View source for WINA

{{About|the radio station|the river Wyna in Cantons of Aargau and Lucerne, Switzerland (sometimes spelled "Wina")|Wyna (river)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name               = WINA
| logo               = WINA-AM 2015.png
| logo_size          = 200px
| city               = [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]
| area               = [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]<br>[[Albemarle County, Virginia]]
| branding           = NewsRadio 1070 and 98.9 FM WINA
| frequency          = {{Frequency|1070|[[kHz]]}}
| translator         = {{Radio Relay|98.9|W255CT|Charlottesville}}
| airdate            = October [[1949 in radio|1949]]
| format             = [[News radio|News]]/[[Talk radio|talk]]/[[Sports radio|sports]]
| power              = 5,000 [[watt]]s
| class              = B
| facility_id        = 10649
| coordinates        = {{coord|38|5|22.0|N|78|30|14.0|W|type:landmark}}
| callsign_meaning   = originally pronounced as "winner"
| former_callsigns   =
| former_frequencies = 1280 kHz (1949–1954)<br>1450 kHz (1954–1956)<br>1400 kHz (1956–1966)
| affiliations       = [[CBS News Radio]]<br>[[NBC News Radio]]<br>[[Compass Media Networks]]<br>[[Salem Radio Network]]<br>[[Westwood One]]<br>[[Virginia Cavaliers#Radio network affiliates|Virginia Sports Radio Network]]
| owner              = Saga Communications
| licensee           = Tidewater Communications, LLC
| sister_stations    = [[WCNR]], [[WCVL-FM]], [[WQMZ]], [[WWWV]]
| webcast            = [https://player.amperwave.net/7881 Listen Live]
| website            = [https://www.wina.com/ wina.com] 
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}

'''WINA''' (1070 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) is a [[News radio|news]]/[[Talk radio|talk]]/[[Sports Radio|sports]] formatted [[Broadcasting|broadcast]] [[radio station]] licensed to [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], serving [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] and [[Albemarle County, Virginia]]. WINA is owned and operated by Saga Communications, and operates as part of its Charlottesville Radio Group.

==History==
WINA was granted its license to broadcast on October 10, 1949; the station signed on soon afterwards as a 1,000-watt [[daytimer]] on 1280&nbsp;kHz with a [[full service (radio format)|full service]] format. Behind [[WCHV (AM)|WCHV]], it was the city's second radio station. It was owned by Charlottesville Broadcasting Corp. and had studios at 4th and East Main Streets in downtown Charlottesville.<ref name="FCCH">{{cite web|title=WINA History Card (Facility Record 1949-1968)|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=60812|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref> In the earliest advertisements, the station was branded as "The WINA!", implying a pronunciation as the word "winner". In modern times, the station's callsign is pronounced phonetically.<ref>{{cite news|title=WINA Sample Schedule|url=http://fedoraproxy.lib.virginia.edu/fedora/objects/uva-lib:2794785/methods/djatoka:StaticSDef/getScaled?maxWidth=1200&maxHeight=1200|work=Charlottesville Daily Progress|date=October 17, 1949|ref=DP|page=2}} – From University of Virginia Library. WINA schedule first appears in the Daily Progress on Monday, October 17, 1949.</ref>

Network radio was still dominant in 1949, but there were no available networks with which to affiliate, and so WINA was to start entirely reliant on local programming. WCHV was affiliated with [[Cumulus Media Networks|ABC]], [[WVCV|WJMA]] [[Orange, Virginia|Orange]] was affiliated with [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]], and [[CBS Radio Network|CBS]] and [[NBC Radio|NBC]] were available to some from [[WRVA (AM)|WRVA]] and [[WBTK|WMBG]] in Richmond, respectively. In 1951, it obtained a short-lived affiliation with the [[Liberty Broadcasting System]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting and Telecasting Yearbook 1951|page=311|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1951/Radio%20NE%20Ter%20BC%20YB%201951%20B&W-9.pdf}}</ref> After LBS went under in 1952, WINA gained affiliations with Mutual and the Keystone Broadcasting System, a [[electrical transcription|radio transcription]] network rebroadcasting major-network scripted programs to areas that lacked local affiliates.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=American Radio Networks: A History|date=2009|publisher=McFarland and Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|pages=194–195|isbn=9780786454242|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpxGeViyuPwC&pg=PA195}}</ref> By then, the station had settled into a format of [[Middle of the road (music)|middle-of-the-road]] music, news, and scripted network programs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Broadcasting and Telecasting Yearbook 1953|page=302|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1953/Radio%20N%20Ter%20BC%20YB%201953.pdf}}</ref>

