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WPLY (610 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, and serving Southwest Virginia and the New River Valley. WPLY simulcasts a sports radio format with WPLI 1390 AM in Lynchburg. Both stations are owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. Most programming is supplied by Fox Sports Radio.

By day, WPLY transmits 5,000 watts, but at night (when radio waves travel farther) it reduces power to 1,000 watts to protect other stations on 610 AM. WPLY has a directional antenna, using a five-tower array. The transmitter is at the end of Newman Drive in Salem. Programming is also heard on 175-watt FM translator W266CY at 101.1 MHz in Roanoke.

History

WSLC Country

Just before noon on October 1, 1940; 84 years ago (1940-10-01), the station signed on. The original call sign was WSLS. During the "Golden Age of Radio," the station carried programs from the NBC Blue Network, dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and big band broadcasts. (The Blue Network later became ABC.) A partner FM station, 99.1 WSLS-FM, launched in 1947, largely simulcasting the AM station. WSLS-TV followed five years later on Channel 10.

As network programming moved from radio to television, 610 WSLS switched to a full service, Country music format. In 1969, Park Communications purchased WSLS-AM-FM-TV. Due to FCC ownership restrictions, Park kept the television station and sold the radio stations to Bass Brothers Telecasters. As the stations could no longer share a call sign after the purchase, the AM became WSLC at midnight on August 1, 1972, keeping its country sound. The FM switched to album-oriented rock and briefly became WSLC-FM before settling on current call sign WSLQ. Only the TV station still carries the original call letters. Mel Wheeler purchased the two stations in 1976.

Urban AC and Sports

At noon on May 25, 2000, WSLC began simulcasting with its new sister station 94.9 WSLC-FM, formerly easy listening turned classic rock station WPVR, after that station was purchased by Mel Wheeler Inc. This continued until March 13, 2002, when the country format moved full-time to WSLC-FM. 610 WSLC was flipped to new call letters as WVBE, simulcasting co-owned 100.1 WVBE-FM Lynchburg, and brought urban adult contemporary and R&B music full-time to Roanoke.

On January 20, 2016, the station dropped its Urban AC format for sports talk with the new call sign WPLY. The station became an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.

References

1. "Facility Technical Data for WPLY". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
2. "WPLY Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
3. Radio-Locator.com/WPLY
4. Radio-Locator.com/W266CY
5. "Wsls Am". Roanokeradio.com. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
6. Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 311, Broadcasting & Cable
7. "WSLC AM 610". Roanokeradio.com. 1972-08-01. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
8. "FCC History Cards for WPLY".
9. "610 WSLC drops country WSLC-FM for Urban AC WVBE-FM | Format Change Archive". Formatchange.com. 12 March 2002. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
10. "Roanoke getting another all-sports radio station". www.roanoke.com. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
11. "Roanoke Gets Second Sports Station". Insideradio.com. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
12. "Wheeler Launches New Sports Station In Roanoke". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2016-01-23.

External links

• WPLY Online
• Facility details for Facility ID 41111 (WPLY) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WPLY in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 148906 (W266CY) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• W266CY at FCCdata.org

• Sports radio stations in the United States
• Radio stations in Virginia
• Radio stations established in 1940
• 1940 establishments in Virginia