WKAV

WKAV is a Contemporary Christian formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia.[1] WKAV is owned and operated by Monticello Media.[3]

WKAV
CityCharlottesville, Virginia
Broadcast areaCharlottesville, Virginia
Albemarle County, Virginia
Frequency1400 kHz
Branding94.1 The Oasis
SloganToday's Christian Hits
Programming
FormatContemporary Christian[1]
Ownership
OwnerMonticello Media
(Monticello Media, LLC)
WCHV, WCHV-FM, WCYK, WHTE, WZGN
History
First air date
October 31, 1957[2]
Former call signs
WBFY (1954–1956)
WELK (1956–1980)
WXAM (1980–1984)
Former frequencies
1010 kHz (1954–1974)
Call sign meaning
'K'avalier
Technical information
Facility ID10651
ClassC
Power1,000 watts day and night
Transmitter coordinates
38°1′49.0″N 78°29′22.0″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewkav.com

History

In 1954, a construction permit was issued to Lawrence Lee Kennedy for WBFY, a 1000-watt daytimer on 1010 kHz. After several extensions and a callsign change to WELK, Charlottesville's fourth radio station signed on October 31, 1957.[2] WELK was Charlottesville's first strictly top 40 station; its competitors, WINA and WCHV, both ran older-skewing middle-of-the-road formats.[4]

In 1966, WINA moved from 1400 kHz to 1070 kHz, opening up a valuable channel that allowed for 24-hour operation. WELK and WUVA, which was then a carrier current AM station broadcasting only in University of Virginia residence halls, both filed for the 1400 kHz allocation the following year.[5] The competing applications required arbitration by the FCC, who first recommended denial of both as neither proposed transmitter site provided a listenable signal to both the university and downtown Charlottesville at night.[6] Asserting that a third nighttime station was needed, WELK found an adequate site and paid WUVA and another applicant $10,000 in exchange for withdrawing their applications.[7][8]

WELK was sold to Richard Latora in late 1979.[9] Under the new callsign WXAM, the station remained top-40, with programming from ABC's American Contemporary Network.[10]

Failing to regain ratings traction during this time due to competition from FM, the station was sold to Charles Wilson's Cavalier Country Broadcasting in 1984, who changed the callsign to the current WKAV and instituted a country music format.[11] Top-40 radio would not return to the market until the launch of WHTE-FM (101.9 MHz) in 2001.

Charlottesville Broadcasting Corporation, longtime owners of WINA (1070 kHz) and WQMZ (95.1 MHz), purchased WKAV in 1993 and flipped it to adult standards.[12] Charlottesville Broadcasting merged with Eure Communications, which owned WWWV (97.5 kHz) and WCHV (1260 kHz), in 1998. Ownership concentration concerns from the Department of Justice forced the new company to divest the two least-valuable properties, WCHV and WKAV. The stations went to Clear Channel in 2000.[13][14]

Clear Channel at first kept the standards, but in 2001 flipped the station to "Sports Talk 1400" with Fox Sports Radio programming that had run briefly on WCHV.[15]

George Reed's Sistema 102, LLC, later renamed to Monticello Media, bought all of Clear Channel's Charlottesville stations in June 2007. Monticello tweaked the branding to "1400 The Ticket" after taking control. The station picked up most local sports broadcasting rights during this time, including the Washington Redskins,[16] Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, Washington Wizards, and Virginia Tech Hokies.

Monticello suddenly flipped WKAV to "94.1 Hank FM" with classic country music on September 14, 2015, pairing the station with a downtown Charlottesville FM translator that had been associated with WZGN (102.3 MHz). This flip came three days before WUVA was to flip to classic country from Nash Icon.[17] Fox Sports Radio was dropped, while WCHV and WCHV-FM (107.5 MHz) picked up live sports coverage on nights and weekends.

In September 2017, the classic country "Hank FM" format was dropped and the Contemporary Christian-formatted "The Oasis" appeared in its place.[18]

Translator
Further information: WZGN § Translator

WKAV is relayed by one translator to provide an FM home for its music programming.[19]

Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		Height
(m (ft))		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W231AD94.1 FMCharlottesville, Virginia11670250 watts91.9 m (302 ft)D38°1′49″N 78°29′22″WFCC

References
  1. "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  2. "WELK/WKAV Facility Card (Facility Record 1954-1981)". Federal Communications Commission.
  3. "WKAV Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  4. Barnes III, Lindsay (March 26, 2008). "Radio legend Mountjoy passes away at 61". The Hook Weekly.
  5. Staff (October 2, 1967). "For The Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 73.
  6. Staff. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 57.
  7. Staff (April 3, 1972). "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 129.
  8. FCC Reports, Second Series, Volume 34, April 7, 1972 to June 2, 1972. Federal Communications Commission. pp. 123–127.
  9. Staff (November 26, 1979). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 65.
  10. Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 1981 (PDF). p. C-243.
  11. Staff (March 19, 1984). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 88.
  12. Staff (March 29, 1993). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 62.
  13. Spencer, Hawes (March 13, 2003). "MIXed message: Will FCC "clear" WUMX sale?". The Hook (210).
  14. Brown, Sara (November 10, 1997). "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. p. 133.
  15. "WKAV 1400AM Fox Sports Radio". December 15, 2001. Archived from the original on December 15, 2001.
  16. "Redskins Radio Returns to SportsRadio in Charlottesville". NBC29 (WVIR).
  17. Venta, Lance (September 14, 2015). "Hank Comes To Charlottesville - RadioInsight". RadioInsight.
  18. WKAV Goes From Classic Country To Christian AC While WCYK Rebrands Lance Venta, October 1, 2017
  19. "W231AD Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
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