WAVA-FM

Last updated
WAVA-FM
WAVA-FM 2015.png
Broadcast area Washington Metropolitan Area
Frequency 105.1 FM MHz (HD Radio)
Branding105.1 WAVA
Programming
Format Christian talk and teaching
Subchannels
Affiliations SRN News
Ownership
Owner
WAVA, WRCW, WWRC
History
First air date
August 1, 1948;76 years ago (1948-08-01)
Former call signs
  • WARL-FM (1948–1960)
  • WAVA-FM (1960–1978)
  • WAVA (1978–2005) [1] [2]
Former frequencies
105.5 MHz (1948–1949)
Call sign meaning
Washington - Arlington, Virginia
Technical information [3]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 4644
Class B
Power
  • 33,000 watts (analog)
  • 3,300 watts (digital)
HAAT 184 meters (604 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 38°53′30.0″N77°7′55.0″W / 38.891667°N 77.131944°W / 38.891667; -77.131944
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wava.com

WAVA-FM (105.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Arlington, Virginia, and serving the Washington metro area. [4] The station is owned and operated by the Salem Media Group, and airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studios are on North Lynn Street in Arlington. [5] Religious leaders pay WAVA-FM for their time on the air and may seek donations to support their ministries. Hosts include Chuck Swindoll, Jim Daly, John MacArthur, Michael Youssef, Greg Laurie, David Jeremiah, Alistair Begg, Charles Stanley and J. Vernon McGee. [6]

Contents

WAVA-FM is a Class B station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 33,000 watts. The transmitter is off 19th Road North, also in Arlington. [7] WAVA-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio format. The HD2 and HD3 subchannels rebroadcast two co-owned AM stations, WAVA 780 AM and WWRC 570 AM. [8] WAVA 780 also carries a Christian talk and teaching format, but with different shows. WWRC airs conservative talk.

History

WARL-FM

In 1946, Northern Virginia Broadcasters, Inc., which owned WARL (780 AM, now WAVA), received a Federal Communications Commission construction permit to put an FM radio station on the air. On August 1, 1948, the station first signed on as WARL-FM. [9] It was originally located at 105.5 MHz on the FM dial and was powered at only 1,000 watts, a fraction of its current output. WARL-FM mostly simulcast its sister station. Because the AM station was a daytimer, WARL-FM was able to continue airing the stations' programming after sunset, even though few radio listeners owned FM receivers in those days.

In the 1950, WARL-FM switched to its current frequency at 105.1 MHz. That was coupled with a boost in power to 20,000 watts. In 1960, WARL-AM-FM were acquired by the United States Transdynamics Corporation. [10] The new owners switched the call signs to WAVA and WAVA-FM.

All-news

In the 1970s, WAVA-AM-FM decided to compete with WTOP (now WFED) as one of Washington's two all-news radio stations. Even though WAVA (AM) was still a daytime-only station, the all-news format was heard on WAVA-FM around the clock; as such, that made WAVA-FM the only all-news station on the FM dial in those days, when many home and car radios could only receive AM signals.

Meanwhile, WTOP was owned by the Washington Post , was a CBS Radio Network affiliate and had a 50,000 watt signal; because of this, WAVA-AM-FM were at a competitive disadvantage as an all-news outlet. (WTOP, still an all-news station to this day, moved to the FM dial in 2006.)

Rock era

In 1977, the two stations were sold; AM 780 went to the American Bible Society, airing a Christian radio format as WABS, while FM 105.1 kept the WAVA call letters and was sold to the WAVA Limited Partnership, airing a soft rock format. [11] After three years of low ratings, in 1980, WAVA-FM switched its format to AOR, branded as Rockradio 105 WAVA. However, the new format also failed to gain many listeners. Doubleday Broadcasting bought the station in 1982 and planned a format flip. [12]

Top 40

On October 28, 1983, WAVA-FM switched to a CHR/Top 40 format, the first FM station to play all the hits in the D.C. market. Branded as All Hit 105 WAVA, HitRadio 105 WAVA, and Music Power 105 WAVA, it was one of D.C.'s top-rated FM stations.

In 1986, WAVA was acquired by Emmis Broadcasting. In 1992, due to financial problems after the purchase of the Seattle Mariners, Emmis decided to sell many of its stations at lower-than-market-value prices.

Salem Media ownership

WAVA-FM was sold to the Salem Media Group for $20 million. [13] On February 12, 1992, at midnight, after playing a montage of station memories, WAVA went off the air, with "Goodbye" by Night Ranger as the final song.

The station returned to the air the next day, stunting with contemporary Christian music. A few days later, it adopted a Christian talk and teaching format. [14] Salem Media owns dozens of Christian stations across the country. But most are on the AM dial or, if on the FM band, play Christian Contemporary music. WAVA-FM and KKLA-FM Los Angeles are the only Salem FM stations in large cities broadcasting a Christian talk and teaching format.

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References

  1. ↑ "FCC History Card for WAVA".
  2. ↑ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WAVA-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ↑ "WAVA Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Contact Us". 105.1 FM WAVA. Jan 24, 2017. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Welcome to WAVA 105.1 FM - Washington, DC | 105.1 FM WAVA - Washington D.C., VA". wava.com. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  7. ↑ "WAVA-FM 105.1 MHz - Arlington, VA". radio-locator.com. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings . Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 306
  10. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-242
  11. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 page C-225
  12. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-49
  13. ↑ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993 page B-67
  14. ↑ "The Final Hour of CHR on WAVA". Feb 12, 1992. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
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