WINA changed frequencies twice during this period. In 1954, it moved to 1450&nbsp;kHz and gained permission to commence night operation at 250 watts, reducing daytime power to match. Two years later, it moved to 1400&nbsp;kHz in order to increase back to 1&nbsp;kW during the day.<ref name="FCCH" />

In May 1957, Charlottesville Broadcasting merged with the James Madison Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WJMA. The combined entity was still known as Charlottesville Broadcasting Corp., and the stations were managed independently.<ref name="WJMA1957"/>  The two stations joined [[NBC Radio Network|NBC]] together on October 1, 1958.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=Two Virginia Outlets Join NBC|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1958/1958-09-15-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=September 15, 1958|page=38}}</ref> WJMA was sold off in April 1961.<ref name="WJMA1961"/>

After eight years with NBC, WINA switched to [[CBS Radio Network|CBS]] on October 30, 1966, an affiliation that lasts to the present day. This was concurrent with a change to 1070&nbsp;kHz and another power upgrade to the current 5&nbsp;kW day and night.<ref>{{cite news|title=CBS Radio's 243d|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1966/1966-08-15-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=August 15, 1966|page=65}}</ref>

Laurence E. Richardson, former president of [[Graham Media Group|Post-Newsweek Stations]], bought Charlottesville Broadcasting Corp. from Don Heyne in 1969.<ref name="Sale">{{cite news|title=Sale of WINA stations is approved by FCC|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1969/1969-12-15-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=December 15, 1969|page=50}}</ref>

In 1970, farm director Bill Ray began syndicating regional farm news reports in a network known as Agrinet. In the mid-1970s, this involved into the full-fledged Virginia News Network, carrying news bulletins and [[Virginia Cavaliers]] sports. The network news operation was spun off and relocated to [[WRVA (AM)|WRVA]] in Richmond in 1982, but WINA remains the flagship of the [[Virginia Cavaliers#Radio network affiliates|Virginia Sports Radio Network]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Radio Executive Laurence Richardson Dies|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/05/21/radio-executive-laurence-richardson-dies/e43e08c4-bddd-4d0e-92ea-91e459607215/|newspaper=Washington Post|date=21 May 1999}}</ref>

As late as 1991, WINA's full service format (with the music having evolved to modern [[adult contemporary]]) was still the top rated station in Charlottesville, despite having multiple FM competitors.<ref>{{cite book|title=The M Street Radio Directory 1991 Edition|pages=591|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/1991/Markets-M-Street-3-1991.pdf}} -- Format recorded as AC.</ref> Starting in 1992, the station added satellite-fed talk in addition to some remaining adult contemporary programming. Around 1995, WINA eliminated its remaining music-formatted blocks and transitioned to a full news/talk format.<ref>{{cite book|title=The M Street Radio Directory 1992-93|page=618|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/1992/Markets-M-Street-4-1992-1993.pdf}} -- Starting in 1992, format recorded as AC/satellite-fed talk.</ref> The station now runs news in morning drive and locally produced talk in afternoon drive, with satellite-fed talk and [[CBS Radio News|CBS news]] bulletins filling the rest of the time.<ref>{{cite book|title=The M Street Radio Directory 1996|page=587|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-M-Street/1996/Markets-M-Street-7-1996.pdf}} -- 1996 M Street is the first to record format as news/talk.</ref>

