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"WIQR" redirects here. For the former station in Prattville, Alabama, see WIQR (Alabama).
Not to be confused with WTVF.
WVTF
Broadcast areaSouthwest Virginia and Central Virginia
Frequency89.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingRadio IQ
Programming
FormatPublic radio/talk
Subchannels
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WVTF Music
History
First air date
August 1, 1973
(51 years ago) (1973-08-01)
Former call signs
WVWR-FM (1973–1982)
Former frequencies
90.1 MHz (1973–1975)[1]
Call sign meaning
Virginia Tech Foundation
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70338
ClassC
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT600 meters (1,988 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
37°11′56.0″N 80°09′2.0″W / 37.198889°N 80.150556°W / 37.198889; -80.150556
Translator(s)See § Low power translators
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewvtf.org

WVTF (89.1 FM) is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Roanoke, Virginia, featuring a public radio format branded "Radio IQ". Owned by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) through its fundraising arm, the Virginia Tech Foundation,[3] the station carries programming from NPR, the Public Radio Exchange, American Public Media and the BBC World Service. WVTF is a listener-supported station, holding periodic fundraisers on the air. The studios and offices are on Kingsbury Lane in Roanoke.

WVTF has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM radio stations in the U.S. The transmitter is on Poor Mountain, off Media Way in Bent Mountain, Virginia.[4] WVTF broadcasts using HD Radio technology.[5] The station's HD-2 digital subchannel simulcasts the "WVTF Music" format from co-owned 89.9 WWVT-FM in Ferrum, Virginia, playing classical music and jazz. The HD-3 subchannel carries Christian Contemporary music from WRVL Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to WVTF, Radio IQ is heard on 16 rebroadcasters and FM translators around Virginia.

History

WVWR-FM

The station signed on the air on August 1, 1973, as WVWR-FM (Virginia Western Radio) licensed to Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.[6] It was used primarily to air college telecourses and give broadcasting students a chance to hone their skills.

In 1975, WVWR-FM's transmitter was moved from Fishburn Hall on the VWCC campus to Poor Mountain, where most of Roanoke's major radio and television stations have their transmitters. The power also was increased from 4,100 watts to 100,000 watts. The power boost tripled its coverage area, giving it at least secondary coverage in much of central and southwest Virginia, southern West Virginia and northern North Carolina. In 1979, WVWR-FM began the Radio Reading Service on its subcarrier frequency.

Virginia Tech Foundation

In 1981, state officials decided that no state agency should directly own a radio station, and Virginia Western was forced to sell. The Virginia Tech Foundation, financially independent of Virginia Tech but controlled by school leadership, expressed interest in buying the station. It not only wanted to preserve public radio in the region, but saw WVWR as a way to increase Virginia Tech's ties to Roanoke.[7] The foundation formally took control in 1982 and initially applied for the call sign WRVT before settling on WVTF.[8] Over the next decade, WVTF built translator after translator to better serve its mostly mountainous coverage area.

From 1980 to 2017, WVTF and its repeaters maintained a schedule typical of full-service public radio stations, with NPR news in drive times, classical music during the day and overnight, and various special music and talk programming on nights and weekends.

Rebranding as Radio IQ

See also: WVTF Music

In 2003, WVTF launched Radio IQ in order to provide a secondary schedule consisting only of news/talk programming, including retransmission of the BBC World Service overnight.[6] Radio IQ broadcast over its own network of stations, consisting of extra signals that were overlapped by WVTF's network, as well as those in areas such as Richmond which receive a music and news schedule from another NPR member station. Radio IQ began with WWVT (1260 AM, Christiansburg). The service quickly expanded to WFFC (89.9 FM, Ferrum), the former Ferrum College student radio station, and WVTW (88.5 FM), an extra station in Charlottesville.[9] Radio IQ signed on WRIQ in Lexington in 2011 and purchased WQIQ near Fredericksburg in 2013.

On July 10, 2017, Radio IQ became WVTF's main service, and the station itself rebranded from "WVTF Public Radio" to "Radio IQ". Three of the five existing Radio IQ stations (WVTW, WQIQ, and WRIQ) merged with WVTF and its network (WVTR, WVTU, and WISE-FM) to place the news and talk schedule on as many full-powered signals as possible. A new companion service, WVTF Music, launched on the remaining stations (WWVT and WFFC, later renamed WWVT-FM) and HD2 subchannels of the new combined Radio IQ network. Low-powered translators of the previous WVTF and Radio IQ networks were divided between the two services. WVTF Music took over all music programming, including daily blocks of classical music, specialty local programs, and Live From Here.[10][11][12]

WRIQ Richmond

Radio IQ's programming had been heard in portions of the Greater Richmond Region on low-powered translator W223AZ (92.5 FM) since 2009.[13] In October 2019, WVTF purchased WNVU (89.7 FM) in nearby Charles City, Virginia. That station began simulcasting Radio IQ programming in January 2020 under the new call letters WRIQ.

