Radio silence: Progressive station signs off; Saga sacks six, gears up for more acquisitions

WPVC has been a reliable progressive talk radio voice on Charlottesville’s airwaves since 2015. But on June 17, the low-frequency station went off the air. Michigan-based corporation Saga Communications has reshaped the Charlottesville radio landscape in recent months—Saga has laid off staff from the local stations they own, and filed legal petitions to shut down […]

License to bully?: Local nonprofit stations say Saga is out to bankrupt them

Last month, corporate radio giant Saga Communications petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny license renewal to five small, nonprofit Charlottesville stations. It’s a move one station owner calls “a blatant attempt at economic bullying through litigation” that if successful, would shut down the area’s only progressive talk radio and programming geared toward African American […]

Foy fired: Longtime WINA morning host given the boot

  Regular listeners to WINA’s “Morning News” may have noticed the absence this week of co-host and producer Jane Foy, but they were not given a reason why. Foy, who had been on vacation and was coming back to work Tuesday, only learned in a phone call the night before that she was no longer […]

WUVA sale: Video killed the radio station

Folks at WUVA, the university’s student-owned radio station in operation for 70 years, announced January 17 that they were selling their FM radio license to a major radio group in town to endow their online video and news enterprise. Purchased by Saga Communications for $1.65 million, the license and frequency will be part of the […]