WVEE (103.3 FM, "V-103") is an urban contemporary formatted radio station in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as one of the most well programmed urban-formatted radio stations in the United States. It is one of the highest-rated stations of the Atlanta radio market by Arbitron, reaching number one on many reports.^[1] WVEE has Atlanta as its city of license, and is owned by CBS Radio, a subsidiary of the CBS Corporation. Its studio is located in Colony Square in Midtown Atlanta along with its sister stations WAOK and WZGC; The CW-owned television station WUPA is located in a separate facility in DeKalb County.

It shares a tower with WPBA TV 30, and in fact shares the same antenna with WSB-FM 98.5 and WSTR FM 94.1 operating at an effective radiated power of 100 kilowatts in Midtown Atlanta. The three radio stations' transmitters are diplexed together, so that they all feed to the antenna instead of into each other.

History [link]

The station that became "V-103" began back in the late 1940s as WAGA-FM, on 102.9 with a country music radio format, but migrated to the 103.3 frequency by 1948 ^[2].. It was originally co-owned by Storer Broadcasting with WAGA-AM 590 (now WDWD) and television station WAGA-TV channel 5, a CBS (now Fox) affiliate.

WAGA-FM became WPLO-FM when it moved to 103.3 and simulcasted WPLO AM. By now owned by Plough-Shearing,^[3] the station simulcast WPLO-AM's successful country programming. In the late 1960s Plough responded to a new FCC 'anti-simulcast' rule by permitting Georgia State University to have unpaid students program then-new "underground" rock music. The arrangement allowed Plough to have an inexpensive FM presence in the years before FM came to dominate the radio spectrum, and created enough interest amongst the student body that the Georgia Board of Regents obtained a license and construction permit for its own station at the university, FM 88.5 WRAS.

Plough management believed the music programmed by the Georgia State students could become a profitable commercial format if presented professionally. By 1969, WPLO-FM was billing itself as "Atlanta's alternative high," and described its 103.3 frequency as "103-and-a-third." Program directors in this alternative rock era included Ed Shane, Steve Hosford and Chris Morgan.

In 1974, ratings pressures and a changing listening demographic made Plough-Shearing change the station format. Keeping the same call letters, WPLO-FM flipped to country music, although programmed separately from the AM station's ongoing country format.

In October 1976, WPLO-FM changed call letters and formats to urban contemporary and began using the "V-103" moniker with the WVEE-FM call letters.^[4] It briefly aired a Disco radio format in the late 1970s. The station then became one of the Atlanta radio market leaders under the leadership of program director, Scotty Andrews.^[5] As the first urban station on the FM dial in the region, the "V-103" brand eventually went on to become synonymous with the format through recognition, establishing its perennial force among the radio listening community.

In the early 1980s, DKM Broadcasting Corporation purchased WVEE-FM and sister station WAOK. On January 1, 1988, WVEE was sold, along with other DKM-owned properties in Denver, Baltimore, Springfield, Lincoln, Akron, Dayton and Dallas, for $200,000,000 to The Summit Communications Group, Inc. In March 1995, Summit sold its interests in WVEE FM and WAOK AM to Granum Communications, Inc. (Herbert W. McCord, Peter Ferrara, and Michael Weinstein). In March 1996, Granum Communications sold both to Infinity Broadcasting.

In 2000, V-103, after many years of operating as an urban contemporary station that only played R&B and classic soul, added hip hop full-time to compete with WHTA (Hot 97.5, now Hot 107.9) in addition to direct competitor WALR-FM (Kiss 104.7, now Kiss 104.1) and to appeal more to the precious 18-34 demographic alongside the original 25-54 demo. By coincidence, with the gain of more competition, WVEE was one of three adult urban stations between 1998 and 2000 when WAMJ (Majic 107.5) took to the air, although WVEE never called itself an urban AC station in that terminology.

In 2003, "V-103" changed its longtime station slogan from "The People's Station" to "Atlanta's BIG Station" to signify its dominance of Atlanta urban radio and being #2 (now #1) ^[6] overall behind radio market leader WSB AM. In 2008, it reverted back to the previous slogan "The People's Station" to signify its commitment to the community. WVEE is the only FM radio station in Atlanta to have the same frequency and brand name for at least 35 years.

Since Fall 2006, "V-103" has premiered a HD Radio frequency for playing Urban Adult Contemporary (specifically Neo-soul) music.

