WVTT
| City of license | Portville, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Olean, New York |
| Branding | V96 |
| Frequency | 96.7 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| Translator(s) | 93.9 W230BO (Olean, relays HD2) 99.1 W256BQ (Olean, relays HD3) |
| First air date | 1985 (as WFRM-FM) |
| Format | CHR/Top 40 HD2: Talk radio HD3: Classic Country "Eagle 99.1" |
| Audience share | 1.6[1] |
| ERP | 460 watts |
| HAAT | 155 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 21197 |
| Callsign meaning | Voice of the Twin Tiers |
| Former callsigns | WFRM-FM (1985–2009) WLMY (2009) WBYB (2009–2011) |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio Premiere Networks |
| Owner | Colonial Media and Entertainment |
| Sister stations | WBYB, WXMT |
| Webcast | Listen Live (HD2) Listen Live (HD3) |
| Website | WVTT Online Eagle 99.1 Online (HD2) |
- For the television station with the WVTT calls, see WVTT-CD.
WVTT is an FM radio station licensed to Portville, New York. The station, broadcasting at 96.7 MHz, is owned by Colonial Radio Group and broadcasts a contemporary hit radio format as V96.
Prior to 2009, WVTT was licensed to Coudersport, Pennsylvania.
Contents
History
The station known today as WVTT signed on in 1985 as WFRM-FM, the sister station to AM 600 WFRM. It was owned by the Farm & Home Broadcasting Company and was a member of the Allegany Mountain Radio Network. Historically the station ran a satellite hot adult contemporary format, and during the mid-2000s simulcasted WQRM. During this time it was licensed to Coudersport, Pennsylvania.
The Allegheny Mountain Radio Network began disbanding in the mid-2000s. in 2008, shortly after applying to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the station to Portville. Backyard Broadcasting, owners of market leader WPIG, offered to buy the station, though the purchase eventually fell through (shortly after the failed sale to Backyard, that company also began divesting its radio interests). Colonial Radio Group, owners of WLMI and WXMT, followed with a lower bid, which was closed in July 2009.
Upon closing the deal, Colonial CEO Jeff Androlunis changed the call sign to WLMY (perhaps indicating a format similar to WLMI), then shortly to WBYB. Androlunis, upon signing on the signal, criticized WPIG's personality-driven format and use of classic country in its playlist, claiming he had done research that supported a new country station.(Backyard Broadcasting, shortly after this, parked the WLMY calls on a station of its own, a hot-AC station in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Colonial had owned a station in Williamsport at the time.)
Among WBYB's initial programming was the Midday Mayhem with Mindy Cunningham, a program formerly heard on WPIG. Cunningham has since left the station and is now at WMXO. Kerry Monroe, who previously hosted afternoon drive and moved to middays after Cunningham left, is also a former WPIG announcer. After about a year of simulcasting WLMI's morning show, WBYB began carrying its own morning show hosted by Androlunis and a co-host named "Sweet Tea." As of 2011, WBYB picked up the syndicated Bob and Sheri program in the morning. The other prominent host on WBYB was Casey Hill, also formerly of WPIG; Hill hosts middays. The Lia Show aired evenings.
WBYB carried broadcasts of Allegany-Limestone Central School sports in 2010 while W237CS carried Smethport High School athletics. Neither was reprised in 2011.
WBYB's mascot during its run in country music was Bob the Builder.
Frequency swap, move to Portville and change to talk radio
On October 19, 2011, WBYB's call signs were moved to FM 103.9 (then WVTT) in Kane, Pennsylvania.
From that point until the new WBYB was relocated to Eldred, Pennsylvania on May 16, 2013, WVTT and WBYB simulcast each other. The two stations joined Premiere Networks' talk radio network in January 2012. When WBYB moved to Eldred, it broke off from its simulcast and reverted to country music, a format that 103.9 had carried for nearly 30 years in Kane under the call sign WLMI.
Programming on WVTT (96.7), as of May 2013, included The War Room with Quinn and Rose, The Glenn Beck Program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Sean Hannity Show, and The Dave Ramsey Show. Although the network does not list its overnight programming, at last knowledge it was also carrying the Premiere lineup of America Now with Andy Dean and Coast to Coast AM. WVTT canceled its lone local program, Twin Tiers Morning News, on April 29, 2013, and effectively closed its newsroom; a smaller newsroom reopened in July. Weather forecasts are provided by the Radio Forecast Network. After Quinn and Rose was canceled in November 2013, WVTT revived its local morning show.
Change to top 40
In summer 2015, WVTT moved its talk radio programming to the HD2 channel and a lower-powered translator W230BO (93.9). The main signal switched to top 40. This is Cattaraugus County's only pure top 40 station; competitor WMXO had previously carried the format from 2012 to 2013 but switched back to its customary adult contemporary format.
References
External links
- Official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WVTT
- Radio-Locator information on WVTT
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WVTT
- Query the FCC's FM station database for W230BO
- Radio-Locator information on W230BO
- Query the FCC's FM station database for W256BQ
- Radio-Locator information on W256BQ
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