WARJ

WARJ is a radio station licensed to Shawsville, Virginia, broadcasting the Air1 network to Roanoke, Virginia and the New River Valley.[1] WARJ is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.

For the airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia assigned the ICAO code WARJ, see Adisutjipto International Airport.
WARJ
CityShawsville, Virginia
Broadcast areaRoanoke, Virginia
New River Valley
Frequency102.5 MHz
Programming
FormatChristian worship music
NetworkAir1
Ownership
OwnerEducational Media Foundation
History
First air date
2013 (2013)
Former call signs
WBZS (2012–2020)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID89133
ClassA
Power150 Watts
HAAT591 meters (1,939 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
37°11′42.0″N 80°9′23.0″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS

History

The station signed on in 2013 as WBZS. From its sign-on, the station was leased by owner George S. Flinn, Jr., to Three Daughters Media, which simulcast the talk format of WIQO-FM Lynchburg.[2]

WBZS entered into a three-year lease to Community Media Group, owner of adult album alternative WVMP, on December 1, 2016.[3][4]

On February 1, 2018, the AAA format moved exclusively to WBZS, which rebranded as "102.5 The Mountain".[5][6]

Upon the lease ending on December 1, 2019, the AAA programming moved back to WVMP.[7]

In April 2020, Flinn donated the station's signal to air a noncommercial news/talk format focusing specifically on coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the New River Valley. The station was led by WVMP's former general manager and a volunteer staff, with on-air hosts working from home studios.[8][9] Three months later, he sold the station and eight others to the Educational Media Foundation for $3.4 million.[10] Upon the sale being consummated on October 29, 2020, the call letters were changed to WARJ, as the station picked up EMF's Air1 network.

References
  1. "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  2. Venta, Lance (November 11, 2013). "Lynchburg Talker Expands To Trimulcast". RadioInsight.
  3. "WARJ Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  4. Venta, Lance (December 14, 2016). "WVMP Expands to Blacksburg". Radio Insight.
  5. Venta, Lance (February 5, 2018). "Roanoke's Mountain Loses One Of Its Signals". RadioInsight.
  6. "Time Brokerage Agreement" (PDF). FCC Public Inspection File.
  7. Venta, Lance (December 2, 2019). "Roanoke's Mountain Returns to 101.5". RadioInsight.
  8. "All-Volunteer COVID-19 News/Talk Station Launches In Roanoke". RadioInsight. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  9. "Volunteers launch radio station to discuss COVID-19". WDBJ. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  10. Jacobson, Adam (July 8, 2020). "Flinn Sells Nine To EMF, Via Three Associated Entities". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
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