WVBB (97.7 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 ...

Elliston-Lafayette, Virginia Elliston-Lafayette was a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,241 at the 2000 census; in 2010, Elliston and Lafayette were split into separate CDPs. It is part of the Blacksburg&ndas ...

, and serving the

Roanoke metropolitan area The Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Virginia as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Roanoke MSA is sometimes referred to as the Roanoke Valley, even though the ...

. It is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc., with

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices on Electric Road in Roanoke. WVBB and

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 ...

WVBE-FM WVBE-FM (100.1 Hertz, MHz "The Vibe") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, and serving Lynchburg metropolitan area, Metro Lynchburg. It is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc., with ...

100.1 Lynchburg

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) ...

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 on ...

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, ...

. In weekday AM

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, the stations carry ''

The Steve Harvey Morning Show ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'' is a national radio program which is currently broadcast from Los Angeles. The nationally syndicated show features host Steve Harvey and a team of comedians and commentators. The show runs approximately four ...

''. WVBB 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 260

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 as a Class A station. 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 Mountain Park Drive in

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

, on Fort Lewis Mountain.Radio-Locator.com/WVBB
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History

Station swap

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in . Its original

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 as ...

was WRON-FM. All Access reported on September 20, 2007 that Todd P. Robinson, Inc.'s WKCJ would be swapped to Radio Greenbrier, Inc. for WRON-FM (now on 103.1). The swap took place on August 1, 2008. WKCJ applied to move its

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

south to Elliston-Lafayette, and put its

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

on Fort Lewis Mountain, about 10 miles east of Roanoke. The swap ensured that when Todd P. Robinson, Inc. moved the 97.7 frequency, WRON-FM 103.1 would continue to serve

Greenbrier County, West Virginia Greenbrier County () is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was formed in 1778 from Botetourt and Montgomery Counties in Virginia. History P ...

Station sale

On Wednesday, July 13, 2011, Roanoke, Virginia based Mel Wheeler, Inc. agreed to purchase the station for $675,000. A new application was filed to move the signal to Elliston-Lafayette, on Fort Lewis Mountain, broadcasting 260 watts, but from a height of 1542 feet. On December 2, 2011, Mel Wheeler, Inc. took ownership and control of WKCJ and began simulcasting the Urban Adult Contemporary format also on

100.1 in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

. On December 9, 2011, the call sign on 97.7 was changed to WVBB. The station has been an almost fulltime simulcast of WVBE since then. It breaks off to serve as the Roanoke-area

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

for

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

football and men's basketball.

References

External links

The Vibe Online
* VBB Radio stations established in 1983 1983 establishments in Virginia Urban adult contemporary radio stations in the United States {{Virginia-radio-station-stub