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| Broadcast area | Mohawk Valley |
| Frequency | 101.9MHz |
| Branding | Victory 101.9 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Christian Broadcasting System, Ltd. |
| History | |
First air date | June 7, 1948 (1948-06-07) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Ivy Broadcasting" (former owner) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73138 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 11,500 watts |
| HAAT | 312 meters (1,024 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°47′36″N74°41′41″W / 42.79333°N 74.69472°W /42.79333; -74.69472 |
| Repeater | 107.7 WGNA-FM-HD2 (Albany) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wjivradio.com |
WJIV (101.9FM "Victory 101.9") is a commercialradio station licensed toCherry Valley, New York, and serving theMohawk Valley. The radio format is primarilyChristian along with someSouthern gospel music. WJIV has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 11,500 watts. The transmitter is about 3 miles (5 km) east of Cherry Valley village. The signal gives secondary coverage toCapital District, includingAlbany andSchenectady, as well asOneonta andUtica/Rome.
On June 6, 1948, the station firstsigned on as WVCV, as part of theRural Radio Network, a service that provided farming news and rural entertainment to areas that generally lacked this type of specialized programming. The network stretched across much of Upstate New York, in an era where few people owned FM receivers.
Acall sign change to WRRC was made in 1953 to reinforce the station's "Rural Radio" identity. The Rural Radio Network survived until 1960, dropping most of the farm related programming in favor of an over-the-air simulcast ofclassical music station 96.3WQXR-FMNew York City, along withlive weather reports for each of the stations in the network every hour.
On February 1, 1960, the network was purchased by the Ivy Broadcasting Company, a corporation headed byWoody Erdman. In April 1966, Ivy sold WJIV and the other four FM stations to Chenango and Unadilla Communications, a small upstate New York telephone company. In 1968, C&U was acquired byContinental Telephone, however FCC regulations prohibited control of broadcast licenses by large phone companies - so Continental was forced to divest WJIV.
TelevangelistPat Robertson acquired the five-station network as a tax-deductible gift.[2] Mr. Robertson was already operating Channel 27WYAH-TV and FM stationWXRI inVirginia Beach, and incorporated the five upstate New York stations into hisChristian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on January 1, 1969. CBN programmed mostlyChristian Contemporary music with some religious instructional shows also heard.
Floyd Dykeman purchased WJIV from CBN on March 30, 1981, and kept the religious format. Dykeman increased the station's power to its current level in 1984, then sold the station to Detroit-based religious broadcaster Midwest Broadcasting in 2000.
The call sign WJIV had previously been assigned to the E.D. Rivers, Jr., station on 900 kHz inSavannah, Georgia (later known asWJLG). Midwest Broadcasting changed its name to Christian Broadcasting system in 2003[1].
WJIV currently offers Christian themed talk and news programs, as well as traditional religious broadcasting. The station also offers local weather and community updates throughout its broadcast day.[3]