WLVO (95.5
FM) is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
broadcasting a
contemporary Christian
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
music format as an affiliate of the
K-Love
K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music.
As of June 2019, the network's progr ...
network. Licensed to serve
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
, United States, it serves the
Providence metropolitan area
The Providence metropolitan area (Providence MSA) is a region extending into eight counties in two states. Its urban area, core is in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts; its largest city is Providence, Rhode Island. With an estimated po ...
, as well as
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
’s southern suburbs. It first began broadcasting in
1955 under 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 as ...
WPFM, and from 1966 until 2017 operated under the ownership of Brown Broadcasting Service (a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
run by
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
students but independent of the university) as
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
radio station
WBRU
WBRU is an internet radio station based in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by Brown Broadcasting Service, an independent Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization, and is primarily staffed by students from Brown ...
(now an
Internet radio
Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...
station). The station is currently owned by the
Educational Media Foundation
Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...
.
History
WJAR-FM (1948–1953)
The first occupant of 95.5 FM in Providence was WJAR-FM, owned by
The Outlet Company
The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence, Rhode Island, which owned holdings in both retail and broadcasting. The centerpieces of the group was its flagship Providence store (''The Outlet'') and WJAR radio and television, also in ...
along with WJAR (920 AM, now
WHJJ
WHJJ (920 kHz, "News Radio 920 & 104.7 FM") is a commercial radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. It carries a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. Its studios and offices are on Oxford Street in Providence.
WHJJ transmits ...
) and starting in 1949, longtime
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
affiliate
WJAR-TV
WJAR (channel 10) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston, Rhode Island (shared with Telemundo owned-and-op ...
(then on channel 11, now on channel 10).
WJAR-FM signed on in May 1948
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.
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) cancelled the WJAR-FM license at Outlet's request on January 19, 1953.
WPFM (1955–1965)
A
construction permit
Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions.
House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
for a new station on 95.5 FM was issued to Plantations Broadcasting Corp. on May 25, 1955;
it went on the air June 5, 1955, as WPFM.
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
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...
(channel 16, now
WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing ...
channel 64).
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.
During the 1960s, the station had affiliations with the
QXR Network and the
CRB Network.
WBRU (1966–2017)
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).
In 1965, WPFM was sold to Brown Broadcasting Service for $30,000;
the new owners changed the call letters to
WBRU
WBRU is an internet radio station based in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by Brown Broadcasting Service, an independent Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization, and is primarily staffed by students from Brown ...
.
The station, which had been
off the air, resumed broadcasting February 21, 1966;
the first program to be transmitted from the new station was a panel show which discussed the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
.
In 1969, WBRU adopted a
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
format;
in 1988, it shifted from
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
US rad ...
to
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
.
Sale to Educational Media Foundation; switch to K-Love
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.
Several alumni of the station opposed the resolution.
On August 25, 2017, it was announced that Brown Broadcasting Service had sold the 95.5 FM license to
Educational Media Foundation
Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...
, a Christian music broadcaster, which planned to take over the frequency on September 1.
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. 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
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
and
R&B program.
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.
The callsign was changed to WLVO on September 1, 2017.
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. 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."
The sale was approved by the FCC on October 24, 2017,
and completed on November 1.
References
External links
*
*
{{K-LOVE
Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States
LVO
K-Love radio stations
Radio stations established in 1955
1955 establishments in Rhode Island
Educational Media Foundation radio stations
LVO