WPYA

Infobox Radio Station


name = WPYA
airdate =
frequency = 93.7 (MHz)
city = Chesapeake, VA
area = Norfolk/Virginia Beach
format = Adult Hits
owner = [http://www.sinclairstations.com/ Sinclair Communications]
erp = 100,000 watts
haat = 295 meters
branding = "93-7 BOB-FM"
slogan = "We Play Anything"
former_callsigns = WKCK, WKOC, WMYK
class = C1
sister_stations =WROX-FM, WUSH, WTAR, WNIS
webcast = [http://wmc1.liquidviewer.net/WPYA Listen Live]
website = [http://www.937bobfm.com/ www.937bobfm.com]
callsign_meaning = We Play Anything

WPYA, also known as 93-7 BOB-FM, is an Adult Hits radio station serving the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Portsmouth-Hampton-Newport News radio market. It is owned by [http://www.sinclairstations.com/ Sinclair Communications] .

Its community of license is Chesapeake, Virginia and studios are in Norfolk, Virginia. Its transmitter is located on Route 168 in Moyock, North Carolina, just south of the Virginia/North Carolina state line.

History

WPYA began broadcasting in 1976 under the callsign "WMYK", a nod to the then community of license Moyock, North Carolina, playing an album rock format. The late Henry "The Bull" Del Toro, later a popular morning jock at WNOR-FM, got his on air start at WMYK in the late 70s.

In 1983, WMYK's "K-94" format would switch to new wave/modern rock, quickly losing listeners to Norfolk's WNOR. The station changed its formatting again in January 1984 to urban contemporary, "K-94 The Rhythm of the City", due to the low ratings of the previous format. By the late 80s, WMYK went by the nickname "Power 94", it formatting going head-to-head with another local station, WOWI.

On June 21, 1991, the station call-sign changed to WKOC, "The Coast" and its formatting to album alternative. In the early 90s, WKOC began simulcasting on then WKOD (now WXEZ) 94.1. In May 1996, WKOC briefly became K-94 again with a hard rock format before switching back to "The Coast" and adult album alternative music.

"The Coast" would last until December 5th, 2003, when WKOC was flipped to country formatted WKCK-FM in response to the format flip two days earlier of heritage country station WCMS (now WXMM). The change was short-lived and in September 2004, the low rated country format was swapped with sister station 106.1 (then WPYA). The formatting change included a nickname change to "Bob FM" and a focus on an adult hits format. ( many market observers blame the failure of the country format on 93.7 on the decision to run the syndicated "John Boy & Billy Show " in morning drive instead of legendary longtime WCMS-FM morning man Joe Hoppel, who was hired by WKCK-FM after WCMS-FM changed format , but was put in middays instead . Hoppel has since retired. The "Kick FM" format at sister station 106.1 was removed just five months later in February 2005, but the country format returned to 106.1 on December 14, 2008 as WUSH-FM, "US96, America's Country " )

ON October 3, 2008 , WPYA announced it had cancelled the longrunning "Sunrise on Sunday" show, which featured an eclectic blend of acoustic music , which had started on the station during it's AAA format days as "The Coast" and brought back after the station's flip to "Bob-FM" . The show , hosted by Hunter Hughes, which ran Sunday mornings from 6A to 10A , will be replaced by a "re-tooled" version of the show, which will be hosted by Holly Williams, and focus more on popular mainsteam soft rock artists, and will now run Sunday mornings from 7a to 9a.

External links

* [http://www.937bobfm.com/ "93-7 Bob FM" Website]
*FMQ|WPYA
*FML|WPYA

References

* [http://hamptonroads.vartv.com Hampton Roads Media Information]