WLFV (98.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station, licensed to Midlothian, Virginia and serving the Greater Richmond Region.[3] The station is branded as "K-Love" and features a Contemporary Christian format. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation (EMF).[4] WLFV's transmitter is off Basie Road in Henrico, Virginia.[5]

WLFV
Broadcast areaRichmond, Virginia
Frequency98.9 MHz
BrandingK-Love
Programming
FormatContemporary Christian
Ownership
OwnerEducational Media Foundation
WARV-FM, WKYV
History
First air date
November 22, 1971 (as WJMA-FM)[1]
Former call signs
WJMA-FM (1971–1984)
WVJZ (1984–1990)
WJMA-FM (1990–2004)
WCUL (2004–2005)
WWLB (2005–2014)[2]
Former frequencies
96.7 MHz (1971–2001)
Call sign meaning
WoLF Virginia (previous format)
Technical information
Facility ID54872
ClassB1
ERP4,800 watts
HAAT227.4 meters (746 ft)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websiteklove.com

History edit

WJMA-FM signed on November 22, 1971, on 96.7 MHz from Orange, Virginia. It was co-owned with WJMA (1340 AM, now WVCV). In 2003, the station ended up in the hands of Maniquad Communications, which at the time was the owner of rimshots WBBT-FM in Powhatan and WARV-FM in Petersburg. Maniquad filed to move WJMA-FM to 98.9 FM in Richmond proper, and the station began broadcasting from its new facilities in March 2005.[6]

Prior to becoming K-Love in 2017, WLFV was owned by Alpha Media. The station featured a country music format branded as "The Wolf," and was simulcast on co-owned WARV-FM. On December 5, 2016, EMF filed an application with the FCC to purchase both WLFV and WARV-FM for $2 million.[7]

On March 22, 2017, following the consummation of EMF's purchase, WLFV began stunting, directing listeners to sister station WWLB (the classic country-formatted "Hank FM").[8] On March 23, 2017, WLFV went silent in advance of its impending flip to K-Love.[9]

WLFV remained off the air for three weeks while EMF repaired a failed satellite dish mount.[10] Finally, on April 14, 2017, WLFV returned to the airwaves as K-Love.[11] Despite the change in ownership and format, the station retained its WLFV call letters.

References edit

  1. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 2010 (PDF). ProQuest, LLC/Reed Publishing (Nederland), B.V. 2010. p. D-252. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  2. ^ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. ^ "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  4. ^ "WLFV Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  5. ^ "WLFV-FM Radio Station Coverage Map".
  6. ^ "WLFV Facility Data". FCCData.
  7. ^ Alpha Sells Richmond Pair to EMF
  8. ^ Alpha Shakes Up Richmond Cluster Radioinsight - March 22, 2017
  9. ^ @VARTV (March 24, 2017). "#rva #VARTV" (Tweet). Retrieved March 25, 2017 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations". FCC Licensing Database. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  11. ^ @leecostic (April 15, 2017). "@VARTV @radioinsight So @KLOVERadio is finally on the air on 98.9 in Richmond, VA. Apparently keeping WLFV calls from "The Wolf"..." (Tweet). Retrieved April 18, 2017 – via Twitter.

External links edit