View source for WCYK-FM

{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WCYK-FM
| logo             = WCYK-FM 2015.png
| logo_size        = 100px
| city             = [[Staunton, Virginia]]
| area             = [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] - [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]] - [[Lexington, Virginia|Lexington]]
| branding         = ''99-7 CYK''
| airdate          = {{Start date and age|1984|8|1}}
| frequency        = {{Frequency|99.7 FM|[[MHz]]}}
| format           = [[Country music|Country]]
| power            = 3,300 [[watt]]s
| haat             = {{convert|516|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class            = B
| facility_id      = 70861
| coordinates      = {{coord|38|3|52.0|N|78|48|18.0|W|type:landmark_region:US-VA|display=title,inline}}
| callsign_meaning = '''C'''ountr'''Y''' '''K'''
| former_callsigns = WANV-FM (1984–1994)<br>WVAO-FM (1994–1996)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=70861&Callsign=WCYK-FM|title = Call Sign History}}</ref>
| owner            = [[Monticello Media]]
| licensee         = Monticello Media, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WCHV (AM)|WCHV]], [[WCHV-FM]], [[WHTE-FM]], [[WHUK]], [[WKAV]]
| webcast          = [http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/pls/wcykfmaac.pls WCYK-FM Webstream]
| website          = [http://www.997cyk.com 997CYK.com]
| affiliations     = [[Motor Racing Network|MRN Radio]]<br>[[Performance Racing Network|PRN Radio]]
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
'''WCYK-FM''' (99.7 [[Hertz|MHz]]) is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[FM radio|FM]] [[radio station]] [[city of license|licensed]] to [[Staunton, Virginia]], and serving [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]], and [[Lexington, Virginia]].  It is owned and operated by [[Monticello Media]] and it broadcasts a [[country music]] [[radio format|format]].  The [[radio studio|studio]]s and offices are on Hillsdale Drive in Charlottesville.
WCYK-FM has an [[effective radiated power]] (ERP) of 3,300 [[watt]]s as a [[List of North American broadcast station classes|Class B]] FM station.  The [[transmitter]] is on Bear Den Mountain in [[Waynesboro, Virginia|Waynesboro]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/info/WCYK-FM?loc=37.78294%2C-79.44520&locn=Lexington%2C%20Virginia Radio-Locator.com/WCYK-FM]</ref>
==History==
===WANV-FM===
The station [[sign-on|signed on]] the air on {{Start date and age|1984|8|1}}.<ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/D-Radio-All-BC-YB-1999..pdf ''Broadcasting Yearbook 1999''] page D-470, [[Broadcasting & Cable]]</ref>  Its original [[call sign]] was '''WANV-FM''' and it had a [[soft adult contemporary]] format.  The station was co-owned by M. Robert "Bob" Rogers' High Fidelity Music Show, Inc.  WANV-FM served as a [[sister station]] to [[country music|country]] [[WKCI (AM)|WANV]] [[970 AM]] in [[Waynesboro, Virginia|Waynesboro]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cablecasting Yearbook 1986|page=B-300|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1986/B-Radio-NE-to-Ter-B-Radio-All-BC-YB-1986.pdf}}</ref> Bob Rogers was the former manager of [[WGMS (defunct)|WGMS]] in [[Washington, 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=The Rogers & Hi Fi -- A 22-Year Love Affair|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1976/Billboard%201976-02-14.pdf|work=Billboard|date=February 14, 1976|page=S3-12}}</ref> The station initially transmitted from [[Elliott Knob]] west of Staunton, high enough to cover the Staunton-Waynesboro-Harrisonburg portion of the [[Shenandoah Valley]].<ref name="FCCData">{{cite web|title=WCYK-FM Facility Record|url=http://fccdata.org/?facid=70861|website=FCCData}}</ref>
In 1989, WANV-FM received a [[construction permit]] to move to Bear Den Mountain, just east of Waynesboro and north of [[Afton 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.<ref name="FCCData" /> The station flipped to [[oldies]] during 1991.<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Marketplace|page=A-369|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1992/Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1992-B&W.pdf}}</ref>
===WCYK-FM===
Bob Rogers died in 1992, and the two stations passed to his son as [[executor]], who began looking for a buyer.<ref name="FCCData" /> In March 1994, Michael Douglass' Clark Broadcasting Company bought WANV-FM along with longtime Charlottesville country stations WCYK (810&nbsp;kHz) and [[WHUK|WCYK-FM]] (102.3&nbsp;MHz), based in [[Crozet, Virginia|Crozet]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1995|page=B-435|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1995/B-Radio-NE-Ter-YB-1995.pdf}}</ref> Clark changed the call sign to '''WVAO-FM''' and, at first, kept the oldies format.
To take advantage of the 99.7&nbsp;MHz facility's superior signal, Clark then moved the more popular [[Country music|country]] format and '''WCYK-FM''' call letters from 102.3 in February 1996. That station took the oldies and WVAO-FM call sign in return.<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1998|pages=D-457, D-464|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1998/D-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1998.pdf}}</ref>
===Changes in ownership===
[[iHeartMedia|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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Corbin|first1=Robert|title=Harrisonburg & Charlottesville Arbitron Ratings|url=http://www.vartv.com/archives02d.htm|date=August 12, 2002}}</ref>
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 renamed [[Monticello Media]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Corbin|first1=Robert|title=Clear Channel to sell six stations in VA|url=http://www.vartv.com/archives07c.htm|website=VARTV|date=June 27, 2007}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hit on a Shingle|url=https://www.countryaircheck.com/email_publication/CAT_09_16_10/|website=Country Aircheck Today|date=September 16, 2010}}</ref>
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 from [[WCVL-FM]] (92.7&nbsp;MHz), which airs a 1990-based country format, and a format change at Monticello's own classic country outlet [[WKAV]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Venta|first1=Lance|title=WKAV Goes From Classic Country To Christian AC While WCYK Rebrands|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/120028/wkav-goes-classic-country-christian-ac-wcyk-rebrands/|website=RadioInsight|date=1 October 2017}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.997cyk.com/ 99-7 CYK Online]
* {{FM station data|70861|WCYK-FM}}
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{{Charlottesville Radio}}
{{Harrisonburg Radio}}
{{Country Radio Stations in Virginia}}
[[Category:1984 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Country radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1984]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Virginia|CYK-FM]]