WVEZ

WVEZ (106.9 FM) is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to serve St. Matthews, Kentucky. Owned by SummitMedia, the station covers much of the Louisville metropolitan area.[1] The WVEZ studios are located in Downtown Louisville, while the station transmitter resides in nearby New Albany. Besides a standard analog transmission, WVEZ broadcasts over a single HD Radio channel,[2] and is available online.

WVEZ
CitySt. Matthews, Kentucky
Broadcast areaLouisville metropolitan area
Frequency106.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding106.9 Play
SloganYour Music, Your Life
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerSummitMedia
(SM-WVEZ, LLC)
WQNU, WRKA, WSFR
History
First air date
April 1967 (1967-04) (as WKRX)
Former call signs
WKRX (1966–74)
WVEZ (1974–88)
WVEZ-FM (1988–99)
Call sign meaning
former eazy listening format
Technical information
Facility ID53595
ClassB
ERP24,500 watts
HAAT204 meters
Transmitter coordinates
38°22′19.00″N 85°49′33.00″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Website1069play.com

History

The station signed on the air in April 1967 as WKRX in Louisville, playing the automated "Young Sound" format, a blend of soft adult contemporary and easy listening music from CBS Radio.[3] It switched to a Schulke-produced Beautiful Music format in 1970. In 1974, it was acquired by Stoner Broadcasting and its call sign changed from WKRX to WVEZ.[4] The EZ in the call letters represented the easy listening format.

The station continued to play the Schulke format until 1984, but remained Beautiful Music until 1986. In April 1986, the station switched to a satellite-delivered Soft Adult Contemporary format, before going with live disc jockeys and local programming in 1989. The station rebranded from "EZ107" to "Lite 106.9" in 1993. In 1999, the station was acquired by the Atlanta-based Cox Radio, Inc.[5]

WVEZ's call letters were changed to WVEZ-FM in 1988. Its AM sister station at 790 kHz, now WKRD, changed its call sign to WVEZ. 106.9 remained WVEZ-FM until December 7, 1999.[6]

WVEZ began a tradition in 1999 in which it flipped to exclusively Christmas music during the holiday season. The tradition continues to this day.[7]

On July 20, 2012 Cox Radio, Inc. announced the sale of WVEZ and 22 other stations to Summit Media LLC for $66.25 million. The sale was consummated on May 3, 2013.[8][9] Summit Media moved WVEZ's city of license from Louisville to St. Matthews, Kentucky, although the studios and transmitter remained in place.

On January 4, 2016 WVEZ rebranded from "Lite 106.9" to "106.9 Play."[10]

On October 5, 2020 WVEZ flipped to Christmas music. While WVEZ has typically been one of the nation's earliest flippers (occasionally flipping in late October), the unusually early change to Christmas music is in part to provide a diversion during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. WVEZ was the third station to change that year, with two other early changing stations also citing COVID-19 for the exceptionally early holiday music.[11]

References
  1. "WVEZ Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. "HD Radio Station Guide". HD Radio. iBiquity.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1970 page B-84
  4. "Welcome to LKYRadio - Classic Louisville, Kentucky Radio - WVEZ Page". lkyradio.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  5. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-230
  6. "WVEZ Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  7. "Louisville radio station playing holiday music now through Christmas night". Wave 3 News. 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  8. "Cox Puts Clusters Up For Sale". RadioInsight. 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  9. "Cox Sells Stations In Six Markets To Two Groups". RadioInsight. 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  10. "Play Time In Louisville". RadioInsight. 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  11. https://radioinsight.com/headlines/199054/wvez-louisville-makes-early-move-to-christmas-music/
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