Charlottesville Broadcasting concluded a merger deal with Eure Communications, owners of ratings rival [[WWWV]] (97.5&nbsp;MHz) and [[WCHV (AM)|WCHV]] (1260&nbsp;kHz), in 1997.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Sara|title=Changing hands|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1997/BC-1997-11-10.pdf|work=Broadcasting & Cable|date=November 10, 1997|page=133}}</ref> The FCC scrutinized the sale, as it would have resulted in common ownership of five stations – which it saw as a potential competition-killer in the small market. The sale proceeded after the new company was forced to spin off the two least-valuable properties, WCHV and [[WKAV]] (1400&nbsp;kHz), to [[iHeartMedia|Clear Channel]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Spencer|first1=Hawes|title=MIXed message: Will FCC "clear" WUMX sale?|url=http://www.readthehook.com/93179/news-mixed-message-will-fcc-quotclearquot-wumx-sale?quicktabs_1=0|work=The Hook|issue=210|date=March 13, 2003}}</ref> Saga Communications bought Eure's three stations in 2004.

WINA added an FM translator on 98.9&nbsp;MHz in November 2015. This translator is fed by an HD subchannel of co-owned [[WCNR]] (106.1&nbsp;MHz).<ref name="Translator2"/> The translator augments WINA's reception in the city, as AM signals become increasingly difficult to receive due to electrical interference.

===FM and television===
{{further|WQMZ}}
In 1954, WINA began simulcasting on the city's first [[Frequency modulation|FM]] station, '''WINA-FM''' on 95.3&nbsp;MHz. Like many early AM-FM combinations, the FM station was merely a relay for the AM station. In order to encourage unique FM programming, the FCC limited simulcasting on a co-owned AM-FM pair to twelve hours per day in 1964.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Felsenthal|first1=Norman|title=Simulcasting|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/simulcasting.htm|website=Museum of Broadcasting}}</ref> WINA-FM was initially exempt because the rule only applied to large markets, but the FCC made programming separation a condition of Richardson's purchase of Charlottesville Broadcasting. The FM station began airing a separate day (except for a morning drive simulcast) in 1971, followed quickly by a callsign change to WQMC.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staff|title=Changing formats|url=http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1971/1971-04-19-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=April 19, 1971|page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Lasar|first1=Matthew|title=1965: the year the FCC helped FM radio take off|url=http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2015/11/03/1965-the-year-the-fcc-helped-fm-radio-take-off/|website=Radio Survivor|date=3 November 2015}}</ref> This station is now [[WQMZ]] on 95.1&nbsp;MHz.

In 1961, Charlottesville Broadcasting attempted to add a channel 11 television allocation to [[Staunton, Virginia|Staunton]], with a proposed 3,000-foot tower on Little North Mountain near the [[Augusta County, Virginia|Augusta]]-[[Rockbridge County, Virginia|Rockbridge]] county line.<ref name="Dail610610">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-progress-tv-tower-is-planned-i/127185575/|date=June 10, 1961|page=9|title=TV Tower Is Planned In Augusta|newspaper=The Daily Progress|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 29, 2023|archive-date=June 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629171500/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-progress-tv-tower-is-planned-i/127185575/|url-status=live}}</ref> The corporation claimed its proposed tower was high enough to provide "better reception than is now available" to Charlottesville (i.e., from [[WHSV-TV]] and stations in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]), but a tower any closer to the city proper was precluded by short-spacing to [[WBAL-TV]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]]. The allocation request was denied after the [[Naval Research Laboratory]] insisted on continued protection for its under-construction [[Sugar Grove Station]].<ref name="Dail641224">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-progress-fcc-denies-tv-channel/127185638/|date=December 24, 1964|page=21|title=FCC Denies TV Channel In This Area|newspaper=The Daily Progress|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=June 29, 2023|archive-date=June 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629183025/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-progress-fcc-denies-tv-channel/127185638/|url-status=live}}</ref> The prospects of UHF television were still difficult in the years after Congress mandated new televisions include UHF tuners with the [[All-Channel Receiver Act]] of 1964. Nevertheless, Charlottesville Broadcasting became the first permittee of the city's channel 29 allocation, which was duly given the callsign '''WINA-TV'''.<ref name="TVF">{{cite book|title=1967 Television Factbook|pages=142–a|edition=37th|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Annuals/Archive-Television-Factbook-IDX/IDX/Factbook/67/1967-TV-Factbook-II-OCR-Page-0144.pdf}}</ref> The construction permit was issued on July 13, 1965, and no further actions besides two extensions are recorded.