Current format and programming [link]

Musically speaking, V-103 is a unique station with a playlist consisting of a balance of current R&B, soul, and hip-hop songs along with throwbacks and recurrents of all aforementioned genres mixed in during most parts of the day (with the exception of Monday through Saturdays evenings from 6 to 10pm). Also from Sunday through Thursday nights, the station airs slow jams from current and old school R&B and soul songs from 10pm to 2am during its "Quiet Storm" program. Like most urban stations, WVEE airs a Sunday morning gospel programming until noon. On Sunday afternoons, the station airs a show dedicated exclusively to classic and contemporary soul music (particularly neo-soul) from noon to 3 p.m. It has maintained a very strict rubric to the urban contemporary format since its inception in 1976, which is rare amongst larger markets urban-oriented radio stations who have shifted to the Mainstream Urban or Urban Adult Contemporary formats; this approach has been protected by default only because WVEE has no counter-competing sister stations in Atlanta. Its programming pits it in direct competition with Urban ACs WALR & WAMJ/WUMJ, Mainstream Urban WHTA, and Rhythmic WWVA all at the same time. The station did have past competition in the late 1980s from WZGC when it had a short lived urban format, along with WEKS (now WALR) in the late 1980s. Later past competition in the mid-2000s came from Cox-owned WBTS (now WSBB) and WFOX (now WSRV), which were respecitively rhythmic and experimental urban stations. No urban radio competitor, past or present, has ever succeeded at topping WVEE's ratings throughout the station's tenure.

In 2010, the station was honored by the National Association of Broadcasters with the Marconi award for Urban Station of the Year.^[7]

WVEE is the largest and flagship urban station under CBS Radio ownership, and the only CBS Radio urban in the top-10 American markets, although the company's other urban, Charlotte, North Carolina (WPEG), is also only in the southern United States. Although Washington, D.C. is now a larger market, WPGC-FM is a Nielsen BDS urban contemporary reporter and listed as an urban on CBS Radio's website and CBS Radio,^[8] but they are rhythmic contemporary per Mediabase reports, and is therefore not a true urban or rhythmic (rather a hybrid of both formats) despite the D.C./Baltimore area fielded by WKYS/WERQ-FM (both under Radio One ownership). Since 2012, WJHM switched formats to rhythmic contemporary; therefore leaving the company with only two urban contemporary stations.

A.M. Drive [link]

WVEE has been home for Frank Ski and Wanda Smith in the Morning (originally named The Frank Ski Morning Show) since 1998, when Ski took over the reigns from Mike Roberts and Carol Blackmon when Roberts retired and Blackmon left radio temporarily (now at WAMJ/WUMJ). It has consistently maintained one of the highest ratings in listenership in the Atlanta region. In 2008, WVEE entered a partnership with WUPA to broadcast the Frank and Wanda Television Show, recapping highlights from Frank and Wanda in the Morning for television viewers each night. The theme song for both programs is performed by singer and Atlanta native Monica. The morning drive success has also been met with criticsm among current and former radio listeners who claim Ski and Smith do not appeal to the audience properly due to Ski's perceive egotistical issues and Smith's perceived lack of education in her speech.^[9] Another criticism was the high ratings come by default only because WVEE is the only urban station to have a full market signal based on its location and coverage.

Current On-Air Talent [link]

6-10am weekdays

• Frank Ski
• Wanda Smith
• Jean Ross news
• Crash Clark traffic
• Mark D producer

10am-2pm weekdays

• Egypt Sherrod
• Bubby Love producer
• DJ Jaycee 12 o'clock Throwback mixer

2-6pm weekdays

• Ryan Cameron
• Crash Clark co-host/traffic
• DJ Baby Yu 5 o'clock Traffic Jam mixer

6-10pm weekdays

• Greg Street
• Crash Clark traffic
• Lil Bankhead producer/fill-in host
• DJ Green Lantern 9 o'clock Mixtape mixer

1-6am weekdays

• Luscious
• Crash Clark traffic

Weekends/Fill-in

• Ramona DeBreaux
• Sytonnia Moore
• Damien "Da Da" Lewis
• Osei the Dark Secret
• Luscious
• Terry Bello
• DJ Infamous mixer/fill-in host
• DJ Baby Yu mixer
• Larry Tinsley
• DJ Tayrok mixer
• DJ Cowboy mixer
• DJ Kash mixer
• DJ Jelly mixer
• Honey B
• China
• Big Tigger
• Kenny Burns
• Tina Douglas Public Affairs show host
• Nick Cannon

In popular culture [link]

• V-103 was mentioned in the 1998 movie The Players Club directed by hip-hop rapper/actor Ice Cube.
• V-103 was shown in Tyler Perry's 2009 movie "Madea Goes to Jail".

References [link]

External links [link]

• V-103's official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WVEE
• Radio-Locator information on WVEE
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WVEE

Coordinates: 33°45′32″N 84°20′06″W / 33.759°N 84.335°W / 33.759; -84.335