WVTF

WVTF is the National Public Radio affiliate serving most of southwestern Virginia. The station is licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, and owned by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) through its fundraising arm, the Virginia Tech Foundation.[2] It airs a format of news and talk programming from NPR, BBC World Service, Public Radio International and other outlets.

"WIQR" redirects here. For the former station in Prattville, Alabama, see WIQR (defunct).
Not to be confused with WTVF.
WVTF
CityRoanoke, Virginia
Broadcast areaSouthwest Virginia and Central Virginia
Frequency89.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingRadio IQ
SloganVirginia's Public Radio
Programming
FormatNews/talk
Subchannels
AffiliationsBBC World Service
National Public Radio
Public Radio International
Ownership
OwnerVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech Foundation)
WVTF Music
History
First air date
1973
Former call signs
WVWR-FM (1973–1982)
Former frequencies
90.1 MHz (1973–1975)[1]
Call sign meaning
Virginia Tech Foundation
Technical information
Facility ID70338
ClassC
ERP100,000 watts
HAAT600 Meters
Transmitter coordinates
37°11′56.0″N 80°09′2.0″W
Translator(s)See § Low power translators
Links
WebcastWVTF Webstream
WebsiteWVTF Online

WVTF broadcasts in HD.[3]

History

WVTF began broadcasting in August 1973 as WVWR-FM (Virginia Western Radio) and was licensed to Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.[4] 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 of 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.

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.[5] The foundation formally took control in 1982 and initially applied for the call sign WRVT before settling on WVTF.[6] 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.[4] 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.[7] 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.[8][9][10]

Richmond (and competition with WCVE)

Radio IQ's programming has been heard in portions of the Greater Richmond Region on low-powered translator W223AZ (92.5 FM) since 2009.[11] 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), bringing a full-powered Radio IQ signal to Richmond for the first time, providing direct competition for Richmond-based NPR member WCVE-FM and its VPM News service.

Stations

Full power stations

All stations broadcast in HD, with WVTF Music on HD2.[12][13][14]

Call sign Frequency City of license ERP
W		 Class FCC info
WIQR88.7 FMLexington, Virginia3,900AFCC
WISE-FM90.5 FMWise, Virginia220AFCC
WRIQ89.7 FMCharles City, Virginia27,000B1FCC
WQIQ88.3 FMSpotsylvania, Virginia3,500AFCC
WVTF89.1 FMRoanoke, Virginia100,000CFCC
WVTR91.9 FMMarion, Virginia4,500C2FCC
WVTU89.3 FMCharlottesville, Virginia (west)195B1FCC
WVTW88.5 FMCharlottesville, Virginia (city)1,000B1FCC

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

Call sign Frequency City of license ERP
W		 Class FCC Broadcast times
WEHC90.7 FMEmory, Virginia8,700C3FCC12:00am – 1:00pm daily; 4:00pm – 6:00pm weekdays[15]
WLUR91.5 FMLexington, Virginia175AFCC12:00am – 1:00pm daily; various additional timeslots[16]

Low power 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).[17]

Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseERP
(W)		ClassFCC infoNotes
W212BP90.3Clintwood, Virginia1DFCCRelays WISE-FM
W217BF91.3Pound, Virginia1DFCCRelays WISE-FM
W219CJ91.7Norton, Virginia50DFCCRelays WISE-FM
W223AZ92.5Richmond, Virginia220DFCCRelays WURV-HD3
W230BD93.9Lovingston, Virginia10DFCCRelays WVTF
W235BT94.9Fredericksburg, Virginia80DFCCRelays WQIQ

References
  1. "FCC History Cards for WVTF" (PDF). FCC.
  2. "WVTF Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?realid=447
  4. [email protected] 981-3338, Ralph Berrier Jr. "WVTF and Radio IQ will switch signals July 10". Roanoke Times. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  5. "WVTF Public Radio Studio". Virginia Tech Foundation.
  6. "Call letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 8, 1982. p. 118.
  7. Corbin, Robert (March 14, 2003). "Radio IQ searches for home". VARTV.
  8. "Programming and frequency changes coming to WVTF and RADIO IQ". Virginia Tech.
  9. Venta, Lance (15 June 2017). "WVTF To Shuffle Frequencies Of Music & Radio IQ Outlets Across Virginia". RadioInsight.
  10. "Home | WVTF RADIO IQ". WVTF RADIO IQ. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  11. "RADIO IQ/WVTF to Expand Richmond Coverage Area This Fall". www.wvtf.org.
  12. Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  13. Staff, FCC Internet Services. "Station Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  14. "HD (Digital) Radio". wvtf.org. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  15. "Radio IQ". www.ehc.edu. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  16. "Weekly Schedule". Washington and Lee University. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  17. "WVTF/Radio IQ Post-Flip Schedule" (PDF). Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
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