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WKZV - WashPA

P

petey99

Any one have any word on how WKZV is faring these days? Last time I was in downtown Washington, I noticed the building where 'KZV had been for years (across from the Auto Supermarket) was up for sale. Did they the studio elsewhere yet? Are they able to keep the sales buzzing? For such a small signal (daytime only shared with WBT in Charlotte) with such an obscure format (classic country) they really impressed me over the years and have me pulling for them. Long live the little man!
 
Before heading out of town last week, they had been off the air for several
days in a row. That seems to happen a lot there.
 
yes, I've heard those stories. A friend of mine worked for a station where the owner
went to an NAB convention in Vegas and, (after being plied with alcohol for several hours
by a sales rep), bought a transmitter. Mind you the guy had inherited the station and
had absolutely zero engineering knowledge. The company that made the thing went out
of business shortly afterwards. Whenever they went down they would have to have a
part specially made by some outfit in Bangor, Maine and flown in. Often they were down
for a week at a time, or home-brewing some low power stopgap solution with scavanged parts,
Radio Shack, etc.
 
petey99 said:
Any one have any word on how WKZV is faring these days? Last time I was in downtown Washington, I noticed the building where 'KZV had been for years (across from the Auto Supermarket) was up for sale. Did they the studio elsewhere yet? Are they able to keep the sales buzzing? For such a small signal (daytime only shared with WBT in Charlotte) with such an obscure format (classic country) they really impressed me over the years and have me pulling for them. Long live the little man!
Click to expand...

Petey...KZV is still chugging along. I know the owners personally, and while they're not getting rich by any means, they're doing OK. It's an occasional struggle, but they love the business and despite "offers" from other companies, they're not willing to sell. They love that little station and so do I.

Regarding the other poster who mentioned them being off the air, that, sad to say, is nothing new. That Collins box is the same one they've had since DiLeLo started building the station back in 1968. They can still get parts for it, but the problem is finding an engineer that's able to do the work. The bottom line is, that transmitter, now 40 years old, is dying a slow and painful death, and a new Nautel J-1000, which would get the job done, outlive the Collins for years to come, AND save a TON of money because it's much more efficient, will set you back about $15,000. I don't know of any owners who are that liquid to be able to come up with the cash for that in one fell swoop.

I told Mike a few months ago that he could get PSRA/PSSA operation for KZV and at least make his sign-on/sign-off times consistent throughout the year. But with the shape that Collins is in, there's no way it'll be able to drop down to those levels to legally operate within PSRA/PSSA values without causing possible irreversible damage to the present transmitter.

And about the building...W&J College bought the building last summer. The studio is still there, to my knowledge and everything is business as usual. As far as sales, it's basically Mike and Helen.
 
Kenhawk,
Thanks for the personal update. Make sure to tell the owners of 'KZV one other little man wishes them well through these troubling times for radio and the entire US economy. I'll be sure to give ole 1110 AM a listen next time I am in range. It's such a shame I can no longer pick them up on my pathetic late model GM car radio past Neville Island going north or past Moon going west....
 
petey99 said:
Kenhawk,
Thanks for the personal update. Make sure to tell the owners of 'KZV one other little man wishes them well through these troubling times for radio and the entire US economy. I'll be sure to give ole 1110 AM a listen next time I am in range. It's such a shame I can no longer pick them up on my pathetic late model GM car radio past Neville Island going north or past Moon going west....
Click to expand...

I'll do that. I intend to drop by for a visit in about a month or so to see how they're doing. They're good people.
 
What's Going on with WKZV? I was Driving through Washington last week and Listened, a supermarket spot was playing, Are they selling time? I also noticed they don't take advantage of the longer summer hours signing off around 7:00pm. Did They get a new transmitter? I like the Fact that there are still Mom and Pop Radio Stations in this Area, Good Luck WKZV.
 
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