Broadcast area Peoria, Illinois HAAT 178 meters (584 ft) Facility ID 27727 City of license Bartonville Owner Mike Rea Branding WWCT 99.9 | ERP 1,500 watts Class A Frequency 99.9 MHz Format Adult album alternative Area Peoria | |
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First air date 1970s (original WWTO on 105.7)
1996 (original 99.9 as WIXO) Slogan Progressive Radio for Central Illinois | ||
Interviewing roxy baker and marc alghini on 99 9 wwct radio awsomewolf vlog
WWCT is an FM broadcasting station licensed for Bartonville, Illinois. Through most of its history, the WWCT callsign was associated with Peoria's 105.7 frequency allocation; the call sign and related format was moved to 96.5 (Farmington) in 2003, then 99.9 (Bartonville) in 2006. On September 26, 2010, the station flipped to an adult album alternative format after nearly eight weeks of stunting. The original 99.9 callsign, WIXO, and its music format, had moved to 105.7 in 2006.
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105.7
The original 105.7 was operating as WWTO in the early 1970s. In 1976, the station changed its callsign to WWCT and made its debut as an album rock station. Calling itself simply "106" or "WWCT" early on, by the 1990s it was using the nickname "Rock 106". Owned locally until the 1990s, the station was then sold to AAA Entertainment. AAA gave the station the new nickname "Rock 105.7", then "Rock 96.5" when it moved the format to the Farmington, Illinois frequency.
96.5
WWCT was moved to 96.5 in 2003 by AAA to make room for its new WXMP "Mix 105.7" on the more powerful signal. In January 2006, WWCT switched to an all-request Rock format playing, which it maintained until it was shut down on September 20, 2006 after being sold to Independence Media. Independence Media put a new program feed, named "98.5 Kiss FM", on 96.5 (changed to WRIA) and also on 98.5 (WPIA), which had been Christian music station Hope 98.5. 96.5 is now WZPN, an ESPN-affiliated radio station.
99.9
Independence Media, who had also bought the license for 99.9, replaced its 10-day-old callsign WRXP with the current callsign WWCT on September 29, 2006, but kept the new nickname 99.9 Pirate Radio.
On or around Sunday, April 8, 2007, the Pirate Radio moniker was dropped in favor of CT 99-dot-9. The slogan was changed to "World Class Rock" and the size of the playlist increased greatly, cutting a wide swath across many different genres and eras of music. On April 11, 2008, the station temporarily dropped the adult album alternative format it had been running with the slogan "World Class Rock" and began stunting; it then returned on April 15 with the same AAA format and the new name 99.9 The Stage.
On September 15, 2008, after 3 days of stunting, the station became alternative rock station 99.9 The Buzz, and began carrying the Lex and Terry morning show from KEGL in Dallas. The station was commercial-free from 10 a.m. to Noon.
The station was turned over to Michael S. Rea through Advanced Media Partners on August 1, 2010, in anticipation of the station being purchased; since then, the station has run a format of mixed popular music. The sale of WPIA, along with its other 3 Peoria-area stations (96.5 WZPN Farmington, 98.5 WPIA Eureka, and 101.1 WHPI Glasford), was completed on November 15, 2010.