WRIQ brings a full-powered Radio IQ signal to Richmond for the first time. That puts it in direct competition with Richmond-based NPR member WCVE-FM. WCVE has its own network of rebroadcasters known as the VPM News Service.

Stations

Full power stations

All stations broadcast using HD Radio technology, with "WVTF Music" on its HD2 subchannel.[14][15][16]

Call sign Frequency City of license ERP (W) Class FCC info
WIQR 88.7 FM Lexington, Virginia 3,900 A FCC (WIQR)
WRIQ 89.7 FM Charles City, Virginia 27,000 B1 FCC (WRIQ)
WQIQ 88.3 FM Spotsylvania, Virginia 3,500 A FCC (WQIQ)
WVTF[a] 89.1 FM Roanoke, Virginia 100,000 C FCC (WVTF)
WVTR 91.9 FM Marion, Virginia 4,500 C2 FCC (WVTR)
WVTU 89.3 FM Charlottesville, Virginia (west) 195 B1 FCC (WVTU)
WVTW 88.5 FM Charlottesville, Virginia (city) 1,000 B1 FCC (WVTW)

Notes:

  1. ^ Radio IQ flagship station

The following stations broadcast Radio IQ on a part-time basis:

Call sign Frequency City of license ERP (W) Class FCC info Broadcast times
WEHC 90.7 FM Emory, Virginia 8,700 C3 FCC (WEHC) 12 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays[17]
WISE-FM 90.5 FM Wise, Virginia 220 A FCC (WISE-FM) 12 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays[18]
WLUR 91.5 FM Lexington, Virginia 175 A FCC (WLUR) 12 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily; various additional timeslots[19]

Translators

In addition to the main stations, Radio IQ is relayed by an additional 6 translators to widen its broadcast area. It can also be heard on WURV-HD3 in Richmond (which also feeds translator W223AZ).[20]

Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) Class FCC info Notes
W212BP 90.3 FM Clintwood, Virginia 121853 1 D LMS Relays WISE-FM
W217BF 91.3 FM Pound, Virginia 121793 1 D LMS Relays WISE-FM
W219CJ 91.7 FM Norton, Virginia 92894 50 D LMS Relays WISE-FM
W223AZ 92.5 FM Richmond, Virginia 157136 220 D LMS Relays WURV-HD3
W230BD 93.9 FM Lovingston, Virginia 157729 10 D LMS Relays WVTF
W235BT 94.9 FM Fredericksburg, Virginia 153337 80 D LMS Relays WQIQ

References

  1. ^ "FCC History Cards for WVTF" (PDF). FCC.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WVTF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "WVTF Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WVTF
  5. ^ "HD Radio station guide for Roanoke–Lynchburg, VA". Archived from the original on 2016-09-15.
  6. ^ a b [email protected] 981–3338, Ralph Berrier Jr. "WVTF and Radio IQ will switch signals July 10". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2019-08-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "WVTF Public Radio Studio". Virginia Tech Foundation.
  8. ^ "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 8, 1982. p. 118.
  9. ^ Corbin, Robert (March 14, 2003). "Radio IQ searches for home". VARTV.
  10. ^ "Programming and frequency changes coming to WVTF and RADIO IQ". Virginia Tech.
  11. ^ Venta, Lance (15 June 2017). "WVTF To Shuffle Frequencies Of Music & Radio IQ Outlets Across Virginia". RadioInsight.
  12. ^ "Home | WVTF RADIO IQ". WVTF RADIO IQ. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "RADIO IQ/WVTF to Expand Richmond Coverage Area This Fall". www.wvtf.org. 10 October 2019.
  14. ^ Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  15. ^ Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  16. ^ "HD (Digital) Radio". wvtf.org. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  17. ^ "Radio IQ". www.ehc.edu. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  18. ^ "WEHC Widens Signal to become WEHC, Emory, and WISE-FM, Wise". 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  19. ^ "Weekly Schedule". Washington and Lee University. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  20. ^ "WVTF/Radio IQ Post-Flip Schedule" (PDF). Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
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