WHLQ

Last updated
WHLQ
Broadcast area Lawrenceville, Virginia
Brunswick County, Virginia
Frequency 105.5 MHz
BrandingHot Joy Radio
Programming
Format Black Gospel
Urban Contemporary [1]
Ownership
Owner
  • Ilmar and Gerardo Ruiz [2] [3]
  • (Hosanna Christian Media, Inc.)
History
First air date
September 1, 1991 [4]
Former call signs
WLES-FM (1989) [5]
WHFD (1989–2011)
WHLQ (2011–2014)
WVNC (2014–2015) [6]
Technical information [7]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 72503
Class A
Power 6,000 Watts
HAAT 47 meters (154 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
36°45′10.0″N77°51′49.0″W / 36.752778°N 77.863611°W / 36.752778; -77.863611
Links
Public license information

WHLQ (105.5 FM) is a Black Gospel and Urban Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Lawrenceville, Virginia, serving Lawrenceville and Brunswick County, Virginia. [1] WHLQ is owned and operated by Ilmar and Gerardo Ruiz, through licensee Hosanna Christian Media, Inc. [2]

Contents

History

Pre-broadcast and launch

William Carlton Link and Thurman Louis Hardgrove, Sr. both applied for a new FM station for Lawrenceville, Virginia, in early 1988. [8] Link already owned an AM station, WLES, in Lawrenceville. [9] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a hearing regarding the matter on January 14, 1988. [8] More than two months later, on March 31, Link's application was approved, with the station to broadcast at 98.9 MHz. [10] During the week of April 20, 1989, the FCC assigned the new station the WLES-FM call sign. [5] The station launched on September 1, 1991, airing country and bluegrass music. [11] During the week of November 30, the station call sign changed to WHFD. [12]

History since launch

On November 12, 1992, the FCC announced that WHFD would move from 98.9 to 105.5, where it remains. [13] The move took place on January 15, 1993. [13] The station added gospel music to its format in 1995. [14]

Norfolk, Virginia-based Willis Broadcasting Corporation bought WHFD and sister station WLES from Link on March 22, 1999, for $350,000. [15] Almost a year later, on January 10, 2000, sister-station WLES was sold to Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation for $150,000. [16] In 2001, WHFD switched from a hybrid country/bluegrass/gospel music format to solely gospel. [17]

WHFD and South Boston-based WHLF were to be sold to J&J Broadcasting Inc. for $250,000 on November 11, 2002, [18] but for unknown reasons the sale did not take place. [19] Station general manager Katrina Chase purchased WHFD, under the company name Lawrenceville Christian, for $100,000 on April 10, 2005. [20]

On February 9, 2011, WHFD was placed into receivership due to a $200,000 debt owned to a Woodstock, Virginia-based law firm. [21] [22] The station fell silent on March 9, 2011, [23] returning to the air in early 2012. [24] Todd Fowler of Fowler Media Consulting, LLC took over operations of the station on March 30, 2011. [21] On July 18, 2011, the station's call sign was changed from WHFD to WHLQ. [6] WHLQ was sold by Fowler to Jimmy Johnson of North Carolina on May 16, 2012, for $75,000. [25] [26] The sale closed on November 7, 2012. [27]

Once again, on April 14, 2014, the station was up for sale, this time to Lawrenceville resident Jeff Davis, [28] who, under the company name Imperial Broadcasting Company, LLC, purchased WHLQ from Johnson for $199,000. [29]

Johnson, while still owner of WHLQ, filed to raise the station's transmitting tower height from 47 meters to 100 meters on May 9, 2014. [30] The station's tower will remain in the same location and the wattage will remain the same as well. [30] On July 7, 2014, the station's call sign was again changed, from WHLQ to WVNC. [6]

The sale from Johnson to Davis closed on July 14, 2014. [31] Four days later, WVNC fell silent to make "changes [with] equipment and programming". [32] A month previously, on May 20, a post on the station's new Facebook page alerted listeners that the station would take a new format of Conservative News/Talk programs. [33]

Davis said, in an interview on August 5 with the Brunswick Times-Gazette, that he hoped to have the station on the air "by the second week of August". [34] He also said "a morning show featuring local guests" will be featured. [34]

WVNC returned to the air on August 19, 2014. [35] The station, however, returned with a music format due to technical problems with the station's satellite dish. [36] The news/talk format was delayed until the satellite dish was repaired. [36] On September 22, 2014, the station debuted its Conservative News/Talk format. The station began streaming its programming online at December 16, 2014, but stopped four days later. [37]

On December 20, 2014, the station began airing Christmas music. [38] Owner Jeff Davis began the process of selling the station back to previous owner Jimmy Johnson, on January 6, 2014. [39] Johnson will operate the station, under the Brunswick County Broadcasting, Inc., with two other persons, John Trent and Terry Suggs. [39] Trent's law firm filed suit against the station's previous owners in 2011. [21] [22]

The sale represents a cancellation of debt, in the amount of $179,100, still owned by Davis to Johnson. [40] As part of the agreement, the station's callsign will change back to WHLQ. [40] The two companies also entered into a time brokerage agreement, allowing Brunswick to begin operating the station. [41] The agreement went into effect on January 1, 2015. [41] On January 13, 2015, the station's callsign changed to WHLQ. [6] The sale of WHLQ was closed on April 9, 2015. [42]

A little under seven months later, on October 27, 2015, Brunswick County Broadcasting, Inc. began the process to sell WHLQ. [3] The buyer, this time around, was Chesapeake-based Ronnie D. Joyner Ministries, Inc. [3] The station was sold for $149,000, and the translation was consummated on January 6, 2016. [43] At this time, translator station W236AD is not included in the sale. [3] [43]

Effective November 7, 2019, Ronnie D. Joyner Ministries sold WHLQ to Ilmar & Gerardo Ruiz's Hosanna Christian Media, Inc. for $57,500.

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References

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