WXRK-LP is an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

and

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 ...

formatted radio station licensed to

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, serving Charlottesville and

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a United States county (United States), county located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Piedmont region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, Virginia, Charlottes ...

. WXRK-LP is owned and operated by Blue Ridge Free Media.

History

WXRK-LP signed on the air on September 7, 2015. 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 ...

for the station was previously held by former rock station WXRK-FM in New York City. From its outset, the station has aired a combination of active rock and alternative rock. In September 2019, Saga Communications, which operates the Charlottesville Radio Group under the Tidewater Communications licensee, filed a petition with the FCC requesting that WXRK-LP's license not be renewed. Saga claimed the station, along with other Charlottesville-based low-power FMs, were operating as "a de facto cluster". The station's founder Mike Friend called the petition to deny "'legal junk' and a deliberate 'misinterpretation' of FCC rules". Friend pointed to other attempts by Saga to shutter low-power FM stations within Saga markets. Saga, in 2004, claimed that KFLO-LP in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was airing announcements that "sound suspiciously like commercials". Saga also petitioned the FCC to revoke the license of

WLCQ-LP WLCQ-LP (99.7 FM, "The Q 99.7") is a radio station licensed to serve Feeding Hills, Massachusetts, United States. The station is owned by Lighthouse Christian Center. It airs a Christian Contemporary music format. The station was assigned the WL ...

, a Christian station in the Springfield, Massachusetts, market, "for equipment violations" in 2015. In both cases, the FCC "admonished the station" but denied Saga's complaints. Jeff Lenert, co-founder of then-progressive talk station WPVC-LP, said that "though he stationsshare a building" all of "the stations all operate separately, having only limited and largely incidental contact with each other". Lenert turned in the license for WPVC-LP on June 16, 2020, "As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and recent increased costs of station ownership and operation, it has become impossible to operate station WPVC-LP in the manner that I wish." Lenert largely blamed the "legal action by Saga Communications combined with a loss of sponsors during the pandemic" for the signing off of that station. As of October 2024, the FCC has not acted on the Petition from Saga and WXRK-LP continues to broadcast. A similar petition from Saga seeking regarding the license of WREN-LP, housed in the same building, was largely denied in September 2024 but resulted in a short-term license renewal for that station and a

consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...

regarding impermissible underwriting announcements.

References

External links

Rock Hits 92-3 Online
* {{Modern Rock Radio Stations in Virginia 2015 establishments in Virginia Active rock radio stations in the United States Alternative rock radio stations in the United States XRK-LP Mass media in Charlottesville, Virginia Radio stations established in 2015 XRK-LP