 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Frequency | 106.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 106.9K-Love |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian adult contemporary |
| Subchannels |
|
| Network | K-Love |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| WYPA | |
| History | |
First air date | December 31, 1959 (1959-12-31) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "K-Love Philadelphia" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 20842 |
| Class | B |
| ERP |
|
| HAAT | 168 meters (551 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°54′33.4″N75°05′58.6″W / 39.909278°N 75.099611°W /39.909278; -75.099611 (WKVP) |
| Translator | See§ Translators |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WKVP (106.9FM, "106.9 K-Love") is a non-commercial radio station licensed toCamden, New Jersey, serving thePhiladelphia media market. The station is owned and operated byEducational Media Foundation and is an affiliate ofK-Love, EMF'sChristian adult contemporary music network. Its broadcast tower is located on Mount Ephraim Avenue in Camden.
The station signed on the air on December 31, 1959, as WKDN-FM. In 1966, the station was airing aMOR music format and was co-owned with WKDN (800 AM), which changed calls toWTMR after the two stations were sold to separate owners in 1968.
Family Stations, Inc., the holding company for stations run byHarold Camping'sFamily Radio religious ministry, acquired WKDN-FM for $500,000 on July 23, 1968. Under Family Stations' ownership, programming on WKDN (the "-FM" suffix was dropped from thecall sign in June 1986) consisted mainly ofChristian radio and teachings from Family Radio, along with some public affairs programming on weekends.
On December 6, 2011, Merlin Media, LLC announced it would acquire WKDN from Family Radio,[3] a sale that was completed on March 6, 2012. After the sale, Family Radio continued to program WKDN through alocal marketing agreement while Merlin constructed new facilities for the station.[4]
Family Radio programming ceased on WKDN at precisely Midnight on the morning of April 16, 2012; after about a half-hour ofdead air, a continuous playing loop of "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" byR.E.M. began, likely a play on Camping's infamousrapture predictions. After 12 Noon on April 16, the station changed itsstunt to round-the-clock airings ofThe Sean Hannity Show (live airings and repeats), complete with the branding of "Hannity @ 106.9". With this "all-Hannity" change, the station also adopted a new call sign, WWIQ.[5][6] (Family Radio would move the WKDN call sign to itsState College, Pennsylvania station on April 23.)[7]
Early speculation after Merlin's purchase had WWIQ being converted to anall-news format, replicating Merlin-owned stationsWEMP in New York City andWWWN/WIQI in Chicago.[5][8] Merlin, however, would go instead with a combination of news andtalk radio for the station, an approach confirmed on May 7, 2012. The station took the branding of "IQ 106.9" (for "Intelligence quotient"), and intended to go afterCBS Radio's mainstay stations in Philadelphia,KYW (all-news) andWPHT (talk), with a combination of news, information, andconservative-leaning talk that at times would have an irreverent, us-against-them tone. "IQ's" approach was confirmed by both a welcome statement on its website and by aYouTube video posted by the man who would be one of "IQ's" original local hosts, former Philadelphia TV anchorLarry Mendte; in the video, Mendte took aim at other Philly media outlets (namely the "definite agenda" of KYW and WPHT) and called WWIQ "a fresh new voice in the city of Philadelphia, an important alternative".[9][10]
Though "IQ 106.9" did include local weekday programming (see below), it relied heavily on nationally syndicated content, including three shows distributed byPremiere Networks:Sean Hannity Show,Glenn Beck Program, andThe Rush Limbaugh Show;Limbaugh joined "IQ 106.9" on June 25, 2012, after previously being heard on WPHT (rumors of that move first surfaced the previous April, when Premiere announced that it would pullLimbaugh from WPHT, a station that previously also airedHannity andBeck).[11][12] "IQ" would later addTheMark Levin Show in July 2012, and by January 2013 would round out its syndicated schedule with the addition ofMichael Savage'sThe Savage Nation,TheJohn Batchelor Show, andRed Eye Radio, all 3 of which are syndicated byCumulus Media Networks (as isMark Levin).
