WURV's studios and offices are on Moorefield Park Drive in Richmond.^[2] The transmitter is off Old Bon Air Road, also in Richmond. WURV broadcasts in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.^[3] Its HD-2 subchannel runs an all sports format, which is simulcast on translator station 106.1 W291CL as "Sports 106.1."^[4] WURV's HD-3 subchannel simulcasts Virginia Tech's public radio station 89.1 WVTF from Roanoke, Virginia. It feeds translator station 92.5 W223AZ, which is owned by Virginia Tech.^[5]

History

Classical WFMV

On December 23, 1961, the station first signed on the air as WFMV.^[6] It was owned by Professional Broadcasting, Inc. and aired a classical music format.

WFMV was one of several Richmond FM stations receiving permission from the Federal Communications Commission for unusually high power.^[7] Today, Richmond is in Zone 1, limited to a maximum of 50,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP). But before these rules were strictly enforced, WFMV was permitted to operate at 74,000 watts, WRNL-FM (now WRXL) broadcast at 120,000 watts, and, to this day, 94.5 WRVQ (then WRVA-FM) is grandfathered at 200,000 watts.

Beautiful Music WEZS

While WFMV had a loyal following as a classical music outlet, it was never very profitable. In 1969, EZ Communications bought WFMV.^[8] As the name implies, the new owners specialized in FM stations airing an easy listening format. That triggered protests from listeners fearing WFMV's fine arts programming would disappear. A group was formed calling themselves "Save Fine Music," which opposed the station's sale. WFMV made arrangements with a non-commercial Richmond station, 106.5 WRFK, to take over its classical music library and expand the hours it played classical works, while 103.7 became beautiful music WEZS.

The easy format was popular through the 1970s. But by 1980, beautiful music had become less appealing to youthful and middle-aged listeners which advertisers usually seek. WEZS responded by adding more vocals to its largely instrumental play list. Around 1983, the station made the complete transition to soft adult contemporary music, eliminating nearly all instrumental titles, and rebranded as "EZ104".

Adult Contemporary WMXB

In an effort to shake its "easy" image, in July 1988, the station switched its call sign and branding to WMXB, "B-103".^[9] In August 1989, EZ sold the station to Ragan Henry Broadcasting of Philadelphia.^[10] In February 1990, the station was sold to Radio Ventures which moved format intro a more up-tempo mainstream Adult Contemporary format, dropping the softer acts like The Carpenters and Barry Manilow for more up-tempo artists like Gloria Estefan, Ace of Base, and Bruce Springsteen.^[11] Liberty Broadcasting (in which entertainer Merv Griffin was an investor) took over the station in 1993, and the format became "Hot Adult Contemporary" under veteran programmer Steve Davis, adding more contemporary titles as well as vintage Top 40 hits from the 1980s.^[12]

In the 1990s, WMXB's transmitter was relocated to a new tower, more than doubling its height above average terrain (HAAT) to 750 feet. That was coupled with a decrease in effective radiated power to 18,500 watts. Despite the lower wattage, the taller tower gave WMXB a similar coverage area.

In 1996, the station was sold to SFX Broadcasting, and the station shifted to a more Modern AC format that included such artists as No Doubt, Collective Soul and Alanis Morissette, which was starting to take off in popularity around that time.^[13] The station ownership went thru several corporate mergers, from SFX, to Capstar, and finally AMFM.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} When AMFM merged with Clear Channel in 2000, WMXB, along with several other stations owned by both AMFM and Clear Channel, was spun off to Cox Radio, who adjusted the station back to a mainstream Hot AC format.^[19]

On March 22, 2004, the station dumped the Hot AC format and "B-103" moniker for a soft AC format that leaned toward 1980s, 1990s, and current titles, and rebranded as "Mix 103.7".^[20]

On April 16, 2007, WMXB relaunched as a Hot AC station with a more current and upbeat focus, while retaining the "Mix" branding.^[21]

WURV The River

On April 22, 2010, at 3 p.m., WMXB flipped from its Hot AC format to adult album alternative, branded as "103.7 The River." It adopted the new call sign WURV with "RV" standing for "River." (The James River flows through Richmond.) The first song on "The River" was "Learn to Fly" by the Foo Fighters. At the same time, sister station WDYL (now WJSR) began redirecting listeners to WURV in preparation of a format flip to Rhythmic Top 40 a week after WURV's debut.^[22][23][24]

On July 20, 2012, Cox Radio announced the sale of WURV and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.^[25][26] At midnight on September 24, 2013, WURV returned to a Hot AC sound, branded as "103.7 Play." The first song on "Play" was "You Make Me Feel..." by Cobra Starship.^[27][28]

The station started playing all Christmas music on October 7, 2015, at 6:00 a.m., becoming one of the first stations in America to adopt the seasonal format for 2015; however, 12 hours later, WURV switched back to its regular sound, revealing that the Christmas format was a stunt.^[29]

Awards

The current morning drive time team, "103.7 Play Mornings with Melissa (Chase) & Jack (Lauterback)," have won several local and state awards, including the 2013 Best Morning Show (major market category) by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. Melissa & Jack were voted Richmond's Best Local Radio Personalities/Team from 2012 to 2017 by the readers of Style Weekly & Richmond Magazine. The Richmond Times Dispatch readers also voted Melissa & Jack "The Best" in Richmond for 2016 & 2017.

References