atlanta metropolitan area branding radio 105.7 slogan atlanta s alternative frequency 105.7 mhz also on hd radio repeater s wann cd atlanta 32.25 subchannel first air date august 1 1964 format alternative rock hd2 dance radio pride radio feed hd3 dance radio club phusion feed erp 20 000 watts haat 238 meters class c2 facility id 10698 transmitter coordinates 34 03 58.00 n 84 27 15.00 w 34.0661111 n 84.4541667 w 34.0661111 ; 84.4541667 callsign meaning radio atlanta former callsigns wchk fm 1964 93 wgst fm 1993 2000 wmxv 2000 03 wlcl 2003 05 wwva fm 2005 13 former frequencies 105.5 mhz 1964 93 affiliations iheartradio owner iheartmedia inc. cc licenses llc sister stations wbzy wgst wwpw wrdg wubl webcast listen live website radio1057.com wrda 105.7 fm branded radio 105.7 is a commercial radio station licensed to canton georgia broadcasting an alternative rock format . owned by iheartmedia inc. wrda serves the atlanta metropolitan area . the wrda studios are located in atlanta while the station transmitter resides in the nearby suburb of marietta . besides a standard analog transmission wrda broadcasts over three hd radio channels and is available online via iheartradio . wrda also simulcasts over sister station wrdg 96.7 fm and repeats over the 32.25 digital subchannel of atlanta television station wann cd 29 uhf 32 psip . contents 1 history 1.1 wchk fm 1.2 wgst fm 1.3 wmxv wlcl 1.4 viva 105.7 1.5 the groove wild 105.7 & 96.7 1.6 end of wild start of radio 2 hd radio and other outlets 3 references 4 external links history edit wchk fm edit from its sign on in 1964 until 1991 the station was country music wchk fm on 105.5 mhz in canton georgia sister station to wchk am . in 1993 owner cherokee broadcasting received fcc approval to upgrade to class c2 with a much stronger signal and relocation of their transmitter site from the wtlk tv 14 now wpxa tv tower on bear mountain near lake arrowhead southwest of waleska south southeastward toward atlanta . this large broadcast tower in holly springs is next to interstate 575 and old georgia 5 at rabbit hill road and now only has mobile phone base stations about halfway up on it . this change also required a frequency shift of one channel to 105.7 . subsequently this also allowed a later move by wmax fm now regional mexican wbzy fm el patr n on 105.3 from carrollton east towards atlanta also having changed channels from 105.5 . wchk remained under local management for a little over a year afterward briefly as north metro s k 105 then as country 105.7 and finally as atlanta s classic country 105.7 before owner chuck mcclure leased the station to clear channel communications which also owns 105.3 . wgst fm edit under clear channel management the station became wgst fm and simulcast news talk wgst am 640 beginning in 1993 . in the mid 1990s it again relocated its transmitter site southward this time to the sweat mountain antenna farm in northeastern cobb county where several other stations are . in 2004 clear channel purchased the station and license outright from mcclure and still holds canton as its city of license . a new wchk fm located at 100.1 and also owned by mcclure was sold and changed to wnsy fm oldies sunny 100 in 1999 later becoming the market s third hispanic fm station but covering more toward northwest georgia . wmxv wlcl edit on september 8 2000 105.7 broke away from the wgst simulcast and became rock ac classic rock mix 105.7 wmxv 1 but didn t stay that way for long due to lagging arbitron ratings . it finally became wlcl cool 105.7 on february 7 2003 playing 60s 70s oldies music after cox radio dropped its 50s 60s fox 97 format from wfox which is now wsrv . 2 at the time wlcl was the only oldies station in atlanta ; however the format still wasn t as profitable to companies as it once was . viva 105.7 edit in september 2004 the station format and moniker were created as viva 105.3 as part of efforts by owner clear channel communications to expand into hispanic markets . on may 2 2005 viva flipped to spanish top 40 and moved over to the 105.7 frequency . during the flip viva warned listeners on the old 105.3 frequency to make the change to 105.7 that was played on a format loop . one week later the station officially became wwva fm itself swapping the wlcl callsign over to 105.3 where the buzz format from 96.7 was put . strangely that left the hard modern rock of the buzz with the oldies call sign wlcl instead of with its own wbzy fm which was unused for about two weeks . the buzz later merged into 96 rock becoming project 9 6 1 but remaining as wkls . viva 105.7 began simulcasting on 96.7 formerly the buzz then viva 96.7 on may 17 2005 and that station s callsign was changed to wvwa an anagram of wwva with the two middle letters transposed . because 105.7 is north of atlanta 96.7 gave some coverage to the south . its far northeastern simulcast on whel fm 105.1 in helen georgia was sold in 2005 and has since changed formats to hot ac . on december 20 2006 wvwa flipped formats to 94.9 s former adult contemporary format as 96.7 lite fm and took its wltm callsign as well . this station would flip about a year later to country music wwlg fm 96.7 the legend and has ironically since returned to simulcast this station . during the last quarter of 2004 it was the second highest rated radio station in atlanta . the groove wild 105.7 & 96.7 edit on october 19 2009 at 10 am the station dropped the spanish format and again began simulcasting wgst am 640 leading to speculation that it would return to its former news talk format . at the same time its website displayed a large question mark . however the station would shift to a stunt featuring the possible return of ac station the peach which was formerly heard on 94.9 fm and some christmas music as holiday 105.7 . at 4 pm the same day the format wheel would officially land on rhythmic ac as groove 105.7 . 