This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.​

Around 1971, a recent graduate from the former Carnegie High School, in Carnegie, got a suggestion from a friend that WIXZ in McKeesport was hiring sales people and that maybe he should apply.  Up until that point in time, Frank Iorio Jr. had been selling steel products to industrial customers for one of the local mills.  Luckily, Iorio was intrigued by the idea of selling radio advertising and refocused his tremendous sales skills toward selling airtime and entered the radio industry.  Eventually, Frank Iorio, jr. Would go on to become the longest tenured owner of WBVP.  Iorio’s career is recapped  in the recently published book , Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA. : 

“Frank Iorio, Jr. was no stranger in radio in the Pittsburgh area.  he grew up in Carnegie and landed his job in the sales department of WIXZ in Mckeesport in 1971.  The ever confident Iorio carried a swager and motivation to succeed that served him well in business and began to rapidly move on up the giant radio tower.  In 1974, Iorio moved in to the big city, taking a job as an account executive at WEEP in Pittsburgh.  By 1976, Iorio was on to bigger cities and bigger challenges working at first in Boston, Philadelphia and then to Washington, D.C. to begin work at NBC. It was while in Washington that Iorio met Mike Schwartz, who was looking to put together a group of investors, and eventually started having discussions about buying radio stations together.  Those talks ultimately came to fruition in 1991, when they became partners along with Don Wilks and purchased  WVEZ and WWKY in Louisville, KY.  As was customary for the way Swartz and Wilks did business, they bought into a situation in Louisville at a good position, made some improvements, and sold for a profit not too long after taking over, and so it was. After only about three years of station ownership in Louisville, The trio sold WVEZ and WWKY.  This would pan out well for Beaver County because later that year in 1994, WBVP and WWKS became available and The group, now consisting of Iorio, Schwartz, and the newly added Aaron Daniels, liked what they saw in WBVP and WWKS. ‘We just saw a big upside to the deal, with that huge F.M. station.  I thought that if we could get it out of Beaver County, and start marketing it to Pittsburgh, that there was  alot of potential.’ Observed Iorio about their pending purchase of WBVP and WWKS, Kiss 106.7 F.M. in 1994.  Iorio, Swartz and Daniels purchased WBVP and WMBA through their newly formed entity for 2 million dollars in a deal that became official on December 1, 1994. “ 

Not long afterwards, Iorio, Swartz and Daniels sold WWKS to Secret Communications  and then Iorio bought out his partners, making him the sole owner of WBVP in 1995.  In June of 2000, Iorio ended the fierce competition that had existed between WBVP and WMBA when he purchased WMBA from Donn Wuycik and began to operate the two Beaver County Stations together, as they continue to do so up to this day.

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins

This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.​

Many of the earlier personalities that were hired on at WBVP were colorful characters. Joe Grazan was no exception. Grazan was brought aboard shortly after the radio station went on the air in 1948.  Grazan hosted many different shows and was a popular announcer from the early days of WBVP.  Ken Brittten wrote about Joe Grazan’s role at WBVP in the recently published book , Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA.   Britten writes: “Joe Grazan was also added to the staff and did the afternoon “Music Beat” program in addition to ‘Ranch BVP’, one of the earliest country western shows in the tri-state district.”  

Bill Day is the current C.E.O. at Saint Barnabas Health System, but worked with Joe Grazan at WBVP in the mid to late 1950’s.  The following is another excerpt from from Behind The Microphone, The History Of Radio In Beaver County, PA.  “According to Bill Day,  Grazan was quite a character, who also held down a sales position at Montgomery Ward’s Department Store located near the station on Seventh Avenue in Beaver Falls.  Reportedly, Grazan would run down the stairs and up the street to the store showroom and try to sell an appliance or two, and then try and sprint back to the station, about a block away, before the song he was playing ended.  Day added that this practice didn’t last long once management caught on. Day chuckled as he reminisced about another occasion when Grazan was promoting a dance to be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Brodhead Hotel in Beaver Falls. As often happens in the world of broadcasting when things are done quickly, sometimes preparation before going on the air was slightly overlooked. Grazan fell victim to this practice and stumbled over his words, transposing them, so to speak. According to Day, in a broadcast that probably happened in the late 50’s on WBVP,  Grazan proudly announced that there was going to be a big dance “At The Bald Head Broad Room in Beaver Falls.”

