WVTQ
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WVTQ
| logo =
| city = Sunderland, Vermont | country = US
| network = Vermont Public Classical
| area =
| frequency = {{Frequency|95.1|MHz}} {{HD Radio}}
| translator = W295AU (106.9 MHz) Manchester, Vermont (via HD2: Vermont Public News)
| repeater =
| airdate = {{Start date|1991|5|1}}
| format = Classical
| language =
| erp = 105 watts
| haat = {{convert|718.9|m|ft|1|sp=us}}
| class = A
| facility_id = 54687
| licensing_authority = FCC
| coordinates = {{coord|43|9|56|N|73|7|11.9|W|region:US-VT_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning = Vermont/Mount Equinox
| former_callsigns = WJAN (1991–2007)
| former_frequencies =
| owner = Vermont Public Co.
| sister_stations =
| website = {{URL|https://www.vermontpublic.org/vermont-public-classical}}
}}
WVTQ (95.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Sunderland, Vermont, United States. The station is owned by Vermont Public as part of its Classical network, airing classical music. WVTQ broadcasts from atop Mount Equinox in Manchester.
WVTQ has been operated by Vermont Public and its radio predecessor, Vermont Public Radio, since 2007. Previously, it was a commercial country music station under the WJAN call sign.
History
In August 1990, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit for a new radio station to Ron Morlino, who beat three other applicants seeking 95.1 MHz at Sunderland after leaving his position at WEQX, the other radio station transmitting from Mount Equinox. A country music format was chosen based on community input.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583675/radio-station-hits-dial/|date=April 16, 1991|page=14|first=Brian|last=Maffly|title=Radio station hits dial|newspaper=Bennington Banner|location=Bennington, Vermont|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051351/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583675/radio-station-hits-dial/|url-status=live}}
WJAN began broadcasting on May 1, 1991, providing listeners in Bennington County a local alternative to WGNA-FM, a country music radio station in Albany, New York. The station aired eight hours of locally hosted music a day in morning and afternoon drive, with the remainder of the programming supplied by the Satellite Music Network.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113557989/music-of-america-comes-home-to-mt/|date=May 2, 1991|page=10|first=Brian|last=Maffly|title=Music of America comes home to Mt. Equinox and WJAN-FM|newspaper=Bennington Banner|location=Bennington, Vermont|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051345/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113557989/music-of-america-comes-home-to-mt/|url-status=live}} The reach of the country format expanded considerably in January 1994 when WYOY (94.5 FM) in Rutland, which had not broadcast in more than a year, became WJEN, simulcasting WJAN's programming; the combined service became known as "Cat Country", a nod to Vermont's catamounts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113649444/cat-country-set-to-debut-wjen-fm-hits/|date=January 19, 1994|page=10, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113649485/station/ 11]|first=Bruce|last=Edwards|title='Cat Country' Set to Debut: WJEN-FM Hits the Airwaves Next Week|newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald|location=|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=January 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110080129/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113649444/cat-country-set-to-debut-wjen-fm/|url-status=live}} WJAN–WJEN grew into a cluster in 1996 when the group acquired Rutland station WJJR, adopting the name Peak Communications.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583617/rutland-radio-station-wjjr-sold-for/|date=December 11, 1996|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113649562/radio/ 11]|first=Bruce|last=Edwards|title=Rutland Radio Station WJJR Sold for $2.1 Million|newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald|location=Rutland, Vermont|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051351/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583617/rutland-radio-station-wjjr-sold-for/|url-status=live}}
The Peak cluster was sold to Albany Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Pamal Broadcasting, in 1999; Morlino believed that consolidation in the radio industry obligated him to buy more stations or sell out, and he had received several unsolicited offers for the trio even though it was not on the market.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583700/3-radio-stations-sold-to-albany/|date=April 13, 1999|page=3|first=Sabina|last=Haskell Latour|title=3 radio stations sold to Albany Broadcasting Co.|newspaper=Bennington Banner|location=Bennington, Vermont|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051352/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583700/3-radio-stations-sold-to-albany/|url-status=live}} While the sale awaited FCC approval, Cat Country managed to fool its competitors—WSYB and WZRT—and the Rutland Daily Herald. One afternoon in late April, Don Glaze taped himself to a lamppost while wearing a cardboard box, claiming he needed a job.{{r|Rutl990501}} The Herald published an interview in which he described his girlfriend breaking up on him after moving from Illinois. However, he did in fact have a job—as a new DJ for WJAN–WJEN.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583590/jobless-plight-was-djs-hoax/|date=May 1, 1999|page=11, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583600/hoax/ 13]|first=John|last=Dolan|title='Jobless Plight' Was DJ's Hoax|newspaper=Rutland Daily Herald|location=Rutland, Vermont|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 26, 2022|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051347/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113583590/jobless-plight-was-djs-hoax/|url-status=live}}
In June 2006, Pamal sold WJAN to Vermont Public Radio for $625,000. It did so in order to meet ownership limits in the Albany market, where Pamal had acquired the silent WNYQ (105.7 FM) in Queensbury and was restoring it to service from a new transmitter site.{{cite news|date=June 5, 2006|url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060605/nerw.html|title=Whoopi Displaces KTU Morning Crew|work=North East RadioWatch|access-date=November 25, 2022|first=Scott|last=Fybush|archive-date=November 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126051348/https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060605/nerw.html|url-status=live}} The station initially broadcast VPR's primary program service;{{cite news|url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/061204/nerw.html|date=December 4, 2006|work=North East RadioWatch|access-date=November 25, 2022|first=Scott|last=Fybush|title=WCRB, WKLB Make the Big Switch|archive-date=November 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124041318/https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/061204/nerw.html|url-status=live}} the next year, as VPR began expanding its all-classical program service, WJAN was switched to broadcast it and renamed WVTQ.{{cite news|url=https://www.fybush.com/NERW/2007/070604/nerw.html|date=June 4, 2007|work=North East RadioWatch|access-date=November 25, 2022|first=Scott|last=Fybush|title=Davidson Buys WWZN, WSNR|archive-date=November 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124134510/http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2007/070604/nerw.html|url-status=live}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://vermontpublic.org/ Vermont Public]
{{FM station data|54687|WVTQ}}
- {{FCC-LMS-Facility|88164|W295AU}}
- {{FXL|W295AU}}
{{Bennington and Rutland Radio}}
{{NPR Vermont}}
Category:Classical music radio stations in the United States
Category:Radio stations established in 1991