3 4 5 the viva format now airs on the hd2 channel of sister station 105.3 el patron . the new station featured a mix of current and gold based rhythmic hits targeting ages 25 to 54 . its primary competitors were a variety of atlanta stations because of its unique approach ac wsb fm rhythmic wsbb fm top 40 wwwq and wstr urbans wvee and whta and urban acs walr and wumj . for its kick off wwva s first songs were into the groove by madonna shake your groove thing by peaches & herb groove is in the heart by deee lite and let s groove by earth wind & fire . clear channel in turn merged wwva s format into wbzy s giving atlanta a hybrid regional mexican and spanish ac outlet at the latter . on january 11 2010 the nationally syndicated morning drive time elvis duran and the morning show premiered on the station . duran previously did evenings in atlanta with sidekick hot henrietta at z 93 during the late 1980s . the station briefly aired streetz 102.9 on its hd 2 channel in order to satisfy a legal fiction so that it could be broadcast on w275bk fm 102.9 . a lawsuit regarding the owners of that broadcast translator quickly ensued and w275bk is now assigned to wamj . since the end of march 2010 the station is now also simulcast on wann cd a low power digital tv station on physical rf tv channel 29 in atlanta . the main channel was heard on virtual channel 32.106 with pride radio wwva s hd2 digital subchannel formerly on 32.105 . clear channel s other atlanta stations are also heard via dtv radio on wann . in may 2010 wwva s music and playlist direction shifted to rhythmic top 40 by adding more current rhythmic pop r & b dance tracks . they also added a few mainstream pop songs but has since dropped them from the playlist . it also phased out the heavy amount of rhythmic gold product . this move was expected to benefit wwva as evidenced on their facebook page at their website as it stood to pick up listeners and carry the rhythmic top 40 mantle from wbts who exited the rhythmic format after 11 years to become a simulcast of wsb am on august 16 2010 . 6 despite the sudden shift to rhythmic top 40 and primary signal coverage into atlanta there was some criticism over whether wwva could actually replace wbts or fill the void for that matter in terms of music personalities area promotion and signal presence . 7 in efforts to fill in a signal shortcoming in southern portions of the market the station re added wwlg fm 96.7 as a simulcast on september 6 2010 . 8 it also changed its positioner to atlanta s party station which was last used at wwlg s predecessor wlda when it was wild 96.7 . another move came from the hiring of former wbts and whta dj mixer mami chula to the groove s lineup . 9 on november 14 2010 the station changed its name to wild 105.7 & 96.7 retaining the atlanta s party station slogan . the first song on wild was we r who we r by ke ha . 10 wwva saw an increase in terms of listeners and ratings mostly among the 18 34 audience and managed to carve its own niche by playing dance pop and rhythmic tracks that their competitors usually avoid . 11 end of wild start of radio edit on august 29 2012 sister station wkls fm project 9 6 1 now wwpw flipped from its long time rock format to top 40 branded as power 96 1 . because wild was under the same ownership of power and with nearly identical formats it was likely the two formats would merge with 105.7 96.7 flipping to a new format after labor day . a change was also likely due to the station s program director being released days before the change 12 but on august 30 it was announced that wwva would retain their rhythmic format but tweaked its direction towards more hip hop tracks and less emphasis on dance under its new pd rick vaughn for both wwva and wwpw . 13 logo 2013 15 ; newer logo is inside roundel . however by march 2013 due to the launch of power the move of elvis duran and the morning show to wwpw and a lack of promotion ratings had tumbled from a mid 3 share to a 1.8 share among the lowest rated commercial music radio stations in the area . therefore on march 28 2013 at 11 00 am with little warning after playing rosa parks by atlanta hip hop group outkast wwva wwlg went into a stunt loop consisting of r.e.m. s what s the frequency kenneth and radio song . one hour later wwva wwlg launched an alternative rock format branded as radio 105.7 with the first song being it s the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine by r.e.m. from nearby athens georgia . 14 15 this fills the hole left by 99x when it flipped to active rock in september 2012 and adult album alternative wzgc 92.9 dave fm flipping to sports talk the following month . the stations broadcast callsigns were changed on april 11 and the wild format moved to wwpw fm 96.1 hd2 replacing the project 9