WSVA
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| City | Harrisonburg, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Central Shenandoah Valley |
| Branding | "92.1 FM and 550 AM WSVA" |
| Slogan | "Breaking News and Stimulating Talk for the Valley!" |
| Frequency | 550 kHz |
| First air date | June 9, 1935 |
| Format | News/Talk/Sports |
| Power | 5,000 Watts daytime 1,000 Watts nighttime |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 39493 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°27′4.0″N 78°54′29.0″W / 38.451111°N 78.908056°W |
| Callsign meaning |
We Serve Virginia Agriculture W Shenandoah VAlley |
| Affiliations | CBS Radio News |
| Owner | Saga Communications (Tidewater Communications, LLC) |
| Sister stations | W261CV, WHBG, WMQR, WQPO, WSIG, WWRE |
| Webcast | WSVA Webstream |
| Website | WSVA Online |
WSVA is a News/Talk/Sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Harrisonburg, Virginia, serving the Central Shenandoah Valley. WSVA is owned and operated by Saga Communications, through licensee Tidewater Communications, LLC.
WSVA went on the air on June 9, 1935 with 500 watts of power. It was the first radio station to broadcast in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Although it appears that the call letters stand for Shenandoah VAlley, they actually stand for We Serve Virginia Agriculture." The station was affiliated with NBC, and offered news, agricultural programs, music and other items of local interest. Bluegrass singer Mac Wiseman worked at the station as a news reader and disc jockey in the 1940s.
WSVA was originally owned by Frederick L. Allman. In 1946, it produced the Valley's first FM station, WSVA-FM (now WQPO), and in 1953 it added a television station, WSVA-TV (now WHSV-TV). Allman sold his stations to a partnership of Transcontinent Television and former NBC executive Hamilton Shea in 1956, earning a significant return on his investment of 21 years earlier. In 1959, the Washington Evening Star, owner of WMAL AM-FM-TV in Washington, D.C., bought Transcontinent's share of the stations, as well as 1% of Shea's stake. Michigan businessman James Gilmore bought the WSVA stations in 1965. Gilmore sold off channel 3 in 1976, but held onto the radio stations until 1987, when he sold them to VerStandig. John David Verstandig owned WSVA-AM as well as WQPO-FM, WTGD-FM, WJDV-FM, and WHBG-AM. In 2009 the station moved into a new building located on the same property to the old one at 1820 Heritage Center Way, Harrisonburg, VA 22801.
On January 1, 2015, WSVA began simulcasting its programming on FM translator W221CF, broadcasting at 92.1 FM.
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