During the company's 1969 sale, then-owner Don Heyne indicated he no longer wanted to build out the permit and could not find a buyer. Richardson also indicated that he did not want to purchase it, but was required to by the purchase agreement. As FCC rules only allow the sale of a permit to an entity that intends to build, the board ordered the permit cancelled and the $55,000 Charlottesville Broadcasting invested into it deducted from the sale price.<ref>{{cite book|title=FCC Reports, October 24, 1969 to January 30, 1970|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=808–809|series=2|year=1970|volume=20|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306601/m1/808/}}</ref><ref name="Sale" /> [[WVIR]], which was to occupy channel 64, then moved to channel 29 and signed on in 1973.<ref name="TVF" />

==Programming==
WINA's normal broadcast days consist of a block of news in morning drive and local and satellite-delivered talk for the remainder of the day. The station is affiliated with [[CBS News Radio]], broadcasting hourly bulletins and the ''[[CBS World News Roundup]]'' at 7 p.m. Syndicated hosts heard on weekdays are [[Mike Gallagher (political commentator)|Mike Gallagher]], [[Laura Ingraham]], [[Mark Levin]], and [[John Batchelor]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Broadcast Schedule|url=http://wina.com/broadcast-schedule/}}</ref>

WINA is the flagship station of the [[Virginia Cavaliers#Radio network affiliates|Virginia Sports Radio Network]], originating the network's live coverage of all men's basketball and football games, as well as weekly coaches' shows. The coaches' shows are scheduled in a 54-minute timeslot, from 7:06&nbsp;p.m. to 8 p.m., to accommodate the ''World News Roundup''. WINA also carries selected baseball, women's basketball, and men's and women's lacrosse games.<ref>{{cite web|title=Coach's Corner Airs Monday|url=http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/122815aaa.html|website=Virginia Athletics|language=en}}</ref>

==Translator==
WINA is relayed by one FM translator. The translator launched on November 29, 2015.<ref name="Translator2"/>
{{RadioTranslators
| call1    = W255CT
| freq1    = 98.9 FM
| fid1     = 18875
| watts1   = 250 watts
| haat1    = 318
| class1   = D
| city1    = Charlottesville, Virginia
| notes1   = 
}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="WJMA1957">{{cite web|url=http://www.wjma.radiohistory.net/WJMA%20articles/1957-05-16%20%20WJMA-WINA%20merge.jpg|title=WJMA Merges With Station WINA In Charlottesville|date=May 16, 1957|access-date=July 29, 2015|work=RadioHistory.net}}</ref>
<ref name="WJMA1961">{{cite web|url=http://www.wjma.radiohistory.net/WJMA%20articles/1961-03-23%20WJMA%20sold.jpg|title=Orange Radio Station Sold Friday|date=March 23, 1961|access-date=July 29, 2015|work=RadioHistory.net}}</ref>
<ref name="Translator2">{{cite web|url=https://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/95368/wina-charlottesville-adds-fm-signal/|title=WINA Charlottesville Adds FM Signal|date=November 29, 2015|access-date=November 29, 2015|work=RadioInsight|last=Venta|first=Lance}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[https://www.wina.com/ NewsRadio 1070 and 98-9FM WINA Online]
{{AM station data|10649|WINA}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|18875|W255CT}}
*{{FXL|W255CT}}

{{Charlottesville Radio}}
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Virginia}}
{{Saga Communications}}

[[Category:1949 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Sports radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1949]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Virginia|INA]]
[[Category:Mass media in Charlottesville, Virginia]]