WVIS

Last updated
WVIS
Frequency 106.1MHz
BrandingRadio Joe
Programming
Format Contemporary hit radio
Ownership
OwnerV.I. Stereo Communications Corporation (P.R.)
History
First air date
June 10, 1973;51 years ago (1973-06-10)
Call sign meaning
Virgin
Islands
Stereo
(was first licensed to Frederiksted)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 69631
Class B
ERP 50,000 watts
STA: 1,000 watts [2]
HAAT 710.0 meters
STA: -63 meters
Transmitter coordinates
 18°19′19″N65°17′59″W / 18.32194°N 65.29972°W / 18.32194; -65.29972
STA: 18°22′28.1″N65°42′57.9″W / 18.374472°N 65.716083°W / 18.374472; -65.716083
Links
Public license information
Webcast
Website www.radiojoe106.com

WVIS (106.1 FM), branded on-air as Radio Joe, is a radio station licensed to serve Vieques, Puerto Rico. The station is owned by V.I. Stereo Communications Corporation (P.R.). [3]

Contents

History

In the Virgin Islands

Isaac J. Bahr and George M. Arroyo applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit to build a new radio station at 106.1 MHz at Frederiksted on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands; the application was approved on November 12, 1971. [4] The station began broadcasting June 10, 1973; it was the first radio station in Frederiksted, and the third FM in the Virgin Islands after outlets at Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie. [5] Bahr became the sole licensee in 1976. [4] The city of license was changed from Frederiksted to Christiansted in 1982. Bahr also filed to establish a television station on channel 27, but lost out to another applicant who was preferred on media diversity grounds. [6]

The station was an urban contemporary outlet, competing with a number of similar stations; this meant that the station struggled to hold an audience, and further, national advertising accounts showed little interest in the Virgin Islands. [7] One on-air personality at the station was a young Wendy Williams, who started her media career as a DJ at WVIS; in a 2003 memoir, Williams described the station as "disorganized" and would return to the mainland eight months later after seeing an ad in Radio & Records magazine for a new station starting up in New York, WQHT (103.5 FM). [8]

WVIS lost its tower when Hurricane Hugo devastated the Virgin Islands in 1989. [9]

Move to Puerto Rico

In 1995, WVIS was approved to move its city of license and transmitter from the Virgin Islands to Vieques in Puerto Rico, as part of a larger shift of allocations. [10] The move would not come for years and almost did not happen. In August 2002, the FCC declared that WVIS, having been silent more than 12 months, had lost its license under the provisions of Section 312(g) of the Communications Act of 1934; the company sought review, asking the FCC to use discretion granted to it by a 2004 law change, as the facility had been operating intermittently at Christiansted due to damage from four hurricanes, one of which destroyed the station's tower. [11]

As a result of the intervening circumstances, and particularly the damage from hurricanes, the FCC in 2006 reinstated the deleted WVIS license on the condition that it file various applications that would have been necessary in the period—one of them to reflect owner Bahr's 2004 death. [11] The station returned to the air in December 2007; [12] it fully relaunched as Radio Joe on June 28, 2008, [13] with the Radio Joe name in honor of the late Joseph Bahr. [14] It then spent six months off the air after a September 2008 storm caused a power surge, damaging the antenna. [15]

WVIS lost electrical service to its transmitter site on Culebra in 2014 when the Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica, the Puerto Rico electrical utility, shut off power to co-sited station WJVP, which owned the tower, for nonpayment; as a result, the station applied for and received special temporary authority to operate a low-power transmitter at the studios, located on the main island of Puerto Rico at Luquillo. [16] The Culebra tower was blown down in Hurricane Maria three years later, [17] and in the most recent extension filed in June 2020, V.I. Stereo noted that the hurricane and subsequent earthquakes had created an economic disaster that stalled attempts to locate a new site. [18]

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in Puerto Rico includes radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

WORO-DT, branded on-air as TeleOro Canal 13, is an educational–religious independent television station licensed to Fajardo, Puerto Rico. United States. The station is owned by Grupo RTC under Puerto Rico's Roman Catholic Church - San Juan Archdiocese, WORO-DT's studios are located on Ave. Iturregui in Carolina, and its transmitter is located in the El Yunque National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Virgin Islands</span> A portion of the Virgin Islands comprising Culebra and Vieques of Puerto Rico

The Spanish Virgin Islands, formerly called the Passage Islands, commonly known as the Puerto Rican Virgin Islands, consist of the islands of Vieques and Culebra, located between the main island of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the northeastern Caribbean. Located between the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the islands are administratively part of the archipelago of Puerto Rico, and geographically part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles.

WFID, branded on-air as Fidelity, is a radio station licensed to serve Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, established in 1958. As of 2015 it is owned by the Uno Radio Group, and the broadcast license held by Madifide, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPUC-FM</span> Radio station in Ponce, Puerto Rico

WPUC-FM, branded on-air as Católica Radio, is a non-commercial educational radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Ponce, Puerto Rico, the station serves the entirety of the island with the aid of a booster at Caguas and a translator covering Mayagüez. The station is owned by Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Service Association, Incorporated.

