WCVS-FM (99.7 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Hillsboro, Illinois Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,902 at the 2020 census. History The community was founded in 1823 and incorporated on March 26, 1913. There is some doubt about the o ...

, and serving the Springfield metropolitan area. It is owned by the Neuhoff Corporation and broadcasts a classic hits

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, known as "99.7 CVS". The

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

s and offices are on South 4th Street in Southern View, Illinois, using a Springfield address. WCVS-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the current maximum for most FM stations in Illinois. 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 on County Road 900 East, off Front Street (

Illinois Route 48 Illinois Route 48 (IL 48) is an north–south state highway with its southern terminus at Interstate 55 (I-55) and IL 127 in Raymond and its northern terminus at IL 54 east of Clinton. Route description IL 48 ...

) in

Harvel, Illinois Harvel is a village in Christian and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 178 at the 2020 census, down from 223 in 2010. Geography Harvel is in southwestern Christian County and northern Montgomery County, split ...

History

The frequency first went on the air in 1991 as WXAJ and has been owned by Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, among other companies. It is now owned by Woodward Community Media. From 2002 to March 5, 2017, the station aired a

Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

(Top 40/CHR) format as "99.7 Kiss FM". In January 2016, the station's sound evolved from the Top 40/CHR format by adding titles from the early 2000s and 1990s. It became an

adult top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

, leaning toward

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

. To reflect the shift, WXAJ's slogan was changed from "All Of Today's Best Music" to "Springfield's #1 Best Hit Music Station". On March 6, 2017, at 6 a.m, the station shifted to a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format, significantly broadening the CHR playlist to include 1990s and 2000s hits and re-adopting a previously-used "99.7 The Mix" moniker. The first song on "The Mix" was "

The Rockafeller Skank "The Rockafeller Skank" is a song by English big beat musician and DJ Fatboy Slim. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, '' You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' (1998), on 8 June 1998. The single peaked at number six on the ...

" by

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

. On May 5, 2025 at 7:45am, after the "Mix" format signed off with "

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" is an R&B song written by Motown husband-and-wife songwriting team Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian for the 1975 film '' Cooley High''. In the film, the song is performed by Motown artist G.C. Came ...

" by

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

and "

Tearin' Up My Heart "Tearin' Up My Heart" is a song by American boy band NSYNC, from their debut album, '' 'N Sync'' (1997). The song was written by Max Martin and the producer Kristian Lundin. It was released by BMG Ariola in Germany on February 10, 1997, and b ...

" by

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

, Woodward flipped the station to classic hits as "99.7 CVS", resurrecting the WCVS call letters that were previously used at 96.7 WIKC before it was sold to K-Love the previous year. The format launched with "

I Love Rock & Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album of ...

" by

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. It has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, w ...

.99.7 CVS Debuts In Springfield IL
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References

External links

* XAJ Montgomery County, Illinois Radio stations established in 1991 Classic hits radio stations in the United States {{Illinois-radio-station-stub