Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
WBKV
WBKV (102.5 FM) is a radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by Educational Media Foundation and is a part of its K-Love network.
The license currently on 102.5 has been operating since 1946, with predecessors dating to 1932; it is grandfathered as a “superpower” station, with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 110,000 watts, more than double the FCC limit, but comparable to Buffalo's other legacy FM licenses WBUF and WDCX. The transmitter site is on Center Street in Colden, New York, on the WIVB-TV Tower.
From August 1974 to June 2023, the station operated as a contemporary music station, the last 23 years of the format branded as Star 102.5, using the call sign WTSS. In that month, the station was sold to Educational Media Foundation, which installed its flagship K-Love network and WBKV call sign (previously heard on 89.9 FM, now WBWA) on the signal.
The owner of AM station WBEN, WBEN, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Buffalo Evening News) as of October 13, 1931, had experimented with higher-frequency broadcasts for over a decade prior to launch of the station that would become WBKV. Beginning in 1932, just two years after the News had launched its AM station, it received a license for W8XH, which began as a portable remote broadcasting license in the upper shortwave and low-VHF bands. In 1934, W8XH was upgraded to provide regular scheduled broadcasts to the general public, the first station in its band to do so. Like the standard broadcast band stations of the time, W8XH transmitted using amplitude modulation (AM); it was the first Apex station to operate on a regular schedule. That station converted to facsimile broadcasting as W8XA in 1939 before shutting down in December 1940.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a construction permit to WBEN, Inc. for a new FM station on 43.3 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band on January 9, 1946 with the call sign WBEN-FM, for an application dated August 10, 1944. The FCC reassigned the station to 92.1 MHz in August 1946 after it created the current FM broadcast band on June 27, 1945. The station made its FM broadcast debut on November 11, 1946.
The station was subsequently reassigned by the FCC to 106.5 MHz in 1947, and mostly simulcast its AM counterpart. The FCC granted the station its first license on January 7, 1953, followed by a reassignment to 102.5 MHz in July 1958. It ceased simulcasting WBEN a few years later, with the exception of the Clint Buehlman morning show, which it carried until 1973. WBEN-FM aired a mixture of live and automated music, mostly easy listening and block music programming, such as organ music.
As FM listening grew, the station became "Rock 102" on August 1, 1974, using the syndicated TM "Stereo Rock" automated format then described as mainstream rock (which WBEN-FM management described as contemporary hit radio without bubblegum pop or prog rock), and dropping the morning show simulcast with WBEN. This same TM format and its prerecorded announcer were heard on other stations in Upstate New York during this period, including WGFM (now WRVE) in Schenectady/Albany, WYUT (now WXUR) in Herkimer (Utica-Rome), WKFM (now WBBS) in Fulton/Syracuse, WNOZ (now WIII) in Cortland/Ithaca and WPXY in Rochester.
WBEN-AM-FM were sold to Algonquin Broadcasting effective March 1, 1978. Beginning in 1984, Rock 102's mornings were hosted live by Roger Christian, who had been with the station since 1976 and in Buffalo radio since 1964. (This Roger Christian, whose real name is Emerson Stevens, is not to be confused with the Buffalo-born disc jockey also known as Roger Christian, who was known as "Mike Melody" in Buffalo. Stevens may have chosen the name in honor of the real Roger Christian, who went on to a prolific career in radio and songwriting.) Christian remained with the station, lastly as midday host, until Entercom eliminated his position in September 2019. Rob Lucas joined the station in 1986 and remained there, most of that time as morning host, for the next 37 years until its 2023 sale and format change.
Hub AI
WBKV AI simulator
(@WBKV_simulator)
WBKV
WBKV (102.5 FM) is a radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by Educational Media Foundation and is a part of its K-Love network.
The license currently on 102.5 has been operating since 1946, with predecessors dating to 1932; it is grandfathered as a “superpower” station, with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 110,000 watts, more than double the FCC limit, but comparable to Buffalo's other legacy FM licenses WBUF and WDCX. The transmitter site is on Center Street in Colden, New York, on the WIVB-TV Tower.
From August 1974 to June 2023, the station operated as a contemporary music station, the last 23 years of the format branded as Star 102.5, using the call sign WTSS. In that month, the station was sold to Educational Media Foundation, which installed its flagship K-Love network and WBKV call sign (previously heard on 89.9 FM, now WBWA) on the signal.
The owner of AM station WBEN, WBEN, Inc. (a subsidiary of the Buffalo Evening News) as of October 13, 1931, had experimented with higher-frequency broadcasts for over a decade prior to launch of the station that would become WBKV. Beginning in 1932, just two years after the News had launched its AM station, it received a license for W8XH, which began as a portable remote broadcasting license in the upper shortwave and low-VHF bands. In 1934, W8XH was upgraded to provide regular scheduled broadcasts to the general public, the first station in its band to do so. Like the standard broadcast band stations of the time, W8XH transmitted using amplitude modulation (AM); it was the first Apex station to operate on a regular schedule. That station converted to facsimile broadcasting as W8XA in 1939 before shutting down in December 1940.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a construction permit to WBEN, Inc. for a new FM station on 43.3 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band on January 9, 1946 with the call sign WBEN-FM, for an application dated August 10, 1944. The FCC reassigned the station to 92.1 MHz in August 1946 after it created the current FM broadcast band on June 27, 1945. The station made its FM broadcast debut on November 11, 1946.
The station was subsequently reassigned by the FCC to 106.5 MHz in 1947, and mostly simulcast its AM counterpart. The FCC granted the station its first license on January 7, 1953, followed by a reassignment to 102.5 MHz in July 1958. It ceased simulcasting WBEN a few years later, with the exception of the Clint Buehlman morning show, which it carried until 1973. WBEN-FM aired a mixture of live and automated music, mostly easy listening and block music programming, such as organ music.
As FM listening grew, the station became "Rock 102" on August 1, 1974, using the syndicated TM "Stereo Rock" automated format then described as mainstream rock (which WBEN-FM management described as contemporary hit radio without bubblegum pop or prog rock), and dropping the morning show simulcast with WBEN. This same TM format and its prerecorded announcer were heard on other stations in Upstate New York during this period, including WGFM (now WRVE) in Schenectady/Albany, WYUT (now WXUR) in Herkimer (Utica-Rome), WKFM (now WBBS) in Fulton/Syracuse, WNOZ (now WIII) in Cortland/Ithaca and WPXY in Rochester.
WBEN-AM-FM were sold to Algonquin Broadcasting effective March 1, 1978. Beginning in 1984, Rock 102's mornings were hosted live by Roger Christian, who had been with the station since 1976 and in Buffalo radio since 1964. (This Roger Christian, whose real name is Emerson Stevens, is not to be confused with the Buffalo-born disc jockey also known as Roger Christian, who was known as "Mike Melody" in Buffalo. Stevens may have chosen the name in honor of the real Roger Christian, who went on to a prolific career in radio and songwriting.) Christian remained with the station, lastly as midday host, until Entercom eliminated his position in September 2019. Rob Lucas joined the station in 1986 and remained there, most of that time as morning host, for the next 37 years until its 2023 sale and format change.