WBVP

Infobox Radio station
name = WBVP / WMBA


city = Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Ambridge, Pennsylvania
area = Pittsburgh metropolitan area
branding = "WBVP-WMBA Radio"
slogan = "Beaver County's Hometown Radio Stations"
airdate = 1948 (WBVP) and 1956 (WMBA)
frequency = WBVP: 1230 kHz
WMBA: 1460 kHz
format = News/Talk
power = WBVP: 1,000 W
WMBA: 500 W
erp =
class = WBVP: Class C
WMBA: Class B
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
owner = Iorio Broadcasting
webcast =
website = [http://www.wbvp-wmba.com wbvp-wmba.com]
affiliations = ABC Radio

WBVP and WMBA is a news/talk simulcast based in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States that officially covers Beaver County but can also be heard in the western part of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The stations are owned by Iorio Broadcasting.

WBVP operates at 1230 kHz with an ERP of 1kW-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.

History

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.

WBVP had been the local station serving Beaver County exclusively for many years. The following year, WBVP was joined by an FM sister station, first known as WBVP-FM, but that station later changed its calls to WWKS, becoming best known throughout the 70's and 80's as "Kiss FM". Local ownership of this radio station ceased in 1995, when it was sold to Clear Channel Communications, and today is marketed as Pittsburgh's urban station WAMO-FM. WBVP was sold in a spin-off transaction to present owner Frank Iorio.

Merger with WMBA

In May 2000, WMBA owner Donn Wuycik, president of Donn Communications, entered into an agreement to sell WMBA to Iorio Broadcasting, for an undisclosed amount.

Since 2000, though, they have been under single ownership and WMBA's operations were moved from 761 Merchant Street in Ambridge into WBVP's existing facilities at 1316 Seventh Avenue in Beaver Falls. WBVP and WMBA, which aired separate talk formats with nostalgia and adult contemporary music, respectively, began to duplicate more of each other's programming as time evolved, and today the stations are 100 percent simulcast.

WBVP and WMBA Today

Both stations have served as a springboard for on-air personnel who have moved on to bigger stations, and that trend continues today. Among the WBVP alumni are Bob Alexander, Alan Boal, Jim Reynolds, Chris Shovlin, Bill Kelly, Sam Nicotero (known as Tony Scott on WBVP), Earl Lewis, Chuck Wilson and Ernie Kline, who later became Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor. Among those who served at WMBA are Bob Pompeani, Jim Merkel, Guy Junker, Ted Ruscitti (who owned the station during the 80's), Jim Ladd, Kevin Maguire, Ray Fallen, Woody Lester, Dave Stevens (Posmoga), Rick Pantale (Pantaleo), Dave Justice (Benard), T.J. Jamison (Jim Green), Dave Denniston, Roy Angst, Frank Greenlee, Sam Siple, John Poister, Tim Herrera, Rick Bergman, Julie Bologna, Randy Cosgrove, Don Shields and John Mehno.

External links

* [http://wbvp-wmba.com Official website]
*AMQ|WBVP
*AML|WBVP
*AMQ|WMBA
*AML|WMBA