WROV-FM | |
City: | Martinsville, Virginia |
Area: | Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia New River Valley Southside Virginia |
Branding: | 96.3 ROV Rocks |
Frequency: | 96.3 MHz |
Airdate: | January 1950[1] |
Format: | Classic rock[2] |
Subchannels: | HD2 |
Erp: | 14,000 watts |
Haat: | 633m (2,077feet) |
Class: | C1 |
Facility Id: | 37747 |
Coordinates: | 37.1167°N -80.0161°W |
Callsign Meaning: | W Rock Of Virginia |
Former Callsigns: | WMVA-FM (1950–1989) |
Affiliations: | John Boy and Billy Performance Racing Network (PRN Radio) Sixx Sense |
Owner: | iHeartMedia |
Licensee: | iHM Licenses, LLC |
Sister Stations: | WJJS, WROV-HD2, WJJX, WSTV, WYYD |
Webcast: | WROV-FM Webstream |
Website: | WROV-FM Online |
Licensing Authority: | FCC |
WROV-FM (96.3 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Martinsville, Virginia. WROV-FM is owned and operated by iHeartMedia[3] and airs a classic rock radio format. WROV-FM's signal covers the Roanoke-Lynchburg media market, including the New River Valley and the Southside of Virginia.
WROV-FM has studios and offices on Brandon Avenue in Roanoke and its transmitter is in Boones Mill, Virginia.
WROV-FMHD2 carries an African-American-oriented news/talk format under the branding "Roanoke's BIN 96.7".[4]
See main article: WROV-HD2.
On November 18, 2020, WROV-FMHD2 and W244AV changed their format from alternative rock to programming from the Black Information Network, branded as "Roanoke's BIN 96.7". The alternative rock format continues on WSTV-HD2 and W245BG.[5]
WROV-FM first signed on the air in January 1950 as WMVA-FM.[6] It was a sister station to WMVA and served Martinsville. In 1989, new ownership purchased WMVA-FM and WROV (now WGMN), and undertook a move of WMVA-FM to Roanoke.
The call letters WROV-FM were previously assigned to a station in Roanoke, Virginia. It began broadcasting on 103.7 MHz in 1948. It was a sister station of WROV and duplicated that station's programming.[7] In 1955, WROV radio's ownership had decided to leave broadcasting altogether after the disastrous effort to start WROV-TV; new management saw the FM station as a money pit and turned in the license in June 1957.[8] [9]