On Thursday, February 24, 2005, WPLY / Y100 was taken off the air. After nearly 12 years at 100.3 FM, alternative rock disappeared from the Philadelphia radio landscape. With it went the musical companion of over 500,000 residents of the Delaware Valley.

Following the demise of Y100, Jim McGuinn (program director for Y100 and WDRE) and other former staff members put together Y100Rocks.com, a website and online radio station to keep the abandoned alternative format alive in Philadelphia. Plus, they had nothing better to do...

Within days over 65,000 people signed a petition to protest the loss of Y100 and demand its return to the airwaves. That didn't work.

As time passed by most of the old Y100 staff moved on to other jobs and other cities, but a dedicated few remained and were joined by a new group - volunteer listeners, so passionate about the station and the music, that they wanted to lend a hand and voice, by becoming Y100Rocks.com deejays.

Over the next 17 months, and through three different makeshift studio "bunkers," word about Y100Rocks.com spread, as articles were written in national publications such as, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Spin, Blender and more. And people were listening...with over 1.3 million streams launched throughout all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the world. Shout out to our peeps in Uzbekistan!

Among those listening were the team at WXPN, The University of Pennsylvania's non-commercial, member-supported Triple A radio station. XPN has long been recognized for showing proper respect for the music they play and their dedicated listeners - just like Y100Rocks.com. As XPN has embraced new technology to help fans connect with music, a partnership with Y100Rocks.com made perfect sense. This partnership also offered Y100Rocks.com the one thing they couldn't accomplish on their own - the opportunity to get back on the FM dial in Philadelphia.