History
WXBN signed in on August 13, 1979 as WWOO. Owned by then WYII (now WICL) owner Ken Smith. "MusicRadio 105" was the first station in the Winchester, VA area to broadcast 24-hours a day. At its sign-on, WWOO was a Hot Adult Contemporary format.
Money problems silenced WWOO in the Spring of 1981, but by the Fall of 1981, WWOO returned with a country/bluegrass format.
Calls changed on June 15, 1987 to WAPP (APPle) and the first time "Apple Country" would be heard on the Winchester airwaves. Former WUSQ morning host Jenny Lynn got her start at WAPP.
In 1989, WAPP was bought by the company that owned Strasburg station WESI. The combined stations flipped to a Light Adult Contemporary format.
In 1989, the Berryville studios of the combined 104.9 FM and 105.5 FM were closed and moved to the already open WESI studios in Strasburg.
The combined "Lite 105" switched to Oldies on February 24, 1992 and the 104.9 FM calls were flipped to WBPP. Branding was also changed to "Good Time Rock and Roll...104-9, 105-5, WAPP". Most programming came from ABC Radio's "Oldies Radio" network.
In 1997, Mid-Atlantic (owners of WINC/WINC-FM, bought WAPP/WBPP and took the stations dark for 3 weeks in 1997. The stations came back as a Country format, branded as "Apple Country", the second time 105.5 broadcasted that branding.
"Apple Country" never attracted any listeners from cross-town country powerhouse WUSQ, but it had a loyal, though small, following. Former WUSQ morning show host Jenny Lynn worked mornings for the new "Apple Country" station, but it was not enough.
After only five years, WAPP and WBPP switched their calls and format on April 15, 2002. After a stint of playing Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It" and a DJ "holding the station hostage", the new format became a Classic rock format under the branding "Real Classic Rock".
In 2003, The Virginia Association of Broadcasters awarded then morning host Joe Sanchez, the "Best Morning Show in a Medium Market" honors.
In 2005, nationally syndicated "Bob and Tom" became the morning hosts and Joe Sanchez was moved to afternoons.
The Classic rock format placed consistently ahead of crosstown classic/new rocker WFQX in the Arbitron ratings.
Both of the 104.9 FM and 105.5 FM signals can be heard across the Winchester area, but come in the clearest in the towns nearest to their towers, due to the terrain of the area.
Read more about this topic: Real Classic Rock
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“I believe that in the history of art and of thought there has always been at every living moment of culture a “will to renewal.” This is not the prerogative of the last decade only. All history is nothing but a succession of “crises”Mof rupture, repudiation and resistance.... When there is no “crisis,” there is stagnation, petrification and death. All thought, all art is aggressive.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“The history is always the same the product is always different and the history interests more than the product. More, that is, more. Yes. But if the product was not different the history which is the same would not be more interesting.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)