WAVA-FM (105.1 MHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, and serving the

Washington metro area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

. The station is owned and operated by the

Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...

, and airs a

Christian talk and teaching Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk program ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. Religious leaders pay WAVA-FM for their time on the air and then seek donations to support their ministries. Hosts include

Chuck Swindoll Charles Rozell Swindoll (born October 18, 1934) is an evangelical Christian pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher. He founded ''Insight for Living'', headquartered in Frisco, Texas, which airs a radio program of the same name on more t ...

, Jim Daly,

Charles Stanley Charles Frazier Stanley (born 1932) is Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after serving as senior pastor for 49 years. He is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries, which widely broadcasts his sermons through t ...

John MacArthur John MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: *J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984), American businessman * John MacArthur (American pastor) (born 1939), American evangelical minister, televangelist, and author * John Macarthur (priest), 20th-century pr ...

, Rick Warren,

David Jeremiah David Jeremiah is an American evangelical Christian author, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch in El Cajon, California, a suburb of ...

, Tony Evans,

David Anderson David Anderson may refer to: People In academia or science * David Anderson (academic) (born 1952), American college professor * David Anderson (engineer) (1880–1953), Scottish civil engineer and lawyer *David Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley (191 ...

. Studios and offices are on North Lynn Street in Arlington. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is off 19th Road North, also in Arlington. WAVA-FM broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

format. The HD2 and HD3 subchannels rebroadcast two co-owned AM stations, WAVA

AM 780 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 780 kHz: There are only eight stations in the 48 contiguous United States plus one in Alaska which are authorized to broadcast on 780 AM during nighttime hours. 780 AM is a United States ...

and WWRC AM 570. WAVA (AM) also carries a Christian talk and teaching format, but with different shows. WWRC airs

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

History

WARL-FM

In 1946, Northern Virginia Broadcasters, Inc., which owned

WARL (now WAVA), received a

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to put an FM radio station on the air. On August 1, 1948, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

as WARL-FM. It was originally located at 105.5 MHz on the FM dial and was powered at only 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, a fraction of its current output. WARL-FM mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

its

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

. Because the AM station was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, 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. The new owners switched the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

s to WAVA and WAVA-FM.

All-news

In the 1970s, WAVA-AM-FM decided to compete with

AM 1500 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1500 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission categorizes 1500 AM as a U.S. clear-channel frequency. WFED Washington, D.C. and KSTP St. Paul are the dominant Class A stations on 1500 ...

WTOP (now WFED) as one of Washington's two

all-news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run t ...

stations. Even though 780 WAVA was still a daytime-only station, the all-news format was heard on 105.1 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 ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', was a

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

and had a 50,000 watt signal; because of this, WAVA-AM-FM were at a competitive disadvantage as an all-news outlet. (Ironically, 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

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engag ...

, airing a

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk program ...

format as WABS, while FM 105.1 kept the WAVA call letters and was sold to the WAVA Limited Partnership, airing a

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

format. After three years of low ratings, in 1980, WAVA-FM switched its format to AOR, branded as ''Rockradio 105 WAVA''. However, the new format also failed to gain many listeners. Doubleday Broadcasting bought the station in 1982 and planned a format flip.

Top 40

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

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

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 The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

, Emmis decided to sell many of its stations at lower-than-market-value prices.

Salem Media ownership

WAVA-FM was sold to the

for $20 million. On February 12, 1992, at midnight, after playing a montage of station memories, WAVA went off the air, with " Goodbye" by

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...

as the final song. The station returned to the air the next day, stunting with

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Christi ...

. A few days later, it adopted a

format.

References

External links

105.1 WAVA Online

The last hours of "All Hit 105" WAVA Arlington (February 12, 1992)
{{Salem Media Group 1948 establishments in Virginia Talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1948 Salem Media Group properties AVA-FM Arlington County, Virginia