Editing WDVE (section)

==History==

[[Image:WDVE HD.png|thumb|left|200px|WDVE's [[HD Radio]] Channels on a SPARC Radio with [[Program-associated data|PSD]].]]

The station has aired rock music since 1969, when it was owned by [[Citadel Media|ABC]]. Previously, it was known as '''KQV-FM''' and simulcasted then-sister station [[KQV]]. The new programming was a tape service of a freeform rock format entitled "Love", created by ABC official Allen Shaw designed specifically for airing on the 7 FM stations owned by ABC. Shaw changed the format from the automated "Love" format to live [[Freeform (radio format)|Freeform]] [[Album-Oriented Rock|AOR]] in 1970. The station's current call letters were chosen in December 1970 at the height of the "[[hippie]]" era.<ref name="hc" />

"WDVE" was derived from the word "Wonderful [[Dove]]", the bird of peace, though the station has never had an [[easy listening]], [[Christian contemporary music]], or [[soft rock]] format which would soon be more associated with future "Dove"-branded stations like [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]'s [[WDUV]], or [[WDVV]] in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]].

In the fall of 1971, Shaw, along with ABC Radio programming executive Bob Henaberry, replaced the freeform rock programming with the very first AOR format, playing only the best cuts from the best selling rock albums with minimal disc jockey talk. WDVE was the most successful FM radio station in Pittsburgh throughout the 1970s. In early print marketing, the phrase ''Rock 'N' Stereo! Pittsburgh's Pure Rock WDVE 102½ FM, The Radio Station'', was set in white text against a black oval background surrounded by vivid rainbow like colors. Years later, the logo was rendered in white and yellow with red accents against a black background, generally using the slogan ''102.5 WDVE Rocks''.

Starting in the 1980s, the station started playing the [[Beat Farmers]] song ''Happy Boy'' every Friday around 3 p.m. at the start of the afternoon drive time shift to signal the end of the work week and the start of the weekend.  On Fridays at noon, they air a recording of the band [[KISS (band)|KISS]] saying; "Hey [[yinz]] guys! It's FRIDAY!!", immediately followed by "[[Rock and Roll All Nite]]".

[[Radio personality]] and [[WEBN]] alum Maxwell Slater "Max" Logan (Ben Bornstein), formerly heard on [[WMMS]], [[WNCX]] in [[Cleveland]] and now on [[WCKL (FM)|WLUP-FM]] in [[Chicago]] as host of ''[[The Maxwell Show]]'', spent time at WDVE in the mid-1990s.<ref>{{cite web|date=September 17, 2004 |title=Matthews Builds A Better Buzz |url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000632220 |work=[[Billboard Radio Monitor|Airplay Monitor]] via Billboard.biz Archive |publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]] |access-date=May 17, 2010 |quote=Matthews replaced Slats with Maxwell, who hosts another personality-driven afternoon show.  'He has been on stations like... WDVE [[Pittsburgh]] and... [[WEBN]] [[Cincinnati]]...' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007103919/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000632220 |archive-date=October 7, 2012 }}
*{{cite news|author=Quayle, John|date=February 7, 1995|title=Here's the Fallout from Fall Ratings|newspaper=[[Observer-Reporter]]|publisher=Observer Publishing Company|quote=At WDVE, Herschel Venezie... resigned his night slot...  He was replaced by Max Logan, who came from [[WEBN]] in [[Cincinnati]].}}</ref>

In addition to its status as flagship station of the Steelers, WDVE served for years as the flagship station of the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]] (until 2006 when sister station [[WXDX-FM]] became the Penguins' flagship), promoting itself with such oddities as a young [[Jaromír Jágr]] reading the morning weather forecast in heavily accented English during his suspension from the NHL.

Because of the station having a largely [[male]] audience, the station refers to fellow iHeartMedia stations [[WXDX-FM]] and [[WPGB]] as "brother" stations as opposed to the more commonly used term "sister" station, since WXDX-FM also has a predominantly male audience and all three have younger listeners. In recent years, the station's format has gradually drifted towards [[classic rock]], with current releases rarely incorporated into the playlist. Pittsburgh had been without a full-time classic rock station since the flip of [[WRRK]] to [[adult hits]], even though iHeartMedia considers the station as a classic rocker; however, since 2016, WDVE has added more newer rock tracks that were not being played on co-owned WXDX, with the station gradually shifting to a more [[mainstream rock]] direction.

Currently, the station air staff consists of morning show host [[Randy Baumann]], morning News Reader Abby Krizner, morning sportscaster Mike Prisuta, morning show comedian [[Bill Crawford (comedian)|Bill Crawford]], mid-day host Michele Michaels, afternoon and weekend host Chad Tyson, evening host Val Porter, and weekend hosts Russ “Whip” Rose, Frank Cindrich, Cris Winter, and Eric Taylor. Overnights are [[Voice-tracking|voice tracked]] by [[WBGG-FM]] Miami afternoon host Doc Reno.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Doc Reno {{!}} 102.5 WDVE |url=https://dve.iheart.com/featured/doc-reno/about/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=Doc Reno |language=en}}</ref> The station was one of the few iHeartRadio stations not affected by the company’s mass layoffs in January 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://barrettsportsmedia.com/2020/01/16/running-list-of-iheart-employees-laid-off-this-week/|title=Running List of iHeart Employees Laid Off This Week|date=2020-01-16|website=Barrett Sports Media|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>