WSVA (550 AM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station licensed to

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

, and serving the Central

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

. It broadcasts a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

format and is owned by Saga Communications, through licensee Tidewater Communications, LLC. The studios and offices are on Heritage Center Way in Harrisonburg. By day, WSVA transmits with 5,000 watts non-directional, but at night (to protect other stations on 550 AM from interference) it reduces power to 1,000 watts and uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a three-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on Garbers Church Road near West Market Street ( U.S. Route 33) in Harrisonburg. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

W221CF at 92.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

Programming

The WSVA weekday schedule begins with ''Early Mornings with Frank Wilt and Jim Britt''. Mike Schikman hosts afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

. At noon, an hour of news and agricultural reports airs. The rest of the weekday schedule is nationally syndicated talk programs: '' The Ramsey Show, The Mark Levin Show'', Bill O'Reilly, ''America at Night with Rich Valdes, Red Eye Radio, America in the Morning'' and ''The Markley, Van Camp and Robbins Show''. Weekends feature shows on money, car repair, home repair, travel and gardening. Weekend syndicated programs include '' The Larry Kudlow Show, The Sebastian Gorka Show, Rudy Maxa's World, The Lars Larson Show, The Kim Komando Show, Music and the Spoken Word'' and ''The Car Doctor with Ron Annanian''. Most hours begin with an update from

CBS News Radio CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

. WSVA broadcasts local sports including

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and basketball, along with

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

, basketball and baseball.

History

Early years

WSVA signed on the air on June 9, 1935. It was the first radio station to broadcast in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The station was owned by Frederick L. Allman and the original power was only 500 watts. Although it appears that the WSVA

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 ...

stands for Shenandoah Vlley, it actually stands for "We Serve Virginia Agriculture". The station was an affiliate of the

NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

, carrying its dramas, comedies, news, sports, soap operas, game shows and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

broadcasts during the "

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

". Locally, it offered news, agricultural programs, music and talk. In 1946, it added the Shenandoah Valley's first FM station, WSVA-FM (now WQPO). In 1953, it put Channel 3 on the air, WSVA-TV (now WHSV-TV). Because 550 AM was an NBC Radio affiliate, WSVA-TV mostly carried

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 ...

television shows, but it also broadcast some programs from CBS, ABC and the

Dumont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

. Allman sold his stations to a partnership of Transcontinent Television and former NBC executive Hamilton Shea in 1956, earning a significant return on his investment of 21 years earlier.

Washington Star

In the 1950s, as network programming moved from radio to television, WSVA switched to a full service radio format of middle of the road (MOR) music, news and sports. In 1959, the ''

Washington Evening Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the ''Washington'' ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday ...

'', owner of WMAL AM- FM- TV in Washington, D.C., bought Transcontinent's share of the stations, as well as 1% of Shea's stake. Michigan businessman James Gilmore bought WSVA-AM-FM-TV in 1965. He sold off Channel 3 in 1976, but Gilmore held onto the radio stations until 1987, when he sold them to local businessman John David VerStandig. Over the years, VerStandig added WTGD-FM, WJDV-FM, and WHBG to his radio portfolio.

Expanded Band assignment

On March 17, 1997, 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) announced that 88 stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz. WSVA was authorized to move from 550 to 1700 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. 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 the expanded band station was assigned the call sign WEZI on November 17, 1997. However this station was never built, and its construction permit was cancelled on January 16, 2004.

New studios and FM translator

In 2009, WSVA moved into a new building with modern studios and offices. It is located on the same property as the old building, on Heritage Center Way. On January 1, 2015, the station began

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

ing its programming on

W221CF, transmitting on 92.1 MHz. It makes WSVA programming available to listeners who prefer FM radio. It also exists to fill in the gaps in WSVA's nighttime coverage. The AM transmitter cuts its power to 1,000 watts at night to protect the nighttime signal of WGR in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, and other stations on 550 AM in the Eastern United States. The sale of VerStandig Broadcasting of Harrisonburg to Saga Communications was closed on July 31, 2015. It included WSVA and several other Shenandoah Valley radio stations. The purchase price was $9.64 million.InsideRadio.com "Deal Digest" September 17, 2015 (retrieved Feb. 14, 2023)
/ref>

Translator

In addition to the main station, WSVA is relayed by an FM translator to widen its broadcast area.

References

External links

92.1 FM and 550 AM WSVA Online
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FCC History Cards for WSVA
(covering 1934-1980) {{Saga Communications SVA News and talk radio stations in the United States Harrisonburg, Virginia Radio stations established in 1935 1935 establishments in Virginia