WARJ
Radio station in Shawsville, Virginia, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WARJ is a radio station licensed to Shawsville, Virginia, broadcasting the Air1 network to Roanoke, Virginia and the New River Valley.[2] WARJ is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.
New River Valley
| |
| Broadcast area | Roanoke, Virginia New River Valley |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 102.5 MHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Christian worship music |
| Network | Air1 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| History | |
First air date | 2013 |
Former call signs | WBZS (2012–2020) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 89133 |
| Class | A |
| Power | 150 Watts |
| HAAT | 591 meters (1,939 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°11′42.0″N 80°9′23.0″W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
History
The station signed on in 2013 as WBZS. From its sign-on, the station was leased by owner George S. Flinn, Jr., to Three Daughters Media, which simulcast the talk format of WIQO-FM Lynchburg.[3]
WBZS entered into a three-year lease to Community Media Group, owner of adult album alternative WVMP, on December 1, 2016.[4][5]
On February 1, 2018, the AAA format moved exclusively to WBZS, which rebranded as "102.5 The Mountain".[6][7]
Upon the lease ending on December 1, 2019, the AAA programming moved back to WVMP.[8]
In April 2020, Flinn donated the station's signal to air a noncommercial news/talk format focusing specifically on coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the New River Valley. The station was led by WVMP's former general manager and a volunteer staff, with on-air hosts remote working from home studios.[9][10] Three months later, he sold the station and eight others to the Educational Media Foundation for $3.4 million.[11] Upon the sale being consummated on October 29, 2020, the call letters were changed to WARJ, as the station picked up EMF's Air1 network.