WVAB
Encyclopedia
WVAB is a broadcast
radio station
licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia
though is currently silent.
When broadcasting, WVAB serves the Southside of Hampton Roads
. WVAB is owned and operated by Birach Broadcasting Corporation.
The late Sidney Kellam, a scion of political and economic power in Princess Anne County
and Virginia Beach during mid 20th century, and members of the Kellam family, were the original owner and founders of WVAB. The studio or offices were long-located over the Jewish Mother Restaurant on Pacific Avenue, its headquarters for the first 34 years of its existence. WVAB had been a pop and rock music station, relying on a series of itinerant disc jockeys to purvey their various musical tastes to a limited local audience. Don Beckstrom was a constant figure on WVAB both on the air and as Program Director during this period.
Eventually, advertising revenues trickled to a halt at the end of the 1980s. A succession of new owners followed beginning in the early 1990s.
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported that the stations, WVAB-AM (1550), which had carried local gospel programming, and WBVA-AM
(1450), both were off the air and there was no word on when or if they will return.
According to Virginia Beach police, on March 16, someone felled the stations' 200-foot tower. Margie Long with the Virginia Beach Police Department was quoted in local media as saying "The tower, approximately 200 ft. of it, collapsed to the ground. It appears there were numerous lines, support lines that were cut. We are investigating this as a destruction of property. There are no suspects, he said, but the investigation is ongoing." The tower stood in the 500 block of de Laura Lane, just off North Witchduck Road and north of Virginia Beach Boulevard
.
WVAB was in bankruptcy
and the station was sold to Birach Broadcasting Corporation
on April 1, 2008 according to FCC records.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
though is currently silent.
When broadcasting, WVAB serves the Southside of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
. WVAB is owned and operated by Birach Broadcasting Corporation.
History
WVAB has had a long history in Virginia Beach, moving from a popular music station to strictly news and finally gospel programming.The late Sidney Kellam, a scion of political and economic power in Princess Anne County
Princess Anne County, Virginia
Princess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach...
and Virginia Beach during mid 20th century, and members of the Kellam family, were the original owner and founders of WVAB. The studio or offices were long-located over the Jewish Mother Restaurant on Pacific Avenue, its headquarters for the first 34 years of its existence. WVAB had been a pop and rock music station, relying on a series of itinerant disc jockeys to purvey their various musical tastes to a limited local audience. Don Beckstrom was a constant figure on WVAB both on the air and as Program Director during this period.
Eventually, advertising revenues trickled to a halt at the end of the 1980s. A succession of new owners followed beginning in the early 1990s.
Current event
As of March 19, 2008, the station was off-the air, following financial problems and an apparent vandalism incident of March 16.The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported that the stations, WVAB-AM (1550), which had carried local gospel programming, and WBVA-AM
WBVA (AM)
WBVA is a broadcast radio station licensed to Bayside, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WBVA is owned and operated by Birach Broadcasting Corporation....
(1450), both were off the air and there was no word on when or if they will return.
According to Virginia Beach police, on March 16, someone felled the stations' 200-foot tower. Margie Long with the Virginia Beach Police Department was quoted in local media as saying "The tower, approximately 200 ft. of it, collapsed to the ground. It appears there were numerous lines, support lines that were cut. We are investigating this as a destruction of property. There are no suspects, he said, but the investigation is ongoing." The tower stood in the 500 block of de Laura Lane, just off North Witchduck Road and north of Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach Boulevard
Virginia Beach Boulevard is a major connector highway which carries U.S. Route 58 most of its length and extends from the downtown area of Norfolk to the Oceanfront area of Virginia Beach, passing through the newly-developed New Urbanist Town Center development of the latter as it links the two...
.
WVAB was in bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and the station was sold to Birach Broadcasting Corporation
Birach Broadcasting Corporation
Birach Broadcasting Corporation is a Southfield, Michigan-based company that owns several AM radio stations and one low-power television station in the US....
on April 1, 2008 according to FCC records.