WNOR

WNOR (98.7 MHz "FM99") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving the Hampton Roads (Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News) radio market. WNOR is owned and operated by Saga Communications.[2] It airs an active rock radio format.[1]

WNOR
Broadcast areaHampton Roads
Northeastern North Carolina
Frequency98.7 FM MHz
(HD Radio)
BrandingFM99 WNOR
Programming
FormatFM/HD1: Active rock[1]
Ownership
Owner
  • Saga Communications
  • (Tidewater Communications, LLC)
WAFX
History
First air date
July 19, 1962
Former call signs
WNOR-FM (1962–2002)
Call sign meaning
NORfolk
Technical information
Facility ID67080
ClassB
ERP46,000 watts
HAAT158 meters (518 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
36°50′4.0″N 76°16′11.0″W
Links
WebcastWNOR Webstream
WebsiteWNOR Online

WNOR broadcasts in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.[3] Studios and offices are on Greenbrier Circle in Chesapeake.[4] The transmitter is next to Riverside Memorial Park in Norfolk.[5] The Class B signal covers Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina.

History

On July 16, 1962, WNOR-FM first signed on the air, owned by the Norfolk Broadcasting Company.[6] It was the sister station to WNOR (1230 AM, still co-owned but now defunct, was last called WJYI). WNOR-FM was an easy listening station, and at one point employed an all-female air staff, a revolutionary move at the time.

In 1969, WNOR-FM began airing a progressive rock format from 9 p.m.-6 a.m.. Eventually, the rock music proved more popular than easy listening, with WNOR-FM abandoning the "split-format" approach in 1974 and began playing rock full-time. The station’s Arbitron ratings quickly took off, culminating in the station’s rise to #1 – the first time an FM station in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach market had achieved #1 status.

By the 1980s, the station had moved to an album rock format, based more on album sales than the previous progressive rock format. In 1986, WNOR-AM-FM were acquired by Saga Communications, the current owner.[7] Saga decided to simulcast the FM station's rock format on the AM station.

In 1994, Saga Communications acquired another FM station in the market, WAFX in Suffolk. With WAFX broadcasting a classic rock format, WNOR-FM moved to a current-based, harder-edged direction, bringing it into the active rock format. In 2001, the AM station went to an adult standards format as WJYI, no longer simulcast with WNOR-FM.[8] A short time later, the "-FM" suffix was dropped from WNOR's official call sign.

References
  1. "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  2. "WNOR Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=40 Archived 2016-09-18 at the Wayback Machine HD Radio Guide for Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Newport News
  4. "Contact Us". WNOR FM99. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  5. Radio-Locator.com/WNOR-FM
  6. Broadcasting Yearbook 1963 page B-191
  7. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 page D-467
  8. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2001 page D-474
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