WJKL, branded on-air as K-LOVE, is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The station serves the island of Puerto Rico. The station is currently owned by Educational Media Foundation and carries network programming from K-LOVE, EMF's main Contemporary Christian music network.

WRSJ is a radio station broadcasting an Talk radio format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by International Broadcasting Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBMJ</span> Radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico

WBMJ is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, it serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. and features programming from Salem Communications.

KXET was a radio station licensed to Portland, Oregon, United States. It served the Portland area. The station was last owned by Bustos Media of Oregon License, LLC. The station had a construction permit from the FCC to increase their daytime power to 10,000 watts and nighttime to 63 watts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMNG</span> Radio station in Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands

WMNG is a radio station licensed to serve Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands. The station is owned by Clara Communications Corporation and operated by JKC Communications. It airs a classic hits music format.

WVVI-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands. The station is owned by Philip E. Kuhlman and Ellen N. Kuhlman as joint tenants. The station is operated by JKC Communications under a leasing agreement. WVVI-FM has been airing the current country format since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIVV</span> Radio station in Vieques, Puerto Rico

WIVV is a radio station broadcasting a Religious format. Licensed to Vieques, Puerto Rico, it serves part of Puerto Rico, large areas of the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles. WIVV was the first-ever full-time Christian radio station in the Caribbean. It is currently owned by Calvary Evangelistic Mission, Inc. and features programming from Salem Radio Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBYM</span> Radio station in Bayamón, Puerto Rico

WBYM is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian format. licensed to serve Bayamón, Puerto Rico, The station is owned by Pura Palabra Media Group. Now the station has a new, modern and more powerful transmitter to improve the power, the range of the signal and the quality of the sound. The station is shared with translator stations W268BK in San Juan and W251DA in Vega Baja.

WJVP is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. It is licensed to Culebra, Puerto Rico, and serves the Puerto Rico area. The station is owned by Rev. Elizabeth Ortiz Valle, licensed to Tabernaculo de Santidad Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDCQ</span> Radio station in Coos Bay, Oregon

KDCQ is a radio station licensed to serve Coos Bay, Oregon, United States. The station, established in 1995, is owned by Bay Cities Building Company, Inc.

ZBVI 780 is an A.M. radio station broadcasting from Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Listed in the F.C.C. database with the callsign of ZBV, the station calls itself ZBVI on-air. Although the station is located in the British Virgin Islands the broadcast reach extends to Anguilla, the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's islands Culebra and Vieques. In 1971 the United States banned cigarette radio advertising resulting in ZBVI having a category of niche advertising clients.

WVQR was a community radio station broadcasting a news talk/music format. Licensed to Vieques, Puerto Rico, it served the eastern Puerto Rico area. The station was owned by Comite para el Desarrollo y Rescate de Vieques (CPRDV) through Radio Vieques-La Voz del Este, Inc.

WJED-LP is a radio station that airs a Spanish variety format format. Licensed to Guanica, Puerto Rico, the station serves the southern Puerto Rico area. The station is currently owned by Onda Cultural del Sur, Inc.

WIGT is a Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands radio station, owned by Three Angels Broadcasting Network.

KUSG is a radio station licensed to serve the community of Hagåtña, Guam. The station is owned by Choice Broadcasting and carries a talk format known as "The Point".

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WVIS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ WVIS STA technical parameters
  3. ↑ "Fall 2007 Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  4. 1 2 FCC History Cards for WVIS
  5. ↑ "WVIS(FM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1975. p. C-218 (468). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Christiansted U" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 6, 1985. p. 72. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  7. ↑ Love, Walt (April 11, 1986). "Radio in the U.S. Virgin Islands" (PDF). Radio & Records. p. 97. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Wendy's hot now, but back then... (excerpt from "Wendy's Got the Heat")". New York Daily News. September 7, 2003. pp. 38, 39. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ Pagán Rosa, Wilmady (May 31, 2013). "Radio Joe: Locutor Michael Bahr encaminado al triunfo". Presencia. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  10. ↑ Federal Communications Commission (June 13, 1995). "10 FCC Rcd 6673: Report and Order". FCC Record. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Federal Communications Commission (November 20, 2006). "In the Matter of V.I. Stereo Communications Corp. For Modified Construction Permit and Special Temporary Authorization for DWVIS(FM), Vieques, Puerto Rico: Memorandum Opinion and Order" . Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  12. ↑ "APPLICATION FOR FM BROADCAST STATION LICENSE (BMLH-20071214AAN)". December 14, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  13. ↑ Cubero Jiménez, Wilfredo R. (May 31, 2013). "La evolución de Radio Joe". Índice. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  14. ↑ Fullana Acosta, Mariela (May 30, 2013). "Radio Joe: la emisora "guerrilla"". Primera Hora. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA (BLSTA-20081107AAR". November 7, 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Exhibit to BSTA - 20141110AFB". November 10, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  17. ↑ "BESTA - 20181204AAE Extension of STA". December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  18. ↑ "BESTA - 20200604AAC Extension of STA". June 4, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
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.