WPLY (AM)
| Broadcast area | Southwest Virginia New River Valley |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 610 kHz |
| Branding | "Sports Radio" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Sports Radio |
| Affiliations | Fox Sports Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mel Wheeler, Inc. |
| WFIR, WLNI, WSLC-FM, WSLQ, WVBB, WVBE-FM, WXLK | |
| History | |
First air date | October 1, 1940 |
Former call signs | WSLS (1940-1972) WSLC (1972-2002) WVBE (2002-2016) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 41111 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 Watts daytime 1,000 Watts nighttime |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°18′11.0″N 80°2′33.0″W / 37.303056°N 80.042500°W |
| Repeater(s) | 97.3 W247AD, Roanoke 92.3-2 WXLK-HD2, Roanoke 100.1-2 WVBE-HD2, Lynchburg 98.5 W253BT Madison Heights |
| Links | |
| Webcast | WPLY Livestream |
| Website | WPLY Online |
WPLY is a Sports Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, serving Southwest Virginia the New River Valley. WPLY is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc.[1]
History
WPLY launched with the callsign WSLS just before noon on October 1, 1940.[2] For over 50 years, the station would carry a Country format. At one time, the now defunct Roy H. Park Broadcasting had owned WSLS-AM-FM-TV, but sold the radio stations because Park also owned a newspaper in Roanoke. After the purchase, the AM became WSLC at midnight on August 1, 1972,[3] but stayed Country, and the FM became Rock WSLQ). Only the TV station still carries the original WSLS letters. At noon on May 25, 2000, the station began simulcasting it new sister station, the former easy listening turned classic rock station WPVR, which was flipped to Country as WSLC-FM, after being purchased by Mel Wheeler Inc. This continued until March 13, 2002, when WSLC was flipped to new calls as WVBE, simulcasting co-owned WVBE-FM Lynchburg, and brought R&B music full time to Roanoke.[4]
On January 20, 2016, the station dropped its Urban Adult Contemporary format for sports radio with the new callsign WPLY. The station carries programming from Fox Sports Radio.[5][6][7]
References
- ^ "WPLY Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ^ "Wsls Am". Roanokeradio.com. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ^ "WSLC AM 610". Roanokeradio.com. 1972-08-01. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ^ "610 WSLC drops country WSLC-FM for Urban AC WVBE-FM | Format Change Archive". Formatchange.com. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ^ "Roanoke getting another all-sports radio station". www.roanoke.com. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ^ "Roanoke Gets Second Sports Station". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
- ^ "Wheeler Launches New Sports Station In Roanoke". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
External links
- WPLY Online
- WPLY Livestream
- WPLY in the FCC AM station database
- WPLY in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
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