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WXRK-LP

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WXRK-LP
Broadcast area
Frequency92.3 MHz
BrandingRock Hits 92-3
Programming
Format
Ownership
OwnerBlue Ridge Free Media[2]
History
First air date
September 7, 2015 (2015-09-07)[2][3][4]
Call sign meaning
A hat tip to the former WXRK-FM in New York[5]
Technical information[6]
Licensing authority
FCC
192547
ClassL1
ERP21 watts
HAAT63 meters (207 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
38°4′39.5″N 78°28′20″W / 38.077639°N 78.47222°W / 38.077639; -78.47222[7]
Links
Public license information
LMS
WebcastListen Live
Website923xrk.org

WXRK-LP is an active rock and alternative rock formatted radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia.[1] It is owned and operated by Blue Ridge Free Media.[2][7]

History

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WXRK-LP signed on the air on September 7, 2015.[3] The call sign for the station was previously held by former rock station WXRK-FM in New York City.[5] From its outset, the station has aired a combination of active rock and alternative rock.[3]

In September 2019, Saga Communications, which operates the Charlottesville Radio Group under the Tidewater Communications licensee, filed a petition with the FCC requesting that WXRK-LP's license not be renewed.[8][9] Saga claimed the station, along with other Charlottesville-based low-power FMs, were operating as "a de facto cluster".[9] The station's founder Mike Friend called the petition to deny "'legal junk' and a deliberate 'misinterpretation' of FCC rules".[10] Friend pointed to other attempts by Saga to shutter low-power FM stations within Saga markets.[10]

Saga, in 2004, claimed that KFLO-LP in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was airing announcements that "sound suspiciously like commercials".[10] Saga also petitioned the FCC to revoke the license of WLCQ-LP, a Christian station in the Springfield, Massachusetts, market, "for equipment violations" in 2015.[10] In both cases, the FCC "admonished the station" but denied Saga's complaints.[10]

Jeff Lenert, co-founder of then-progressive talk station WPVC-LP, said that "though [the stations] share a building" all of "the stations all operate separately, having only limited and largely incidental contact with each other".[11] Lenert turned in the license for WPVC-LP on June 16, 2020, "As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and recent increased costs of station ownership and operation, it has become impossible to operate station WPVC-LP in the manner that I wish."[12] Lenert largely blamed the legal action by Saga Communications combined with a loss of sponsors during the pandemic for the signing off of that station.[13] A similar petition from Saga seeking regarding the license of WREN-LP, housed in the same building, was largely denied in September 2024 but resulted in a short-term license renewal for that station and a consent decree regarding impermissible underwriting announcements.[14]

On March 16, 2026, the FCC and Blue Ridge Free Media entered into a consent degree, similar to the one with WREN-LP, and granted the station a short-term license renewal.[14][15] The FCC also, again, denied Saga's petition.[15]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". Nielsen Audio/Nielsen Holdings. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "WXRK-LP - FCCdata.org - powered by REC". REC Networks. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rock Hits 92.3 - Testing...testing...1, 2, 3..." Blue Ridge Free Media/Facebook. September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Call Sign History". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Kreps, Daniel (March 10, 2009). "New York Loses Biggest Rock Radio Station (Again): K-Rock Shifts to Top 40". Rolling Stone. New York City. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WXRK-LP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  7. 1 2 "WXRK-LP Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Charlottesville Radio Group". Saga Communications. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Saga Hits Charlottesville LPFMs For Operating As A Radio Cluster". InsideRadio. September 11, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Provence, Lisa (October 16, 2019). "License to bully?: Local nonprofit stations say Saga is out to bankrupt them". C-Ville Weekly. Charlottesville, Virginia: Portico Publications Ltd. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  11. ↑ Hammel, Tyler (September 29, 2019). "WINA owner files complaint against local nonprofit radio stations". The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  12. ↑ "6-17-20 Letter to J. Bradshaw re License Cancellation (WPVC-LP Charlottesville VA - Promise Land Communications).pdf" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division. June 16, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  13. ↑ Provence, Lisa (June 25, 2020). "Radio silence: Progressive station signs off; Saga sacks six, gears up for more acquisitions". C-Ville Weekly. Charlottesville, Virginia: Portico Publications Ltd. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  14. 1 2 "Genesis Communications, Inc., WREN-LP, Charlottesville, Virginia, Application for Renewal of License" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division; Media Bureau. September 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  15. 1 2 "Memorandum Opinion and Order - DA 26-212 MO&O and Consent Decree released 03/16/2026" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission, audio division; Media Bureau. March 16, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
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