WBVA was a commercial radio station licensed to serve Bayside, Virginia, at 1450 AM, and serviced parts of the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

region. The station broadcast from 1998 to 2018, ceasing operations when owner

Birach Broadcasting Corporation Birach Broadcasting Corporation is a company based in Southfield, Michigan, USA, that owns several AM radio stations and, formerly, one low-power television (LPTV Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transm ...

voluntarily turned their

license A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

back to the

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

(FCC) for cancellation. The license surrender had followed an investigation by the commission into a decade of limited operations for it and co-owned WVAB (1550 AM).

History

On January 22, 2018, the FCC designated WBVA and

WVAB WVAB was a commercial radio station licensed to serve Virginia Beach, Virginia, at 1550 AM, and serviced parts of the Hampton Roads region. The station broadcast from 1954 to 2018, ceasing operations when owner Birach Broadcasting Corporation ...

's license renewals for a hearing. According to the commission's records, WBVA operated for a total of 120 days in the two license terms between April 1, 2008, and November 30, 2017, and was silent for the remaining period of over nine years. When WBVA did operate, in order to avoid automatic deletion of its license after one continuous year of silence, it was at 30 watts from a temporary transmitter site at the western edge of

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

. The FCC estimated that WBVA covered ten percent of its licensed service area from that site. Since Birach Broadcasting acquired the stations in 2008 after their tower was destroyed, it has continually claimed that it has been unable to get zoning approval for a new tower for both stations. The full board of five commissioners would have determined whether renewing WBVA and WVAB's licenses would serve the public interest. Before the FCC came to a decision, Birach attempted to donate WBVA's license and audio equipment – but not any transmission equipment or facilities – to two different nonprofits. When both donations fell through, Birach surrendered the WBVA license on September 7, 2018. The FCC cancelled the station's license on September 10, 2018.

References

External links

Facility details for Facility ID 84067 (WBVA)
in the FCC Licensing and Management System 1999 establishments in Virginia Radio stations established in 1999 BVA Birach Broadcasting Corporation stations Radio stations disestablished in 2018 2018 disestablishments in Virginia Defunct radio stations in the United States BVA {{Virginia-radio-station-stub