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WVBZ (105.7 FM, "Real Rock 105.7") is a
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
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 ...
serving the
Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and ...
region. The station is a part of iHeartMedia, Inc.'s cluster in the
Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...
/
Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...
market and is licensed to
Clemmons, North Carolina Clemmons is a village in Forsyth County, North Carolina, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem. The population was 21,177 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, with an ...
. It has studio facilities and offices located on Pai Park in Greensboro, and a transmitter site is located atop Sauratown Mountain near
Pinnacle, North Carolina Pinnacle is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in southwestern Stokes County, North Carolina, Stokes County, North Carolina, United States, approximately SSE of the town of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina ...
.


History


History as WFMX

105.7 FM, originally WFMX, was a well known and popular
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
station licensed to
Statesville, North Carolina Statesville is a city in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The population was 28,419 at the time of the 2020 census. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. It is part ...
. WFMX was popular for its coverage of
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
, dubbing itself as ''"The Racin' Station"''. The station started service on May 3, 1947 as WSIC-FM. It, along with its sister station WSIC, was the first AM and FM radio station simulcast combo to sign on simultaneously in the nation. The station is also credited as the first FM radio station in the United States to program the country music format. While the call letters have no specific meaning, they were purchased by then owner Statesville Broadcasting Company from the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
in New York in 1958. Starting in the late 1980s, WFMX broadcast from a tower in Rowan County and its 100,000-watt signal covered the Charlotte, Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem, and Raleigh-Durham markets. As a result, the station would see their ratings show up in the Arbitrons in each of the three markets, yet they remained true to the roots of serving the Piedmont of North Carolina. The station's signal could, also, be heard in portions of South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. After
Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread destruction across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. The eleventh tropical cyclone, eighth Tropical cyclone naming, named st ...
, WFMX broadcast from its transmitter site, since the studios had no power, using a
panel truck A panel truck (also called a panel delivery or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body. It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area. The term was first used ...
. Information about affected areas was relayed to WFMX through
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communi ...
. WFMX was owned by Texas-based Mercury Broadcasting Inc. and operated in a J.S.A. (Joint Sales Agreement) with
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
. With the move to Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Clear Channel purchased the facility. On July 19, 2006, WFMX signed off from its Statesville location after nearly 50 years, and prepared for a move to a community of license of
Clemmons, North Carolina Clemmons is a village in Forsyth County, North Carolina, Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem. The population was 21,177 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, with an ...
. This move was extremely controversial for several reasons. WFMX was a staple of the Statesville community and was considered to be one of the most popular radio stations in the Charlotte market. The town switch would move the station from the Charlotte market to the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem market. Many listeners were also under the impression that after the station moved to Clemmons that it would remain a country station and keep many of the same programs and DJs.


History as WMKS

105.7 KISS-FM When the station returned to the air on July 24, 2006 to the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point market, after several days of stunting with a loop of song clips and sound blurbs centered around the word "Kiss", WFMX flipped to an Adult R&B format, taking on the WMKS calls and using the "105.7
KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs a mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas M ...
" moniker/slogan. It became the Piedmont Triad region's second Adult R&B outlet as they took on the more-established
WQMG WQMG (97.1 FM) is an urban adult contemporary station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina and serves the Piedmont Triad region, which also includes High Point and Winston-Salem. The Audacy, Inc. outlet broadcasts with an ERP of 100 kW. ...
, which is owned by
Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
. They also were the second station in the Clear Channel family to adopt the "KISS-FM" brand as an Adult R&B, the other being WKUS out of
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
. Kiss FM aired
Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud'', '' ...
and Michael Baisden. The same "Kiss" stunt loop used for the format flip would later be incorporated into a longer stunt loop in December 2006 in Raleigh, when soft-AC WRSN "Sunny 93.9" (now country-flavored WNCB "B93.9") flipped to rhythmic AC as WKSL "93.9 KISS-FM." In February 2007, the WFMX calls would go to an AC station in Skowhegan, Maine, dubbed "Mix 107.9." 105.7 Hit Music NOW On May 22, 2009, WMKS changed their format to a rhythmic-leaning Top 40, branded as "105.7 Hit Music Now". For the first few months of the station's launch, WMKS played more than 20,000 songs in a row, before taking a commercial break, which occurred in the following August. It became the second Top 40 station in the Triad, competing with Dick Broadcasting's longtime (and more mainstream focused) Top 40 station,
WKZL WKZL ("1075 KZL") is a Contemporary hit radio, Top 40 (CHR) station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina and serves the Piedmont Triad area, which also includes Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina, High Poi ...
. On August 17, 2009, they became the first station outside the Triangle area to broadcast Bob and the Showgram during morning drive. However, in June 2010, due to poor ratings, WMKS ceased airing the Showgram and switched to "Brotha' Fred" in the mornings, which originates from
WKSC-FM WKSC-FM (103.5 MHz) – branded "103.5 Kiss FM" – is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. Owned by iHeartMedia, its studios are located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Ch ...
. It also had competition with Urban rival
WJMH WJMH (102.1 FM ''"102 JAMZ"'') is an urban contemporary radio station serving the Piedmont Triad region. It broadcasts with 99,000 watts of power and is licensed to Reidsville, North Carolina. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are lo ...
, another factor in their reason to play rhythmic hits, but stay within the Top 40/CHR realm.


History as WVBZ

105.7 the Buzz 105.7 Now moved to 100.3 FM on January 1, 2014 at 5 p.m., taking the spot of sister station WVBZ and rebranded as "100.3 KISS FM." WMKS then became "The Buzz" and shifted its format to
Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
. On January 3, 2014 the call letters switched to WVBZ. On February 24, 2014, WVBZ added ''Woody & Wilcox'' from
WEND Wend may refer to: * Wends, an ethnic group * WEnd, the marker for the end of a while loop in some computer languages * WEND, a modern rock radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States People * Chris Wend (born 1987), German sprin ...
in the morning. The Triad's 105.7/Man Up! On May 22, 2015, at 6 a.m., WVBZ changed to
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
, branded as "The Triad's 105.7", though most verbal references identify the station as "105.7 Man Up!". The previous format caused the station to fall to 1.6 in the
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. WVBZ had the same playlist as WROO in Greenville and shared some of the same talents This move marks the fourth different format on the 105.7 frequency since the move from Statesville. Real Rock 105.7 On March 1, 2021, WVBZ rebranded as "Real Rock 105.7". The station added current rock product to its mix of rock hits from the past forty years moving to a straight up mainstream rock.There’s A Man Down! A Real Rock Rebranding In Greensboro
Radioinsight - March 2, 2021


Previous logo


References


External links

* *
Photo of former WFMX studios
* ttp://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/columnists/mark_washburn/13658915.htm Article on WFMX's signal and city of license move {{IHeartMedia VBZ Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in North Carolina IHeartMedia radio stations Mainstream rock radio stations in the United States