WVIN-FM

Last updated

WVIN-FM
Broadcast area
 Elmira-Corning
Frequency 98.3 MHz
BrandingCJ Country
Programming
Format Country
Affiliations FOX News Radio
Ownership
Owner
WCJW
History
First air date
October 10, 1971;54 years ago (1971-10-10) (as WEKT-FM)
Former call signs
WEKT-FM (1971–1975)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
52121
Class A
ERP 4,500 watts
HAAT 112 meters (367 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 42°19′6″N77°21′27″W / 42.31833°N 77.35750°W / 42.31833; -77.35750
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website wcjw.com

WVIN-FM (98.3 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Bath, the station serves the Elmira-Corning area of New York's Southern Tier. The station is owned by Tom and Desire Hoyt. [2] The studios are on Washington Street Extension in Bath.

Contents

WVIN-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,500 watts as a Class A station.

History

The station first signed on the air on October 10, 1971, as WEKT-FM with a power of 1.7 kW and was licensed to Hammondsport, New York. [3] The station was owned by Taylor Aviation with offices on Bully Hill in Hammondsport.

In October 1974, the station was sold to Genkar, Inc., which also purchased WGHT in Bath, New York from Taylor Aviation. [4] [5] The studios of the two stations were consolidated in Bath, New York and the station began simulcasting with the callsigns WVIN & WVIN-FM in 1975. [6] [7]

The combined stations were sold to Media Magic, Inc. in 1985. [8] After less than four years of operation, Media Magic declared bankruptcy in February 1989 [9] and the stations operated under bankruptcy protection until sale to Pembrook Pines Mass Media in May 1990. [10] Pembrook Pines operated radio stations throughout New York, including Elmira and Newark.

By 1987, the license city for WVIN-FM had been changed to Bath, New York, matching its AM counterpart, which became WABH in 1990. [11] Morning host Dave Taylor Smith joined the station in 1989. [12]

In 2016, Gordon Ichikawa purchased the station following the collapse of the Pembrook Pines group. Ichikawa died in 2023, and his next of kin had no interest in the money-losing stations, which Ichikawa had largely operated as a hobby and passion project. [13]

In 2026, WVIN was sold to its current owners Tom and Desire Hoyt. The couple flipped WVIN's format to country music, simulcasting their Warsaw sister station WCJW. [12] (Its sister station WABH, which had been carrying a country format, went silent that year. ) Smith declined to stay with the station despite an offer to remain in his role. [12]

Past DJs

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WVIN-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "WVIN-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ "Broadcasting '72 Yearbook" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 28, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1975" (PDF).[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "Broadcasting Magazine, June 24, 1974" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1976" (PDF).[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Broadcasting Magazine, March 24, 1975" (PDF).[ dead link ]
  8. ↑ "Star-Gazette". Elmira, NY. March 12, 1985. p. 1B.
  9. ↑ "Democrat and Chronicle". Rochester, NY. February 13, 1989. p. 43.
  10. ↑ "Star-Gazette". Elmira, NY. May 5, 1990. p. 5C.
  11. ↑ "Broadcasting Yearbook 1987" (PDF).[ dead link ]
  12. 1 2 3 "WVIN To Flip To CJ Country Simulcast". RadioInsight. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  13. ↑ hornellsun (May 14, 2026). "Bath's hometown WVIN 98.3 now part of the CJ Country network, set to broadcast on June 1st". The HORNELL SUN. Retrieved May 25, 2026.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.