WAVA-FM

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
WAVA-FM
Christian talk and teaching
Subchannels
Ownership
Owner
WAVA, WRCW, WWRC
History
First air date
August 1, 1948; 75 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 ID4644
ClassB
Power
  • 33,000 watts (analog)
  • 3,300 watts (digital)
HAAT184 meters (604 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
38°53′30.0″N 77°7′55.0″W / 38.891667°N 77.131944°W / 38.891667; -77.131944
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.wava.com

WAVA-FM (105.1

Studios and offices are on North Lynn Street in Arlington.

conservative talk
.

History

WARL-FM

In 1946, Northern Virginia Broadcasters, Inc., which owned WARL (780 AM, now

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.[11] 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

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

Doubleday Broadcasting bought the station in 1982 and planned a format flip.[13]

Top 40

On October 28, 1983, WAVA-FM switched to a

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

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. ^ "Welcome to WAVA 105.1 FM - Washington, DC | 105.1 FM WAVA - Washington D.C., VA". wava.com. 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. ^ "Contact Us". 105.1 FM WAVA. Jan 24, 2017. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "WAVA-FM 105.1 MHz - Arlington, VA". radio-locator.com. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  9. ^ "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  10. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 306
  11. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-242
  12. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978 page C-225
  13. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-49
  14. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993 page B-67
  15. ^ "The Final Hour of CHR on WAVA". Feb 12, 1992. Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.

External links