WBBT-FM (107.3 FM) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Powhatan, Virginia Powhatan is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Powhatan County, Virginia, United States. It was initially known as Scottville (after Revolutionary war hero General Charles Scott), and has historically also been known as Powhatan ...

, and serving the

Greater Richmond Region The Greater Richmond Region, also known as the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the are ...

. WBBT-FM is owned and operated by

VPM Media Corporation The VPM Media Corporation, formerly known as the Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation and Central Virginia Educational Television Corporation, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is the group owner of Public Broadcasting Service ( ...

. It airs an eclectic music format, focusing on

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

on weekdays,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

in the evening and diverse musical genres on weekends, including

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. It carries programming from

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Classical 24 Classical 24 is a syndicated, satellite-delivered public radio service providing classical music to its carrying stations. It generally airs overnights on many non-commercial and a handful of commercial classical music stations. However, the s ...

and the

WFMT WFMT (98.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, with a classical music radio format. It is part of Window to the World Communications, Inc, in the same company as Chicago's PBS member station WTTW. WFMT seeks donations ...

Jazz Network. Along with

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

partner WWLB in

Ettrick, Virginia Ettrick is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,241. The town is home to Virginia State University and the Petersburg Amtrak train station. Most of Ettrick ...

, WBBT is branded as ''VPM Music'', and is a

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to the area's

news and information

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

, 88.9 WCVE-FM. WBBT serves the northern part of the Richmond

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

, while WWLB serves the southern portion. WBBT-FM studios and offices are on Sesame Street in Richmond. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Dry Bridge Road in

Midlothian, Virginia Midlothian ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated area and census-designated place in Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. Settled as a coal town, Midlothian village experienced suburbanization effects and is now part of t ...

History

WBBT-FM signed on June 21, 1999, as WXNC, and airing a

rhythmic oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. The playlists spans from the 1960s through the 2000s. They depend on market conditions and may be designed for African-American or Hispani ...

format as "107.3 The Beat, Richmond's Dancin' Oldies". The station adopted the current WBBT-FM calls on August 6. However, by November 2000, the station shifted to a dance-leaning rhythmic AC as "Dance Hits 107.3". In June 2001, WBBT flipped to all-1980s hits as "Star 107.3" (which would evolve to an 1980s/1990s hybrid as "Star 107"). On January 21, 2004, at 7:07 a.m., after a day of stunting as "

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

107", the station flipped to 1960s/1970s

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

as "Oldies 107.3". At the same time, recently purchased sister station WARV-FM (100.3), whose tower is in Petersburg, flipped 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. In December 2005, WBBT and WARV, along with sister stations WWLB and WLFV, were purchased by Philadelphia-based

Main Line Broadcasting Main Line Broadcasting was an American media company, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its peak, Main Line Broadcasting owned 19 radio stations in four markets in the United States. The company was founded by Dan Savadove and was most rece ...

. On September 27, 2007, the station rebranded as "107.3 BBT". The playlist was widened at the time slightly to include a few early 1980s rock hits, but the station continued to focus on 1964 to 1979. The positioner changed again on December 4, 2009, to "Big Oldies 107.3". On July 1, 2014, Main Line Broadcasting sold its Richmond stations to L&L Broadcasting, with the combined entity taking the name

Alpha Media Alpha Media LLC is a radio broadcasting company based in Portland, Oregon, and led by Bob Proffitt. The group does business under the Alpha Media name. It was formed from the merger of Alpha Broadcasting, L&L Broadcasting, and Main Line Broadc ...

. On March 22, 2017, WBBT shifted its format from classic hits to 1980s hits. Starting with the 2016-17 season, WBBT also carried the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

Spiders

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games. On December 20, 2017, Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation announced that they would acquire WBBT and sister station, WWLB, with the intention of moving WCVE-FM's music programming to the stations.Alpha Media Sells Richmond Pair To Commonwealth Public Broadcasting
/ref> The switch took place on February 15, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. The last song of the classic hits format was

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

's '' The Final Countdown''. On June 1, 2018, WBBT-FM and WWLB broke off the simulcast of WCVE-FM to air a new format, "WCVE Music", which took over and augmented WCVE-FM's music programming. On August 5, 2019, WBBT-FM and WWLB were both rebranded as "VPM Music".

References

External links

* {{NPR Virginia 1999 establishments in Virginia Radio stations established in 1999 BBT-FM Public radio stations in the United States Jazz radio stations in the United States Powhatan County, Virginia