WDVH (980

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

, broadcasting to the Gainesville-

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home t ...

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 ...

. It is owned by MARC Radio and broadcasts an

Urban oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

-leaning

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music ...

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 was compelle ...

, mainly focusing on R&B hits from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, while also playing some newer songs. It calls itself "R&B 94.1." By day, WDVH is powered at 5,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of 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 quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s, non-directional; to protect other stations on

980 AM 98 may refer to: * 98 (number) * Windows 98, a Microsoft operating system Years * 98 BC * AD 98 * 1798 * 1898 * 1998 * 2098 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the c ...

from interference, at night it greatly reduces power to 166 watts. Programming is also heard on 250 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W231DH at 94.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

in Gainesville.

History

WDVH

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A dig ...

the air on in October 1955 from its current transmitter location on SE 27th Street (formerly known as Kincaid Road). The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

stands for the three partners who launched the station, Toby Dowdy, Rob Vaughn and Tom Hanson. Toby Dowdy was a country radio musician, Rob Vaughn owned the land and Tom Hanson was a radio station manager. Initially WDVH was a daytime-only station, required to go off the air at sunset. In the mid-1950s, it became a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

hits outlet and added a second tower to give it night time service to much of Gainesville. Around 1968, both towers collapsed in a storm and only one tower was replaced, making it a non-directional daytime station again. WDVH was sold in 1969 to Roy Danner (of

Shoney's Shoney's is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It operates restaurants in 17 states, primarily in the South with additional locations in the Midwest and lower Mid-Atlantic states. Founder Alex Schoenbaum opene ...

restaurant fame) and Larry Edwards. On May 1, 1970, the format changed to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

. On June 30, 1980, the studio building burned down due to an electrical fire. Temporary studios were installed next to the transmitting tower in a double wide trailer while a new permanent studio building was built in place of the old one. In April 1988, WWLO (1430 AM, now

WTMN WTMN (1430 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM radio, AM radio station in Gainesville, Florida. It is owned by MARC Radio Gainesville, LLC, and broadcasts to the Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville-Ocala, Florida, Ocala media market, r ...

) was diplexed onto the WDVH tower. WWLO first went on the air with 2.5 kW daytime only. That station increased its power to 10 kW daytime, 45 watts nighttime in July 2003. WDVH was sold again, this time to Bill Morris, who in turn sold it to Crystal which became Pinnacle AM Broadcasting, Inc. The format changed to Adult Standards and the call letters were changed to WLUS in 1996 (US98). In 2000, the transmitter and computer automation equipment was seized by the Alachua County Sheriff's department for failure to pay unrelated business debts. This equipment was bought at auction by morning show host, Jim Brand with the hopes that it could be re-installed, quickly returning the station to the air. When station ownership had more financial problems, the transmitter was sold to a religious broadcaster in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

. The station remained

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

for nearly eight months while a sale was arranged to

Pamal Broadcasting Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, w ...

. This sale was consummated in late 2000 after Pinnacle installed a new transmitter. When Pamal Broadcasting took over, it combined the studios of

WKZY WKZY (92.9 FM) is an American radio station, licensed to Chilton, Wisconsin, and transmitting from the Lake Winnebago community of Stockbridge to provide a city-grade signal to both Oshkosh and the Fox Cities. The station is owned and operat ...

and

WHHZ WHHZ (100.5 FM), branded as "100.5 The Buzz", is a commercial radio station licensed to Newberry, Florida, broadcasting to the Gainesville area. The station is owned by the MARC Radio Group and transmits with an Effective radiated power of 44 ...

in the WDVH studio building. WDVH's format remained Adult Standards until 2004, when it was changed to

Classic Country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

. It was

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/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, simult ...

with co-owned 101.7

WDVH-FM WDVH-FM is an FM radio station licensed to Trenton, Florida and broadcasting to the Gainesville-Ocala, Florida radio market on 101.7 MHz. It is owned by the Radio Training Network and airs a Contemporary Christian radio format known as The Jo ...

under the slogan "WDVH Country legends, 101.7 FM and 980 AM". In 2005 the studios were moved across town to the Sunshine Broadcasting building on 100 NW 76th Drive (Tower Hill office park) along with

WTMG WTMG (Magic 101.3) is a commercial radio station in Williston, Florida, broadcasting to the Gainesville-Ocala, Florida area on 101.3 FM. WTMG has been in its current format since 1994, playing Hip Hop, R&B, Old School and Classic Soul and Go ...

and

. For the next six years, WDVH continued with Classic Country and

tradio Tradio is a type of talk radio show format, though now considered archaic, where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest. "Tradio" is a p ...

shows on weekends. In late October 2011, WDVH became "Florida's Fox News Radio 980 & 720" changing format to

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

with

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, F ...

updates. On May 1, 2016, WDVH changed its format back to a simulcast of classic country-formatted

. On September 6, 2016, WDVH rebranded as "I am Country 94.1 & 101.7".WDVH Adds Translator as Hank Branding Exits
Radioinsight - September 7, 2016 On August 14, 2017, WDVH rebranded as "I am Country 106.9", after the format and "I am Country" branding relocated on FM to

WPLL WPLL (106.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Cross City, Florida, and broadcasting to the Gainesville area. The station is owned by MARC Radio Gainesville and airs a classic country radio format. WPLL uses the slogan "I Am ...

. (WDVH-FM was sold at that time to the Radio Training Network, becoming a simulcast of

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

station

WJIS WJIS 88.1 FM, known on air as The JOY FM, is a Christian adult contemporary station serving North, Central and Southwest Florida, including the Sarasota/Bradenton and Tampa Bay areas, and is owned by the Radio Training Network. Network On ...

.) On October 16, 2019, WDVH/W231DH split from its FM sister and flipped to

Urban Oldies Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

as "R&B 94.1," with an emphasis on R&B/Hip-Hop hits from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Previous logo

References

External links

R & B 94.1 FacebookMarc Radio Website
* * {{Gainesville/Ocala Radio DVH Radio stations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Florida Urban oldies radio stations in the United States