Legendary Radio Since 1948.
WBVP was founded by Frank Smith, Thomas Price and Charles Onderka. Smith and Price previously worked at WWSW in Pittsburgh and Onderka worked at The Pittsburgh Post Gazette before teaming up and putting WBVP on the air on May 25, 1948. WBVP was originally a 250 watt class D station with a non directional signal broadcasting at 1230 khz. The original on air line up included Arnold Felsher, George Allen, Gerry Goff, Gertrude Trobe, Chuck Wilson, Alan Boal and Don Kennedy. The original Chief Engineer who put the station on the air was Bill Hinds. A couple years later, another popular broadcaster and future Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor, Ernie Kline, was hired. WBVP F.M. at 106.7 mhz. came on the air in June of 1960 with 16,500 watts of power and was almost entirely a simulcast of the A.M. counterpart. Hall Communications, based out of Connecticut at the time, led by President Robert Hall and Vice President Dick Reed, bought the A.M.- F.M. combo in 1967. During the Hall regime, many upgrades were accomplished including a power increase for both stations. WBVP was raised to 1000 watts and the F.M. station got approval for an increase to 47,000 watts and also was upgraded to a class B status. New call letters, WWKS, were assigned to the F.M. station at that stage of the game as well. Perhaps the most famous moment for WBVP happened on April 22, 1981, when then President Ronald Reagan unexpectedly called in and joined in the conversation with host Dave Felts on one of the station's talk shows. A former WMBA (Ambridge) announcer and engineer from the 1970's, Ted Ruscitti, along with his wife, Marilee, formed M.T. Communications and bought WBVP, and WWKS, in 1985. In 1990, The Baltimore Radio Show, led by Managing Partner Harry Shriver, out of Towson, MD bought the pair of Beaver Falls stations from Ruscitti. In addition to Shriver, other partners in the Baltimore Radio Show included Daniel Bowles, Vilma J. Smith, Hope H. Barroll III, Lewis A. Noonberg, John H. Somerville, Robert S. Maslin, Jr. and Robert M. Barroll. The group from Maryland would run the operation until 1994 when Carnegie, PA native, Frank Iorio, Jr., along with partners, Aaron Daniels and Mike Schwartz, formed a company called Radio Partners and bought WBVP and WWKS. In 1995, WWKS ,106.7 F.M. was sold to Secret Communications and Frank Iorio, Jr. bought out Schwartz and Daniels to form Iorio Broadcasting, Inc. and continued to own and operate WBVP for nearly the next two decades. Through several more mergers and sales, format and name changes, WWKS, 106.7 F.M., is now known as WAOB -F.M. and is owned by St. John's Mission. In 2000, Iorio, Jr. bought the competing Ambridge A.M. radio station, WMBA, from Donn Communications, a company ran by Ambridge, PA native, Donn Wuycik. In 2014, a long time station employee, originally hired by Ted Ruscitti back in 1986, Mark Peterson, bought WBVP and WMBA through a company that he and his wife, Cynthia, formed called Sound Ideas Media, LLC. Other notable broadcasters who worked at WBVP through the years include: Bill Kelly, Dennis Atkins (Atkinson), Paul O' Palka, Owen Simon, Dave DeForest, Chris Shovlin, Jim Reynolds, Mark Razz (Radziewicz), Dimitri Vassilaros, Rob Pratte, Joe Klimchak, Sam Nicotero aka Tony Scott, Carl Anderson, Steve Kalb, John Nuzzo, Jimi Miller, Rick Bergman, Bob Barrickman, Kyle Anthony (Knauf), Rita Maloney, Tom Hays, Mike Romigh, Eddy Crow, Ray Tannehill, Greg Benedetti and Steve Granato.
WMBA in Ambridge was the second station put on the air by a group out of Pottsville, PA called Miners Broadcasting Service, Inc., that also owned and operated WPAM in Pottsville, PA, which went on the air in April of 1946. Miners Broadcasting Service, Inc. was comprised of eight residents of Harrisburg, Pottsville, Tamaqua , Hazelton, and Lansford, PA including Joseph L. Maguire, Kenneth F. Maguire, John T. Maguire, John W. Grenoble, Evan Evans, Patrick J. McCall, John Koch and James J. Curran. WMBA was originally a 500 watt day-timer at 1460 khz. and started broadcasting in 1957. Ken Maguire moved west to manage and run the company's new operation in Ambridge. Joining Maguire in those early days were station announcers Roy Angst, Dave Denniston, Dudley Woodrow "Woody" Lester, Ken Maguire, Jr. and Ray Fallon. Walter "Red" McCoy was the engineer that put WMBA on the air. Miners Broadcasting Service sold WMBA to Pittsburgh television ad salesman, John Bride, President of his newly formed company, Bride Broadcasting, in 1970. Ambridge native, Donn Wuycik formed a company called Donn Communications and bought WMBA from Bride in 1986 and also began the process of getting approval from the FCC to broadcast 24 hours a day, which came to fruition in 1988 with the installation and construction of new towers and broadcast pattern switching equipment at the station's transmitter site in Bell Acres, PA. In 2000, WMBA was sold to Frank Iorio Jr., President of Iorio Broadcasting, Inc, who also owned WBVP in Beaver Falls at the time. In 2014, a long time station employee, Mark Peterson, bought WBVP and WMBA through a company that he and his wife, Cynthia, formed called Sound Ideas Media, LLC. Other notable broadcasters who worked at WMBA through the years include: Bob Pompeani, Gene Romano, Ted Ruscitti, Doug Finck, Diane Brown, Jim Merkel, Dan Dunlap, Mike Romigh, Julie Bologna, Rob Pratte, Al McDowell, Sam Nicotero, Tom Renkenberger aka R.D. Summers aka "Rinkydink", Chris Shovlin, Roberta “Bobbie” Vaughn, Bob Barrickman, Tim Herrera, John Poister, Randy Cosgrove, Gary Marince, Bill Fontana, Nick DeSantis, Guy Junker, Jimi Miller, Rick Bergman, Nick DeSantis, Barb Trehar and Rob Matzie.
