WVRT
Encyclopedia
WVRT at 97.7 FM is licensed to Mill Hall, PA with an output power of 6,000 watts. "Variety 97-7" is owned by Clear Channel Communications
and plays CHR
/Pop
music.
WWPA
. Williamsport Radio Corporation first owned Variety 97.7, and its format was chosen to sound more adult than top 40 HOT-FM 103.9 WHTO
but not as old as gold-based AC
102.7 KISS-FM WKSB
. WVRT previously was oldies
"3WD 97-7" with the callsign WWWD.
In 1996, WHTO moved down the FM dial to 93.3 with 25,000 watts, up from the 6,000 watts it previously had at 103.9 FM. With the increased power came a more watered down top 40 format, sounding more like the Hot AC Variety 97.7 was playing. Falling ratings caused HOT-FM to eventually switch to oldies
in 1997.
WVRT moved its studio to Third Street in Williamsport with KISS-FM and WRAK-AM & FM. The "point" was also left at the Chamber of Commerce building as WVRT would now be known as "Variety 97-7" keeping its top 40 format.
Troy Lee evening DJ on the original Variety 97.7 is now the mid-day jock on the new Variety 97.7
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and plays CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
/Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
music.
History
Variety 97.7 signed on the air November 6, 1995 at 6:00 a.m. as a Hot AC station broadcasting from the Williamsport Chamber of Commerce building with AM sister stationSister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
WWPA
WWPA
WWPA is an all-news radio station broadcasting at 1340 AM and licensed to serve the community of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA....
. Williamsport Radio Corporation first owned Variety 97.7, and its format was chosen to sound more adult than top 40 HOT-FM 103.9 WHTO
WHTO
WHTO is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Iron Mountain, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 2003. The station's programming is delivered via satellite from Dial Global's Kool Gold network....
but not as old as gold-based AC
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
102.7 KISS-FM WKSB
WKSB
WKSB is a radio station in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, known as "Kiss 102.7". The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and plays Hot Adult Contemporary music.102.7 Kiss FM On-air Line-up:Mornings: The Chrisman Morning Show...
. WVRT previously was oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
"3WD 97-7" with the callsign WWWD.
In 1996, WHTO moved down the FM dial to 93.3 with 25,000 watts, up from the 6,000 watts it previously had at 103.9 FM. With the increased power came a more watered down top 40 format, sounding more like the Hot AC Variety 97.7 was playing. Falling ratings caused HOT-FM to eventually switch to oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
in 1997.
WVRT moved its studio to Third Street in Williamsport with KISS-FM and WRAK-AM & FM. The "point" was also left at the Chamber of Commerce building as WVRT would now be known as "Variety 97-7" keeping its top 40 format.
WVRT trivia
- The first song played on Variety 97.7 was "If I Ever Lose My Faith In YouIf I Ever Lose My Faith in You"If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" is a song recorded by English singer Sting. It was the second single from his album Ten Summoner's Tales and was released in 1993. It achieved a moderate success in many countries, reaching #17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of his last hits in that...
" by Sting. - Morning Show Host John PatrickJohn Patrick (meteorologist)John Patrick is the Chief Meteorologist at WZVN-TV in Fort Myers, Florida. John delivers the forecast weekday evenings on ABC7 News at 6pm, 7pm & 11pm. JP, as his co-workers & viewers refer to him, also handles duties on sister station WBBH-TV as the meteorologist on NBC2 News at 4pm...
couldn't talk for the first 15 minutes the station was on the air because engineers still hadn't yet finished wiring the audio board. - WVRT was the first station in Williamsport to utilize digital computer automation. Often the weekday DJs would record voice tracks for the weekend that sounded live, as if the DJ was actually in the studio.
- Variety 97.7's original live remote broadcast vehicle was a VolkswagenVolkswagenVolkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
Vanagon mini-bus, which often had to be "jump started" just like the one in the movie Little Miss SunshineLittle Miss SunshineLittle Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
. - As an April Fools' Day joke in 1998, John Patrick looped the end of the song "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" by JourneyJourney (band)Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
for almost an hour and played it on the air after the 7 a.m. news. John took calls on the air about his "Compact Disc being stuck." - The original Variety 97.7 on-air line-up was:
- John Patrick - Mornings
- Jeff Austin - Middays
- Mike Stevens - Afternoons
- Troy Lee - Evenings
- Overnights were board-oped until the computer automation was installed.
- Notable on-air personalities are: The Morning Hookup with E-Dub, Troy Lee, On Air With Ryan Seacrest and Vijay
Troy Lee evening DJ on the original Variety 97.7 is now the mid-day jock on the new Variety 97.7