WOLD-FM

WOLD-FM
City Marion, Virginia
Broadcast area Southwest Virginia
Branding "102.5 WOLD"
Slogan The Greatest Hits"
Frequency 102.5 FM MHz
First air date March 14, 1968
Format Classic rock
Power 440 Watts
HAAT 367 meters (1,204 ft)
Class A
Facility ID 19477
Transmitter coordinates 36°54′10.0″N 81°32′17.0″W / 36.902778°N 81.538056°W / 36.902778; -81.538056
Affiliations Cumulus Media Networks
Premiere Radio Networks
United Stations Radio Networks
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Owner CDM Broadcasting, Inc.
(T.E.C. 2 Broadcasting, Inc.)
Sister stations WZVA
Webcast WOLD-FM Webstream
Website WOLD-FM Online

WOLD-FM (102.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Marion, Virginia. The station broadcasts a classic rock music format to Southwest Virginia.[1] WOLD-FM is owned and operated by CDM Broadcasting, Inc.[2]

Programming

WOLD-FM broadcasts a classic rock music format to the greater Marion/Saltville/Tazewell, Virginia, area.[3] Weekday programming includes The John Boy and Billy Big Show (from Premiere Radio Networks) in the mornings,[4] The Rick and Bubba Show afternoons and Nights with Alice Cooper (from United Stations Radio Networks) in late night.[5] Weekend programming includes The Tim White Bluegrass Show[6] and Virginia Tech Hokies sports broadcasts.[5][7]

History

Logo used under the station's former "Renegade" branding.

WOLD-FM signed on in 1968 as a sister station to WOLD (1330 AM). The AM station is now licensed as WITM and owned by Praise and Glory Ministries based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In November 2007, longtime license holder Emerald Sound, Inc., reached an agreement with TECO Broadcasting, Inc., to transfer the broadcast license for WOLD-FM plus all of the station's assets for a published sale price of $400,000. In addition, TECO Broadcasting agreed to pay Emerald Sound owners Robert S. Dix and Patricia A. Dix $100,000 as "non-compete" compensation. TECO Broadcasting is wholly owned by Tom Copenhaver, licensee for WZVA. The deal was accepted for filing by the FCC on January 30, 2008, approved on April 10, 2008, and the transaction consummated on May 1, 2008.[8]

In September 2010, the station's format shifted from pure classic rock to classic rock plus some country music, branded as "The Renegade, rock with a twang".[5]

In 2016 the station was purchased by CDM Broadcasting, Inc.

For his 1973 album Short Stories, singer Harry Chapin wrote a song about an aging disc jockey who begins and ends his career at (fictional) FM radio station "WOLD" after stops as a late night talk show host at an unnamed station in Tulsa, Oklahoma and another stop at another unnamed station in Boise, Idaho.[9] The fictional W*O*L*D may not be located in Boise because the call letters of most US stations west of the Mississippi begin with "K" rather than "W." Radio Station WBAP (Dallas), WHO (Des Moines), WOAI (San Antonio), and other broadcasters licensed before the FCC rule change in 1923 kept their original call letters. The song, "W*O*L*D", would prove more popular with disc jockeys who could identify with the song than the general public, although it did reach #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1974, almost exactly six years after the real WOLD-FM signed on in Virginia.[9][10][11] Chapin joked in interviews that it was "a hit for fifteen minutes".[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ "WOLD Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ "The Big Show Info". John Boy & Billy Radio Network. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "On Air". 102.5 The Renegade. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Listen to the Show". The Tim White Bluegrass Show. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Virginia Tech Sports Network". Virginia Tech Hokies. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Application Search Details (BALH-20080128AFI)". FCC Media Bureau. April 10, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  9. 1 2 Lewis, Jesse (November 3, 1977). "DJ's Off Mike: Tuning In On The Radio Rodeo". Ocala Star-Banner. Ocala, FL. p. 10A. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Hot 100 for Week Ending March 23, 1974" (PDF). Billboard. March 23, 1974. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Facilities of AM-FM Radio". 1969 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1969. p. B-169.
  12. ↑ "Rock, Storytellers And Jazz Fill November Concert Calendar". St. Petersburg Independent. St Petersburg, FL. October 27, 1979. p. 12D. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
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