott Knob, it affords a much wider coverage area, with local-grade service to the Charlottesville metro in addition to the valley to the west.[6] The station flipped to oldies during 1991.[7]
WCYK-FM[edit]
Bob Rogers died in 1992, and the two stations passed to his son as executor, who began looking for a buyer.[6] In March 1994, Michael Douglass' Clark Broadcasting Company bought WANV-FM along with longtime Charlottesville country stations WCYK (810 kHz) and WCYK-FM (102.3 MHz), based in Crozet.[8] Clark changed the call sign to WVAO-FM and, at first, kept the oldies format.
To take advantage of the 99.7 MHz facility's superior signal, Clark then moved the more popular country format and WCYK-FM call letters from 102.3 in February 1996. That station took the oldies and WVAO-FM call sign in return.[9]
Changes in ownership[edit]
Clear Channel entered the Charlottesville market by buying Clark's three FM stations in 1998. The company ran the station as "Country 99.7", but otherwise did not make changes.[10]
Clear Channel exited the Charlottesville market in June 2007 by selling all of its stations to George Reed's Sistema 102 LLC, which was later renamed Monticello Media.[11] On November 3, 2007, Monticello tweaked the station's branding to "Your Country 99.7". On the morning of September 16, 2010, the station adopted the "Hitkicker 99-7" brand, which came with changes to airstaff but not music.[12]
Exactly seven years later, on September 16, 2017, the station shifted brands again to "99.7 CYK", at the same time adding some recurrents to a music rotation that was largely hit-based. This occurred as a result of increased competition from WCVL-FM (92.7 MHz), which airs a 1990-based country format, and a format change at Monticello's own classic country outlet WKAV.[13]
References[edit]
- ^ "Call Sign History".
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WCYK-FM
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1999 page D-470, Broadcasting & Cable
- ^ Broadcasting & Cablecasting Yearbook 1986 (PDF). p. B-300.
- ^ Staff (February 14, 1976). "The Rogers & Hi Fi -- A 22-Year Love Affair" (PDF). Billboard. p. S3-12.
- ^ a b c "WCYK-FM Facility Record". FCCData.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Marketplace (PDF). p. A-369.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1995 (PDF). p. B-435.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1998 (PDF). pp. D-457, D-464.
- ^ Corbin, Robert (August 12, 2002). "Harrisonburg & Charlottesville Arbitron Ratings".
- ^ Corbin, Robert (June 27, 2007). "Clear Channel to sell six stations in VA". VARTV.
- ^ "Hit on a Shingle". Country Aircheck Today. September 16, 2010.
- ^ Venta, Lance (1 October 2017). "WKAV Goes From Classic Country To Christian AC While WCYK Rebrands". RadioInsight.
External links[edit]
- 99-7 CYK Online
- WCYK in the FCC FM station database
- WCYK in Nielsen Audio's FM station database