| City of license | Powhatan, Virginia Petersburg, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Metro Richmond |
| Branding | "Big Oldies 107.3" |
| Frequency | 107.3 MHz 100.3 MHz |
| First air date | 1999 - 107.3 1992 - 100.3 |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| Power | 1,400 Watts - 107.3 4,700 Watts - 100.3 |
| HAAT | 679 Meters - 107.3 348 Meters - 100.3 |
| Class | A - 107.3 A - 100.3 |
| Transmitter coordinates | - 107.3 - 100.3 |
| Callsign meaning | WB BeaT former branding WA RiVer former branding |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio |
| Owner | Main Line Broadcasting |
| Sister stations | WLFV, WWLB |
| Webcast | WBBT/WARV Webstream |
| Website | WBBT/WARV Online |
WBBT-FM and WARV-FM are Classic Hits formatted broadcast radio stations licensed to Powhatan, Virginia and Petersburg, Virginia respectively. Both stations broadcast as one by simulcasting each other, allowing programming to be "in sync" on each station.
Both stations serve the Metro Richmond area. WBBT-FM and WARV-FM are owned and operated by Main Line Broadcasting.
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The allocation occupied now by WBBT-FM was originally a class C2 (50,000 watt) allocation assigned to Warrenton, NC. MainQuad, Inc. acquired the construction permit for this station when it acquired WLGQ, Gaston, NC and WCBT, Roanoke Rapids, NC from Draper Communications. The usable area for a transmitter site was a very small area located across the Virginia line. From this location the station would cover a large area but very few people. An FM study showed that the station could be down graded to a class A (6000 watt) station and moved near the Richmond, Virginia area. MainQuad, Inc. then made the decision to break the allocation into two class A stations. One would be moved to Powhatan, VA on 107.3 FM and the other would be assigned to Enfield, NC (that assignment is now WBOB-FM).
By June, 1999, the station was ready to sign on in Richmond with the call sign WXNC. With the unique call signs, and the fact that Richmond did not have a modern rock station at the time, rumors persisted that the station would go modern rock as "107.3 the X" (At the time, classic rocker WRXL called itself "XL102", in a few years, they'd rename themselves "102.1 the X"). Instead, the station signed on with the then "hot" industry format Jammin Oldies with new calls WBBT using the positioner "107-3 The Beat", in late 2000. The station was unable to call itself "Jammin Oldies" because that positioner was already being used by Radio One's Urban Oldies station WPLZ, which had been a "fringe signal" in the market at 99.3, and later moved to the more powerful 105.7 dial position.
The higher powered Urban gold formatted WPLZ cut into WBBT's ratings, so the station became a Dance leaning CHR calling itself "Dance Hits 1073". The discarded "Beat" moniker was taken in June 2001 by Clear Channel when they signed on Urban-formatted WBTJ as " 106.5 The Beat ", which caused some listener confusion.
In May, 2001, under former WRVQ Program Director Lisa Mckay, the station flipped to 80's rock as "Star 107.3" (which would evolve to an '80s/'90s hybrid as "Star 107"). However, ratings did not rise as expected and McKay was let go, and Operations Manager Jack Alix took over WBBT's programming.
After almost three years under Alix, listenership had declined. In January 2004, after a day of stunting as an "Elvis 107", the station flipped to '60s/'70s Oldies as "Oldies 107.3". At the same time as the 107.3 format flip, Mainquad flipped recently purchased sister station 100.3 WARV, whose tower is in Petersburg, from "ESPN Richmond" to a simulcast of WBBT, giving the new oldies format some new coverage in Southside Virginia where 107.3's signal is weak.
Mike Levay was brought in to do mornings with sidekick Kelly Fever on April 1, 2004. (Both had worked on-air at country station WKHK, but in different dayparts). "Mornings with Mike and Kelly" did well and listenership for the rest of the station was good initially. Ratings in other dayparts started to decline, prompting rumors of another format change. Levay left in late 2004 to do a solo morning show on sister station WLFV. "Ozone in the Morning" moved in, and stayed until December 2009. In December 2005 WBBT and WARV, along with sister stations WLFV and WWLB were purchased by Philadelphia-based Main Line Broadcasting.
On 2007-09-27, the station changed positioners from "Oldies 107.3" to "107.3 BBT". The playlist was widened at the time slightly to include a few early '80s rock hits, but the station continues to focus on 1964-1979. The positioner changed again on 2009-12-04, to the current "Big Oldies 107.3".
Radio veteran Tony Booth joined the station in 2007 to be the afternoon drive personality. Jim Conlee joined the station in September 2010 for morning drive.
WBBT/WARV is the flagship station of Virginia Commonwealth University men's basketball.
In the early 1990s, 100.3 operated as WSVV (Savvy 100.3), programming an "urban adult contemporary" format from its studios in a storefront on Crater Road in the southern half of Petersburg. Its broadcast signal favored a listener base in Petersburg; coverage was marginal to points north of Richmond.
A few years later it was sold to Radio 100 Inc and changed to WSOJ (South of The James) and continued their Urban Adult format and moved their studios to Wilkerson Rd in Henrico County Virginia. The station later adopted an all rap & hip hop format after the Urban Adult format was moved to the co-owned 104.7 frequency. In the late 90s under owners Radio One the station simulcasted country station WJRV (The River) under new calls WARV.
In 2001, both WARV and sister station WDYL were sold to Cox, who spun off WARV to Charles Giddens (as Honolulu Broadcasting) to comply with FCC regulations limit station ownership, who let Cox operate it under an LMA, where it became automated as "Cat Country". The station for a while ran bartered Spanish programming on the weekends but cancelled it after a complaint from a listener about an offensive comment made by a Spanish talk show host.
After Giddens' passing, his estate sold the station to Mainquad, who flipped it briefly to ESPN, and briefly aired "Big Al" Coleman's local Sportsphone show (now heard on WXGI), but they abandoned the format in January 2004 to simulcast 107.3/WBBT. WARV breaks off the simulcast one night a week to run "Joe & Ruth Kelly's Let's Talk Racing", the only holdover from the former 100.3 all sports format, on Wednesday nights from 6p to 8p.
WBBT/WARV runs the "Beatles Bunch" and "Beatle Years" programs from Westwood One on Sunday mornings. The station just recently added vintage "American Top 40 Show" repeats from the 70s from Premire Media, also on Sundays.
The station uses local air talent during morning and afternoon drive weekdays. They run "jockless" at all other times.
WBBT-FM is on one of the three towers located on U.S. Route 60 near the Chesterfield/Powhatan county line. In November 2009, Main Line filed an application with the FCC to move the transmitter to the WWBT-TV tower in Chesterfield County, along with a change in Community of License to Chesterfield Courthouse.
WARV-FM's transmitter is located just south of Petersburg, Virginia.
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