The WKAZ History ...

MARCH 1946 -

Joe L. Smith, Jr., licensee of WJLS Radio in Beckley is issued a Construction Permit for a 1000 watt radio station in Charleston.  The station will operate 24 hours a day at full power, but will employ a single pattern directional antenna system for both day and night operation.  The frequency is 950 kilocycles and the callsign is WKNA.

NOVEMBER 1946 -

WKNA Radio is officially on the air.  The studios and business offices are located at 804 Kanawha Boulevard, Charleston, and the tower site is located on State Route 62, northwest of Charleston near Dunbar.  WKNA is the 4th radio station in Charleston and the 17th in West Virginia.

MARCH 1947 -

WKNA is issued their first FCC Radio Station license, officially ending the "construction permit" phase of operation.  WKNA is an ABC affiliate.

OCTOBER 1949 -

WKNA receives FCC authorization to increase daytime power to 5000 watts, with nighttime power remaining at 1000 watts.  The antenna system was modified to provide two different directional patterns.  One pattern would be used during daylight hours at 5000 watts, and the other after local sunset with 1000 watts.  The FCC classifies this dual pattern operation as 'DA-2'.  Multiple directional pattern FCC licenses are very rare.

DECEMBER 1951 -

WKNA-FM is on the air, broadcasting at 97.5 megacycles with 9000 watts on a 110 foot tower.   This station simulcasts WKNA AM 950.

APRIL 1956 -

Studios were relocated to the Professional Building at 210 Dickinson Street in Charleston.  WKNA operated from 5:00 am until midnight, 7 days a week.

FEBRUARY 16, 1957 -

Joe L. Smith, Jr. sold WKNA Radio to the Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company for $250,000.  The Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company already owned Charleston-based WGKV Radio, but sold it after agreeing to purchase WKNA.  Kanawha Valley also owned and operated Huntington's WSAZ Radio and Television, and promptly changed the WKNA call sign to WKAZ, closely matching the WSAZ calls used in Huntington.  The "K" was intended to represent 'Kanawha'.  The ABC affiliation was dropped and WKAZ became an NBC station, joining WSAZ Radio and Television.

AUGUST 1957 -

The WKNA-FM call letters are changed to WKAZ-FM.  The station still simulcasts the AM programming on 97.5 megacycles.

SEPTEMBER 1958 -

FCC approval was received to modify the antenna system again, switching to non-directional operation during daylight hours, and using a cloverleaf-shaped directional pattern at night.  Daytime power was still 5000 watts, and nighttime power set at 1000 watts.

MAY 1960 -

The Kanawha Valley Broadcasting Company sold the station to RADIO WKAZ, INC. for $350,000. 

MAY 1964 -

Radio WKAZ, Inc. sells the station to WKAZ, INC., a company wholly-owned by the Bristol Broadcasting Company of Bristol, VA.  The price was $205,000.

JANUARY 1968 -

WKAZ drops it's NBC affiliation to rejoin ABC Radio and their new "American Contemporary Radio Network".  An assignment of authorization was filed with the FCC, changing the legal name from WKAZ, Inc. to the parent corporation, the Bristol Broadcasting Company.  WKAZ operates 24 hours a day.

AUGUST 1968 -

Studios were relocated from 210 Dickinson Street to the Heart O' Town Motor Inn on Washington Street East, just three blocks from the old Professional Building location.  

APRIL 1973 -

An assignment of authorization was filed with the FCC, changing the legal name back to WKAZ, Inc.  The station was airing a Top 40 music format. 

JULY 1982 -

Studios were relocated to the State Route 62 transmitter site which used a street address of 4250 Washington Street West.  A Cetec 7000 automation system was installed to handle music programming.   Many operational duties were being handled by personnel from sister station WQBE-FM.

DECEMBER 1983 -

WKAZ is gone.  AM 950 begins simulcasting a Country Music format from the WQBE-FM studios.  The AM call sign is officially changed to WQBE. 

APRIL 1984 -

WKLC AM 1300 in St. Albans becomes WKAZ.  The station operates from studios located at 100 Kanawha Terrace in St. Albans, and a transmitter site on West Main Street and US Route 60, about a mile northeast of the studios.  The station is authorized 1000 watts during the daytime, and 49 watts pre-sunrise service authority (usually 6:00 am until local sunrise).  The station's single antenna is non-directional.  AM 1300 does not operate after local sunset.  The station is owned by WKLC, Inc. and features an urban/dance music format.

SEPTEMBER 1988 -

The reincarnation of WKAZ is gone.  WKLC, Inc. dropped the urban/dance music format on AM 1300 and changed the call sign to WGKV, then later to WCOZ. 

AUGUST 1993 -

WLZT-FM 107.3 in Charleston becomes WKAZ, dropping a "Greatest Hits of the 60's, 70's, 80's and Today" format for Oldies.  FM 107.3 operates with 23,000 watts of power on a 740 foot tower from Miami, WV, southeast of Charleston.  FM 107.3 is owned and operated by the West Virginia Radio Corporation, with studios and offices at 1111 Virginia Street East in downtown Charleston, just four blocks east of the original WKAZ offices on Dickinson Street. 

MARCH 2001 -

A programming and call sign change at AM 950.   After 17 years, WQBE is now history.  

WVTS (West Virginia's Talk Station) began broadcasting on AM 950 with a News/Talk format, going head to head with heritage talker WCHS.  AM 950 had been simulcasting WQBE-FM's country music format for years and never had its own identity since dropping the WKAZ call letters in late 1983.

WQBE-FM 97.5 remains on the air with a contemporary country music format.