WXRK-LP

Last updated

WXRK-LP
Broadcast area
Frequency 92.3 MHz
BrandingRock Hits 92-3
Programming
Format
Ownership
OwnerBlue Ridge Free Media [2]
History
First air date
September 7, 2015
(9 years ago) (2015-09-07) [3] [2] [4]
Technical information [5]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 192547
Class L1
ERP 21 watts
HAAT 63 meters (207 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 38°4′39.5″N78°28′20″W / 38.077639°N 78.47222°W / 38.077639; -78.47222 [6]
Links
Public license information
LMS
Webcast Listen live
Website 923xrk.org

WXRK-LP is an active rock and alternative rock formatted radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. [1] WXRK-LP is owned and operated by Blue Ridge Free Media. [6] [2]

Contents

History

WXRK-LP signed on the air on September 7, 2015. [3] The call sign for the station was previously held by former rock station WXRK-FM in New York City. [7] From its outset, the station has aired a combination of active rock and alternative rock. [3]

In September 2019, Saga Communications, which operates the Charlottesville Radio Group under the Tidewater Communications licensee, filed a petition with the FCC requesting that WXRK-LP's license not be renewed. [8] [9] Saga claimed the station, along with other Charlottesville-based low-power FMs, were operating as "a de facto cluster". [9] The station's founder Mike Friend called the petition to deny "'legal junk' and a deliberate 'misinterpretation' of FCC rules". [10] Friend pointed to other attempts by Saga to shutter low-power FM stations within Saga markets. [10]

Saga, in 2004, claimed that KFLO-LP in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was airing announcements that "sound suspiciously like commercials". [10] Saga also petitioned the FCC to revoke the license of WLCQ-LP, a Christian station in the Springfield, Massachusetts, market, "for equipment violations" in 2015. [10] In both cases, the FCC "admonished the station" but denied Saga's complaints. [10]

Jeff Lenert, co-founder of then-progressive talk station WPVC-LP, said that "though [the stations] share a building" all of "the stations all operate separately, having only limited and largely incidental contact with each other". [11] Lenert turned in the license for WPVC-LP on June 16, 2020, "As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and recent increased costs of station ownership and operation, it has become impossible to operate station WPVC-LP in the manner that I wish." [12] Lenert largely blamed the "legal action by Saga Communications combined with a loss of sponsors during the pandemic" for the signing off of that station. [13] [14]

As of October 2024, the FCC has not acted on the Petition from Saga and WXRK-LP continues to broadcast. [2] A similar petition from Saga seeking regarding the license of WREN-LP, housed in the same building, was largely denied in September 2024 but resulted in a short-term license renewal for that station and a consent decree regarding impermissible underwriting announcements. [15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings . Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "WXRK-LP - FCCdata.org - powered by REC". REC Networks. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rock Hits 92.3 - Testing...testing...1, 2, 3..." Blue Ridge Free Media/Facebook. September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WXRK-LP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  6. 1 2 "WXRK-LP Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  7. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (March 10, 2009). "New York Loses Biggest Rock Radio Station (Again): K-Rock Shifts to Top 40". Rolling Stone . New York City. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Charlottesville Radio Group". Saga Communications. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Saga Hits Charlottesville LPFMs For Operating As A Radio Cluster". InsideRadio. September 11, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Provence, Lisa (October 16, 2019). "License to bully?: Local nonprofit stations say Saga is out to bankrupt them". C-VILLE Weekly. Charlottesville, Virginia: C-VILLE Weekly. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  11. ↑ Hammel, Tyler (September 29, 2019). "WINA owner files complaint against local nonprofit radio stations". The Daily Progress . Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  12. ↑ "6-17-20 Letter to J. Bradshaw re License Cancellation (WPVC-LP Charlottesville VA - Promise Land Communications).pdf" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. June 16, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Local radio station goes silent". WCAV-TV/Lockwood Broadcast Group . June 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  14. ↑ Provence, Lisa (June 25, 2020). "Radio silence: Progressive station signs off; Saga sacks six, gears up for more acquisitions". C-VILLE Weekly. Charlottesville, Virginia: C-VILLE Weekly. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Genesis Communications, Inc., WREN-LP, Charlottesville, Virginia, Application for Renewal of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division; Media Bureau. September 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
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