Local content on "IQ 106.9" included "Philly's Morning News", a combination news/talk show (5–9 a.m.) initially co-hosted by Larry Mendte and Al Gardner; a radio veteran and Philadelphia native, Gardner was hired by Merlin Media in December 2011 to program "IQ", arriving from a morning host position atWBT inCharlotte.[13] Mendte would be dropped from WWIQ on December 31, 2012, with the host claiming in retrospect that his tenure at "IQ" was "a big experiment"[14][15] ("IQ's" overall ratings dropped by half during the period after Mendte's firing, from a 3.6 rating in November to 1.8 in January, though these ratings reflect the entire programming week and refer to all listeners ages 12 and above.) New York City-based radio commentatorLionel would fill Mendte's seat on "Philly's Morning News" alongside Al Gardner until Gardner was released from the station in March 2013, after which Michelle Murillo would join Lionel. "Philly's Morning News" would be dropped altogether in mid-July 2013 in favor of theCumulus-distributedImus in the Morning withDon Imus, making "IQ's" weekday schedule all-national in nature.[16]
On August 7, 2013, Merlin Media announced that it had reached a deal to sell WWIQ toEducational Media Foundation (EMF). The sale, which would be consummated on November 19, 2013, at a reported price of $20.25 million,[17] would mean a return to religious-themed programming on the 106.9 signal, as EMF intended to move itsK-Love Christian adult contemporary music network to the signal.[18][19] K-Love had been heard in Philadelphia on WKVP (89.5 FM) inCherry Hill, New Jersey, whose 1,900-watt signal provides only arimshot signal to the city.[20] The sale of WWIQ would leave Merlin with operations in only one radio market, Chicago.[21]
Merlin would continue to program "IQ" as a talk station until November 3, 2013. During "IQ's" last week, part of its daily schedule was turned over toGlenn Beck's online networkTheBlaze, in part to promote that network's Philadelphia-focused content as well as to fill air time caused by the early departures ofThe Rush Limbaugh Show andSean Hannity Show, who moved from WWIQ back to WPHT on October 28.[22][23] "IQ" and its talk format ended just before midnight on November 3, 2013, after which time the station relaunched as a K-Love affiliate. (EMF gained authorization from theFederal Communications Commission on October 23 to convert WWIQ to non-commercial educational status.)[24] EMF would move the WKVPcall sign to 106.9 on November 5; the call sign's former home, at 89.5 FM in Cherry Hill, is nowWYPA, anAir 1 affiliate.[18]
From the first sign-on until April 16, 2012, WKDN transmitted from a broadcast tower located in Camden, New Jersey, approximately 12 miles southeast of most other Philadelphia FM signals; as a result, the station enjoyed a better than average signal in southern New Jersey, especially in the Jersey Shore counties ofAtlantic,Monmouth,Ocean, andCape May. Under Family Radio, WKDN also operated three FM translator stations: W207AB (89.3 FM) inAtlantic City, New Jersey; W207AE (89.3 FM) inReading, Pennsylvania; and W249AA (97.7 FM) inLebanon, Pennsylvania. These translators were not part of the station's sale to Merlin. W207AB and W207AE continue to broadcast Family Radio programming through a satellite feed of itsSacramento station,KEBR. (W249AA currently simulcastsWLEB-LP.) WKDN's studios under Family Radio ownership were located at 2906 Mt. Ephraim Avenue inHaddon Township, New Jersey.
At the "IQ 106.9" debut on April 16, 2012, the station transmitted from a broadcast tower located on the spire ofOne Liberty Place inCenter City with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 9,000 watts at a height above average terrain (HAAT) of 244 meters. This site is licensed as an auxiliary transmitting facility,[25] but it was expected to eventually be licensed as the station's primary transmitting facility, subject to whether EMF carries through on Merlin's previous applications.
The following translator simulcasts the programming of WKVP:
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W277AH | 103.3FM | Dover, Delaware | 21076 | 80 | 45 m (148 ft) | D | 39°09′48″N75°32′7″W / 39.16333°N 75.53528°W /39.16333; -75.53528 (W277AH) | LMS |
Other K-Love stations in Pennsylvania include: