WBVA (AM)
{{Short description|Radio station in Bayside, Virginia (1999–2018)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WBVA
| city = Bayside, Virginia
| country = US
| area = Hampton Roads
| airdate = {{start date and age|1999|5}}
| last_airdate = {{end date|2018|9|7}} (date of license surrender)
| frequency = 1450 kHz
| power = 1,000 watts
| class = C
| facility_id = 84068
| coordinates = {{coord|36|51|29.5|N|76|9|26.8|W|type:landmark_region:US-VA|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = Bayside, Virginia
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WBHO (1998)|WBVA (1998–2018)}}
| owner = Birach Broadcasting Corporation
}}
WBVA was a commercial radio station licensed to serve Bayside, Virginia, at 1450 AM, and serviced parts of the Hampton Roads region. The station broadcast from 1998 to 2018, ceasing operations when owner Birach Broadcasting Corporation voluntarily turned their license back to the Federal Communications Commission (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's license renewals for a hearing.{{cite web|title=Hearing Designation Order|url=https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2018/db0122/FCC-18-2A1.pdf|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} 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. 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.{{cite news|title=FCC's Silent Station Crackdown Targets Virginia AMs|url=http://www.insideradio.com/free/fcc-s-silent-station-crackdown-targets-virginia-ams/article_9795caba-000e-11e8-81c1-fbf05ea20f2c.html|work=Insideradio.com|language=en}}{{cite web|title=DWBVA Facility Data|url=https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=DWBVA|website=FCCData}}
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.{{cite web |title=Re: Donation of Radio Stations |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101789945&qnum=5040©num=1&exhcnum=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912170916/https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101789945&qnum=5040©num=1&exhcnum=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2018 |website=FCC CDBS}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=84068|title=License Cancelled|work=Federal Communications Commission Licensing and Management System|date=September 10, 2018|access-date=November 24, 2024}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite web|url=http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?surveyID=SP15&band=am&callLetter=WBVA|title=Arbitron Station Information Profiles|access-date=July 8, 2015|work=Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings}}
{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=84068&Callsign=WBVA|title=Call Sign History|access-date=July 8, 2015|work=Federal Communications Commission, audio division}}
{{cite web|url=http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=WBVA|title=WBVA Facility Record|access-date=July 8, 2015|work=Federal Communications Commission, audio division}}
{{cite web |last1=Trent |first1=John C. |title=Re: Surrender of Radio Station License WBVA (AM) Bayside, VA (Fac Id. 84068) |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=87724 |website=CDBS Public Access |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=September 10, 2018}}
}}
External links
- [https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=84068 Facility details for Facility ID 84067 (WBVA)] in the FCC Licensing and Management System
{{Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News Radio}}
{{Birach Broadcasting}}
Category:1999 establishments in Virginia
Category:Radio stations established in 1999
Category:Birach Broadcasting Corporation stations
Category:Radio stations disestablished in 2018
Category:2018 disestablishments in Virginia
Category:Defunct radio stations in the United States
{{Virginia-radio-station-stub}}