 | |
| Broadcast area | Charlottesville -Harrisonburg -Lexington |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 99.7 FMMHz |
| Branding | 99-7 CYK |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Affiliations | MRN Radio PRN Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WCHV,WCHV-FM,WHTE-FM,WHUK,WKAV | |
| History | |
First air date | August 1, 1984; 40 years ago (1984-08-01) |
Former call signs | WANV-FM (1984–1994) WVAO-FM (1994–1996)[1] |
Call sign meaning | CountrYK |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 70861 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 3,300watts |
| HAAT | 516 meters (1,693 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°3′52.0″N78°48′18.0″W / 38.064444°N 78.805000°W /38.064444; -78.805000 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | WCYK-FM Webstream |
| Website | 997CYK.com |
WCYK-FM (99.7MHz) is acommercialFMradio stationlicensed toStaunton, Virginia, and servingCharlottesville,Harrisonburg, andLexington, Virginia. It is owned and operated byMonticello Media and it broadcasts acountry musicformat. Thestudios and offices are on Hillsdale Drive in Charlottesville.
WCYK-FM has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 3,300watts as aClass B FM station. Thetransmitter is on Bear Den Mountain inWaynesboro.[3]
The stationsigned on the air on August 1, 1984; 40 years ago (1984-08-01).[4] Its originalcall sign wasWANV-FM and it had asoft adult contemporary format. The station was co-owned by M. Robert "Bob" Rogers' High Fidelity Music Show, Inc. WANV-FM served as asister station tocountryWANV970 AM inWaynesboro.[5] Bob Rogers was the former manager ofWGMS inWashington, D.C. With his wife Terry, he ran a series of annual High Fidelity Music Show expos to showcase the latest in home audio technology.[6] The station initially transmitted fromElliott Knob west of Staunton, high enough to cover the Staunton-Waynesboro-Harrisonburg portion of theShenandoah Valley.[7]
In 1989, WANV-FM received aconstruction permit to move to Bear Den Mountain, just east of Waynesboro and north ofAfton Mountain. Although this site is roughly 1,500 feet lower than Elliott Knob, it affords a much wider coverage area, with local-grade service to the Charlottesville metro in addition to the valley to the west.[7] The station flipped tooldies during 1991.[8]
Bob Rogers died in 1992, and the two stations passed to his son asexecutor, who began looking for a buyer.[7] In March 1994, Michael Douglass' Clark Broadcasting Company bought WANV-FM along with longtime Charlottesville country stations WCYK (810 kHz) andWCYK-FM (102.3 MHz), based inCrozet.[9] Clark changed the call sign toWVAO-FM and, at first, kept the oldies format.
To take advantage of the 99.7 MHz facility's superior signal, Clark then moved the more popularcountry format andWCYK-FM call letters from 102.3 in February 1996. That station took the oldies and WVAO-FM call sign in return.[10]
Clear Channel entered the Charlottesville market by buying Clark's three FM stations in 1998. The company ran the station as "Country 99.7", but otherwise did not make changes.[11]
Clear Channel exited the Charlottesville market in June 2007 by selling all of its stations to George Reed's Sistema 102 LLC, which was later renamedMonticello Media.[12] On November 3, 2007, Monticello tweaked the station's branding to "Your Country 99.7". On the morning of September 16, 2010, the station adopted the "Hitkicker 99-7" brand, which came with changes to airstaff but not music.[13]
Exactly seven years later, on September 16, 2017, the station shifted brands again to "99.7 CYK", at the same time adding some recurrents to a music rotation that was largely hit-based. This occurred as a result of increased competition fromWCVL-FM (92.7 MHz), which airs a 1990-based country format, and a format change at Monticello's own classic country outletWKAV.[14]