WBVP
| City |
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Ambridge, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Pittsburgh metropolitan area |
| Branding | WBVP-WMBA Radio |
| Slogan | Beaver County's Hometown Radio Stations |
| Frequency | WBVP: 1230 kHz WMBA: 1460 kHz |
| First air date | 1948 (WBVP) and 1956 (WMBA) |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Power | WBVP: 1,000 W WMBA: 500 W |
| Class | WBVP: Class C WMBA: Class B |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio |
| Owner | Mark and Cynthia Peterson (Sound Ideas Media, LLC) |
| Website | wbvp-wmba.com |
WBVP and WMBA are news/talk radio stations based in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. The stations serve Beaver County, Pennsylvania and simulcast their programming. The stations are owned by Mark and Cynthia Peterson, through licensee Sound Ideas Media, LLC.
WBVP operates at 1230 kHz with an ERP of 1 kW-Unlimited power and is licensed to Beaver Falls, while WMBA operates at 1460 kHz with an ERP of 500 W-Unlimited power and is licensed to Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
WBVP (Beaver Falls, PA) started broadcasting on May 25, 1948 and was founded by a threesome from Pittsburgh, PA including Tom Price, Frank Smith and Charles Ondurka. In 1955, The original partners reorganized and formed Beaver Valley Broadcasting. Around 1970, Hall Communications bought WBVP along with an FM radio station, originally known as WBVP - FM at 106.7 mhz, that had been put on the air in 1968. In 1985, Ted and Marilee Ruscitti from Hopewell township, PA bought WBVP and the FM station, that by this point in time the call letters had been changed and it was known as WWKS, through their company, MT Communications. In 1990, The stations were sold to the Baltimore Radio Show out of Towson, MD with Harry Shriver serving as managing partner. Carnegie, PA native Frank Iorio, Jr., along with partners Aaron Daniels and Mike Swartz formed Pittsburgh Radio Partners and bought the two stations in 1994. Just a year later, the trio sold the FM station, WWKS, to Secret Communications and at that time Iorio bought out his partners and continued to own and operate WBVP through his newly formed company, Iorio Broadcasting, Inc. Iorio then bought WMBA (Ambridge, PA) from Donn Communications in 2000. Long time station employee, Mark Peterson along with his wife, Cyndi, Formed Sound Ideas Media, LLC, and purchased WBVP and WMBA in 2014.
The two stations competed for 40 years, since WMBA went on the air in the late 1950s. Miners Broadcasting put WMBA on the air. The station was sold in 1970 to John Bride, a former Pittsburgh television advertising salesman. His Bride Broadcasting, Inc. instituted a more contemporary format, including local talk shows and Top 40 music after 4 p.m. during the week and on weekends. Bride continued to own and operate the station even after he moved his base of operations to Maine, where he owned other radio stations. Bride finally sold the station to Donn Communications in the mid-1980s and the studios and offices moved from a converted house at 291 14th Street in Ambridge to a storefront at 761 Merchant Street in Ambridge's business district.
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