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WPVC-LP

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WPVC-LP
Broadcast area
Frequency94.7 FM MHz
Branding94.7 WPVC
Programming
FormatDefunct (formerly Progressive Talk Radio (weekdays)
Electronic Dance Music (weekends))[1]
AffiliationsPacifica Radio
Ownership
OwnerPromise Land Communications[2]
History
First air date
September 20, 2015 (2015-09-20)[1]
Former call signs
WPVC-LP (2014-2020)[3]
Call sign meaning
W Progressive Voice (of) Charlottesville
Technical information
Facility ID192897[2]
ClassL1
Power21 Watts[2]
HAAT64.6 meters (212 ft)[2]
Transmitter coordinates
38°4′39.0″N 78°28′21.0″W / 38.077500°N 78.472500°W / 38.077500; -78.472500[2]

WPVC-LP was a progressive talk radio and electronic dance music formatted low-power radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County in Virginia.[2] WPVC-LP was owned and operated by Promise Land Communications.[4]

History

[edit]

On September 20, 2015, WPVC-LP first signed on the air for the first time.[1]

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.[5][6][7] Saga claimed the station, along with other Charlottesville-based low-power FMs, were operating as "a de facto cluster".[7] WXRK-LP station's founder Mike Friend called the petition to deny "'legal junk' and a deliberate 'misinterpretation' of FCC rules".[8] F riend pointed to other attempts by Saga to shutter low-power FM stations within Saga markets.[8]

Saga, in 2004, claimed that KFLO-LP in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was airing announcements that "sound suspiciously like commercials".[8] 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.[8] In both cases, the FCC "admonished the station" but denied Saga's complaints.[8]

Jeff Lenert, co-founder of 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".[9] 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."[10][11] 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.[12][13] The station's license was deleted and its pending renewal dismissed on July 7 of the same year.[14]

The FCC effectively denied the petition from Saga regarding WPVC, in a ruling for the license of WREN-LP, housed in the same building, filed on September 30, 2024.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "If you turn to 94.7 right now in Charlottesville... - 94.7 FM Charlottesville". Promise Land Communications/Facebook. September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "WPVC-LP - FCCdata.org - powered by REC". REC Networks. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. ^ "WXRK-LP Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "Charlottesville Radio Group". Saga Communications. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "Saga Communications - Charlottesville, VA". Saga Communications, Inc. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Saga Hits Charlottesville LPFMs For Operating As A Radio Cluster". InsideRadio. September 11, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e 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.
  9. ^ Hammel, Tyler (September 29, 2019). "WINA owner files complaint against local nonprofit radio stations". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia: Lee Enterprises. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Local radio station goes silent". WCAV-TV/Lockwood Broadcast Group. June 17, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "FCCdata.org - powered by REC - WPVC-LP". REC Networks. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  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.