WLVO (FM)

WLVO
Broadcast areaProvidence metropolitan area
Frequency95.5 MHz
BrandingK-Love
Programming
FormatContemporary Christian
AffiliationsK-Love
Ownership
OwnerEducational Media Foundation
WKIV, WTKL, WKVB
History
First air date
June 5, 1955; 68 years ago (1955-06-05)
Former call signs
  • WPFM (1955–1965)
  • WBRU (1965–2017)
Call sign meaning
"Love"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID7313
ClassB
ERP18,500 watts
HAAT139 meters (456 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°49′40.3″N 71°22′7.1″W / 41.827861°N 71.368639°W / 41.827861; -71.368639
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.klove.com

WLVO (95.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a contemporary Christian music format as an affiliate of the K-Love network. Licensed to serve Providence, Rhode Island, United States, it serves the Providence metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1955 under the call sign WPFM, and from 1966 until 2017 operated under the ownership of Brown Broadcasting Service (a non-profit organization run by Brown University students but independent of the university) as alternative rock radio station WBRU (now an Internet radio station). The station is currently owned by the Educational Media Foundation.

History[edit]

WJAR-FM (1948–1953)[edit]

The first occupant of 95.5 FM in Providence was WJAR-FM, owned by The Outlet Company along with WJAR (920 AM, now WHJJ) and starting in 1949, longtime NBC affiliate WJAR-TV (then on channel 11, now on channel 10).[2] WJAR-FM signed on in May 1948[3] as a full-time simulcast of the AM station; its transmitter location in Rehoboth, Massachusetts was shared with WJAR-TV, which went on the air the following year.[2] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cancelled the WJAR-FM license at Outlet's request on January 19, 1953.[4]

WPFM (1955–1965)[edit]

A construction permit for a new station on 95.5 FM was issued to Plantations Broadcasting Corp. on May 25, 1955;[5] it went on the air June 5, 1955, as WPFM.[6] In 1958, the station was acquired by Golden Gate Corp. for $10,000; at the time, Golden Gate's president, Harold C. Arcato, also had interests in WRIB (1220 AM, now WSTL) and WNET (channel 16, now WNAC-TV channel 64).[7] WPFM began broadcasting 24 hours a day on September 1, 1958; Arcato stated that it was the first FM radio station in New England to operate full-time.[8] During the 1960s, the station had affiliations with the QXR Network[6] and the CRB Network.[9]

WBRU (1966–2017)[edit]

Main article: WBRU

Golden Gate Corp. purchased WHIM (1110 AM, now WPMZ) and WHIM-FM (94.1 FM, now WHJY) in 1964, under the condition that it sell WPFM and its one-third stake in WLKW (990 AM, later known as WALE).[10] In 1965, WPFM was sold to Brown Broadcasting Service for $30,000;[11] the new owners changed the call letters to WBRU.[12] The station, which had been off the air, resumed broadcasting February 21, 1966;[13] the first program to be transmitted from the new station was a panel show which discussed the Peace Corps.[14] In 1969, WBRU adopted a progressive rock format;[15] in 1988, it shifted from album-oriented rock to alternative rock.[16]

Sale to Educational Media Foundation; switch to K-Love[edit]

In March 2017, the station's board of directors passed a resolution to begin seeking a buyer for the station, after 50 years of being owned and operated by the independent non-profit Brown Broadcasting Service, Inc. organization.[17] Several alumni of the station opposed the resolution.[17]

On August 25, 2017, it was announced that Brown Broadcasting Service had sold the 95.5 FM license to Educational Media Foundation, a Christian music broadcaster, which planned to take over the frequency on September 1.[18] WBRU itself was not included as part of the sale, and Brown Student Radio applied to the FCC to transfer the call letters to its low-power radio station.[19] In a statement on its website, WBRU announced that it would continue operations as an online radio station, with separate feeds for both its traditional modern rock format and its 360 Degree Experience in Sound hip hop and R&B program.[20]

WBRU aired for the last time on 95.5 FM at 11:59 p.m. on August 31 and was replaced on that frequency by Educational Media Foundation's K-Love Christian adult contemporary network.[21] The callsign was changed to WLVO on September 1, 2017.[22]

The day of WBRU's final broadcast on FM radio, former Brown Broadcasting Service station member Tucker Hamilton alleged that the sale of the station's license was coerced; Hamilton and other members of a WBRU alumni group have asked Rhode Island attorney general Peter Kilmartin to block the sale to Educational Media Foundation.[23] According to the attorney general's office, they met "with alumni and their attorney as a courtesy, but as our attorneys explained, Rhode Island statute and regulation does not give the attorney general any legal authority to intervene, as is the case in nearly all private sales."[24] The sale was approved by the FCC on October 24, 2017,[25] and completed on November 1.[26]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLVO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b Gallant, Joseph. "WJAR-TV: Video Pioneer in the Ocean State". History of American Broadcasting. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  3. ^ Broadcasting-Telecasting Yearbook Number 1949 (PDF). 1949. p. 314. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. January 26, 1953. p. 90. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. May 30, 1955. p. 115. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  6. ^ a b 1961–62 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1961. p. B-148. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  7. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 11, 1958. p. 94. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  8. ^ "Station Shorts" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 8, 1958. p. 85. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  9. ^ 1964 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). 1963. p. B-138. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  10. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 1, 1964. pp. 70–1. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  11. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 26, 1965. p. 74. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  12. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 9, 1965. p. 78. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  13. ^ Edmonston, Jack. "The History of WBRU FM". WBRU, Brown University 1960s Memories. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  14. ^ Mitchell, Martha. "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | WBRU". www.brown.edu. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  15. ^ "The 1960s". From Gaspipes to Websites: Radio at Brown. Brown University. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  16. ^ "Influential Station WBRU-Providence to Be Sold to Christian Radio Organization". Variety. August 28, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Smith, Andy. "WBRU radio station may be going up for sale soon". providencejournal.com. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  18. ^ Venta, Lance (August 25, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Educational Media Foundation To Acquire WBRU Providence - RadioInsight". RadioInsight. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  19. ^ Bender, John. "WBRU Could Soon Be Home For Contemporary Christian Rock". Rhode Island Public Radio. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  20. ^ "Updates | 95.5 WBRU". 95.5 WBRU. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  21. ^ Smith, Andy. "Listeners tune in as WBRU tunes out". providencejournal.com. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  22. ^ "Call Sign History (WLVO)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  23. ^ GoLocal Live; August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  24. ^ Borowski, Kyle (September 26, 2017). "WBRU alums contest sale of FM signal". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  25. ^ Kalunian, Kim (October 24, 2017). "FCC approves sale of 95.5 FM license". WPRI 12 Eyewitness News. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  26. ^ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 25, 2017.

External links[edit]

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