WHTE-FM is 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 ...

formatted

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

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 Ruckersville, Virginia, serving

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

and Central Virginia. WHTE-FM is owned and operated by Monticello Media.

History

Ridge Broadcasting Corporation obtained a permit for new station WXZY on 92.1 MHz in 1989. The initial transmitter site was a flat area near the intersection of

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United Stat ...

and U.S. Route 33 in Ruckersville, which had Charlottesville on the edge of its local-grade service area. The station signed on in March 1990 with an

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. The station evidently had difficulty covering Charlottesville, as Ridge filed in 1992 to move to a higher transmitter site on Snow Mountain west of Stanardsville, increase power, and change frequencies to 101.9 MHz. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

granted permission to build on November 11, 1992. In late November 1992, the station's new facilities went live, and it switched its branding to "Y101.9" WVSY, while keeping the adult contemporary format. Ridge sold the station to Jay Hicks' Radio Piedmont in 1995. This was followed the next year by a sale to Clark Broadcasting Company, owner of WCYK-FM (99.7 MHz) and WVAO-FM (102.3 FM). Clear Channel entered the Charlottesville market by buying Clark's three FM stations in June 1999. After taking control, Clear Channel first flipped the station to

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 ...

. As that format proved to be a short-lived fad, the station flipped again to

as "Hot 101.9" WHTE-FM in February 2001. Clear Channel announced a sale of its entire Charlottesville cluster to George Reed's Sistema 102, LLC on June 27, 2007. Sistema 102 later changed its name to Monticello Media. Monticello did not change the station's identity upon assuming control in October 2007.

Translator

WHTE-FM has one translator to help the

rimshot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an Accent (music), accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the Drum hardware#Rim, rim and Drumhead, head of the drum with a drum stick. The sound and var ...

main signal cover downtown Charlottesville. The translator went to air in February 2006.

References

External links

Hot 101-9 Online
* 1990 establishments in Virginia Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1990 HTE-FM Greene County, Virginia {{Virginia-radio-station-stub