WVHT

WVHT

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City of license	Norfolk, Virginia
Broadcast area	Hampton Roads
Branding	"Hot 100.5"
Slogan	"25 Hits In A Row!"
Frequency	100.5 MHz
First air date	October 1, 1962 (as WCMS-FM)
Format	Contemporary Hit Radio
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	152 meters (499 ft)
Class	B
Facility ID	71287
Transmitter coordinates
Callsign meaning	W Virginia HoT
Former callsigns	WCMS-FM (1962-2003) WXMM (2003-2009)
Owner	Max Media (MHR License LLC)
Sister stations	WGH, WGH-FM, WVBW, WVSP
Webcast	WVHT Webstream
Website	WVHT Online

WVHT (100.5 FM, "Hot 100.5") is an American broadcast radio station licensed to serve the community of Norfolk, Virginia. The station broadcasts a contemporary hit radio music format to the Hampton Roads area. WVHT is owned and operated by Max Media.

History

100.5 traces its roots back to 1954 when AM radio station WCMS was purchased by George A. and Marjorie Crump of Suffolk, Virginia. The Crumps took the unprecedented step of playing only country music on their station when every other area radio station played a mix of various genres (country, western, swing, etc.). Critics at the time assured the Crumps that their bold decision would fail quickly.

WCMS originally aired on the AM band, and soon found 1050 AM as its new frequency. WCMS would keep this frequency for decades, until mid-2000 when it was finally acquired by an all-Spanish media company.

In 1956, WCMS hired a young man named Joe Hoppel for its disc jockey lineup. Shortly after, Hoppel began the morning shift, where he would remain exclusively for 49 more years. Hoppel remained on WCMS after the Crumps sold WCMS to Barnstable Broadcasting.

In 1962, the Crumps purchased the FM frequency 100.5, and WCMS began broadcasting simulcast on the AM and FM stations. The calls originally stood for "Where Country Music Swings" and the original slogan was "Western Country Music Station".

During the ownership by the Crumps, the station received a number of awards from the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music for its dedication to music and contribution to the industry. George A. Crump died in 2005, but up until the 1990s he was occasionally heard on WCMS giving editorials. His famous line at the end of every commentary was, "And that, in our opinion, is that." His widow Marjorie died on January 1, 2010.

In 2000, Marjorie Crump sold WCMS for $16 million, which included the corporate office building at 900 Commonwealth Place in Virginia Beach, as well as the AM and FM stations. Barnstable began laying off and firing longtime employees, such as Eric Stevens, who had also worked for the station for nearly 20 years. As longtime staffers were being let go, the station began using other DJs from new sister station "Eagle 97", WGH-FM. Critics pointed out that Barnstable was stripping WCMS in favor of Eagle, since the two stations were competitors in the years leading up to Barnstable's acquisition of WCMS. Barnstable moved WCMS studios to its new location on Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach to consolidate operations with its five other stations.

File:WXMM-FM 2009.PNG

Logo for former WXMM station MAX FM used from 2003 to 2009.

The format shifted to classic country at 3:00 PM on April 10, 2003, after Black Hawk's Goodbye Says It All. After more than 40 years of country music, the format was dropped entirely on November 28, 2003, around 11:30 PM for mainstream rock. The last song as "100.5 WCMS" was "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson, while the first song as "100.5 MAX-FM" was AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." The call sign changed to WXMM on December 18, 2003. The country music switched back to its original frequency, 1050AM. Joe Hoppel continued his duties with morning DJ alongside Jim Long (news) and Jennifer Roberts. After several months, the sale of 1050 AM was announced, effectively ending WCMS just shy of its 50th anniversary. Joe Hoppel was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Barnstable Broadcasting sold all its stations several years later to Max Media, which now owns the 100.5 FM frequency. Max Media transferred the call letters WCMS to its 94.5 FM station in North Carolina rather than let the letters become available to another station. The current WCMS-FM has almost no connection to the original, and most people in Hampton Roads are unable to receive the 94.5 FM signal due to deliberate transmitter direction and attenuation.

File:WXMM-FM 2009 2.PNG

Logo used during the "Kung Pao" stunting in April 2009.

In June 2008, 100.5 MAX-FM's Playlist site launched. Allowing its listeners to program the station, people could log on and create their favorite playlist of music and submit it. When the playlists were played on the radio, WXMM listeners were given attribution via their own recorded intros throughout the hour. The line up was Stephen Hill in the mornings, Cindy Crawford in the afternoons, Bug on the drive home, Shane at night, and Ty on the weekends.

File:WXMM-FM 2009 3.PNG

Hot 100.5 Logo, 2009-2014

The rock format ended on April 23, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. The station began stunting as "Kung Pao 100.5 FM", playing "Classic Chinese Hits" (traditional Chinese instrumentals)., a stunt that had been previously done by KDOG in Mankato, MN a few years prior. It was speculated, based on RBDS information and website registration, that WXMM would eventually flip to classic rock as "Beer 100.5". At 7:00 a.m. EDT on April 27, 2009, WXMM started playing promos with the branding "Hot 100.5" and a contemporary hit radio format with the first song of The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow". The station changed its call sign to WVHT on May 4, 2009.

On January 13, 2014, at 8:45 AM, after stunting for an hour with construction sounds, WVHT kept the Hot 100.5 name and format, but took a more music-heavy approach, promoting themselves as the home for "25 hits in a row every hour". The logo was also changed with the adjustment in format.

External links

• Hot 100.5 Online
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WVHT
• Radio-Locator information on WVHT
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WVHT