WVCW (FM)

On January 31, 1957, WJBR-FM signed on as a stand-alone FM station, with no AM counterpart.[4] It was founded by a father and son team, John B. Reynolds Sr. and John B. Reynolds Jr.[5] The call sign was based on the founders' initials. John Sr. began the radio station because his son was "a strong believer in the future of FM".[5] The station originally broadcast a classical and light music format.[6] WJBR-FM's format eventually evolved into beautiful music and the station was branded as JBR 100.[6] It used the slogan "Just Beautiful Radio".

In 1976, the Reynolds family acquired another Wilmington radio station, WTUX, to combine with WJBR-FM.[7] WTUX was a 1,000 watt daytimer, carrying a middle of the road music format. In 1978, WTUX's call sign was switched to WJBR, and the format flipped to beautiful music, to give WJBR listeners the choice of hearing the station on AM or FM. Over time, the station's power was increased to 2,500 watts in the daytime and nighttime service was added at 32 watts.

In the early 1980s, WJBR-AM-FM added more soft vocals to attract a younger audience. John B Reynolds Jr. sold WJBR-AM-FM in 1985 to CRB Broadcasting, which completed the transition from easy listening to an all-vocal soft adult contemporary sound. CRB changed its name to Commodore Media and was eventually purchased by Capstar Broadcasting.

In March 2000, Capstar sold WJBR-FM to the NextMedia Group for $32.4 million.[8] Capstar retained WJBR, and later merged into Clear Channel Communications, which was renamed iHeartMedia. The AM station is now a Fox Sports Radio station, WWTX, and remains owned by iHeartMedia.

In February 2007, Beasley Broadcast Group acquired WJBR-FM from NextMedia for a reported $42 million.[9]

In August 2023, Beasley agreed to sell WJBR-FM to VCY America for $5 million, marking VCY's entrance into both the Philadelphia/Wilmington area.[10] The final day for the on-air staff was October 4; two staffers, Justin Franiak and Eric Johnson, remained with Beasley in Philadelphia at WXTU and WMGK respectively.[11] Following the end of their broadcast of syndicated show Delilah at Midnight on that date (marked by a block of departure-themed songs, ending with "Closing Time" by Semisonic), the format shifted to a commercial-free automated form, which would continue on the station's website, online app, and the second HD Radio channel of WBEN-FM in Philadelphia;[11][12][13] Beasley also moved the WJBR call sign to an AM radio station in Seffner–Tampa, Florida,[14] 99.5 proper would simulcast the stream until 3PM the following day when, after playing "End of the Road" by Philadelphia group Boyz II Men, followed by a brief period of silence, VCY America would launch their programming on 99.5 as WVCW.[12][15]

As WJBR-FM, the station's second HD Radio channel formerly broadcast a Spanish rhythmic / tropical format branded as Maxima 104.1, which was simulcast on a translator in Millville, New Jersey, W281CM (104.1). Its third channel broadcast a gospel format branded as Philly's Favor 100.7, which was simulcast on a translator in Mount Holly, New Jersey, W264BH (100.7 FM), which broadcast to the Philadelphia radio market. After the sale, the station turned off the HD channels.

• Official website
• A Gospel Favor Debuts In Philadelphia
• Philly's Favor (99.5 HD3)
• WJBR in the FCC FM station database
• WJBR on Radio-Locator
• WJBR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• W264BH in the FCC FM station database
• W264BH on Radio-Locator
• W289BY in the FCC FM station database
• W289BY on Radio-Locator