Back in the day, Billboard Magazine would publish a section that included news and announcements from radio stations from all over the United States.  Periodically, station news from WBVP would appear in the weekly publication.   A Billboard Magazine issue from July 9, 1955 included a story about activities at WBVP that read:  “Hillbillie  talent from WBVP , Beaver Falls, PA,  was featured nightly at the week long Beaver County Exposition held in Beaver Falls.  WBVP’s Deejays, ‘Albuquerque Al Hallaman’ and ‘Jolly Joe Grazan’, handled the emcee duties, with the show line up including Roy Ziegler and his Range Riders, Skip Sommerville and his Blue Sky Mountaineers and the Valley Boys.”

From the stories that still circulate today, Grazan was a delightful handful for station management.  He was a creative, high energy individual who seemed to push the envelope on occasion, but is still very fondly remembered for his days at WBVP.​

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins

This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.

In 1960, The original owners of WBVP, Frank Smith, Tom Price and Charles Onderka were granted a license to put an F.M. radio station on the air.  Initially, the new radio station was known simply as “WBVP-F.M.” and was nothing more than a simulcast outlet for their popular A.M. radio station, WBVP, at 106.7 on the F.M. dial.   By the 1970’s it had become apparent that  this new fangled F.M. side of the radio business was indeed a huge opportunity worth developing into it’s own radio station, with a different format than that of WBVP.  A huge power increase to 47,000 watts, construction of a 500 foot tower, and a new set of call letters were accomplished  in 1975 to give the Beaver Falls F.M. radio station a whole new identity.  It became known as WWKS with a nickname of Kiss. Initially it was referred to as Kiss 107 and later on in the mid 1980’s, when digital receivers became common, the station began to use the exact frequency, going by Kiss 106.7 F.M.  Listeners throughout three states and a dozen counties or so could pick up the behemoth station’s soft rock music format.  Success was immediate and soon new listeners and advertisers from New Castle, Butler, Cranberry, and even Pittsburgh, supplemented the strong local following in Beaver County.  But, as they say, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and within a short period of time, there were many F.M. stations throughout the Pittsburgh and Youngstown areas playing similar versions of soft rock, adult contemporary, or lite rock type music formats.  So,  another music format change was in order.

The timing was perfect for a new edgy hard rock format.  There was a growing interest among younger adults in newly released hard rock and alternative music, and there wasn’t yet a radio station serving that niche. In November of 1993, the decision was made to flip Kiss 106.7 F.M. to “The Force”.  Over Thanksgiving weekend of that year, the music listeners were hearing went from Maria Muldaur to Motley Crue.  The station kept the same call letters, WWKS and the same frequency of 106.7 F.M., but not much else was the same.  The station was owned by The Baltimore Radio Show at the time and in order to support their new station, new computers and satellite receivers were installed at the Beaver Falls studio to enable the station to receive carry a network delivered music format produced by a company in Chicago called Major Networks.   Many other aspects of the station would be “forced” to change as well.  A troupe of scantily clad young girls was recruited to accompany station announcers like Carl Anderson, Bill Cameron, Paul Taylor, Mike Steele and Brandon Davis, among others to station appearances.  The places where the newly named “force” was doing promotions changed along with the music too.  In addition to the traditional  live broadcasts from the county fair, or the local car dealer, “Force Nights” were now being held in various night clubs throughout the area including The Magic Twanger in Youngstown, Blondie’s in Greensburg, Fantasy’s in Moon Township and The Aquanaut in East Liverpool, Ohio, among other live music and entertainment venues.

The hard rock format of “The Force” was so successful, that it gained the attention of, and was purchased by a competing broadcasting company in Pittsburgh in 1995 and was eventually given a new name and new frequency.  Today the station format exists as “The X”, WXDX at 105.9 F.M. headquartered in Pittsburgh and the old frequency of 106.7 F.M. is still around as WAOB, and it offers Catholic religious programming from it’s studios in Latrobe.

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins.

This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948.  To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.​

If you mention the topics of basketball or broadcasting in Ambridge, one name comes to mind quite easy for many of the town’s residents, Wuycik.  Walter and Louise Wuycik raised  three children, including two boys who became quite well known in their home town, and throughout the area for their achievements.  The elder son, Dennis, was a whiz on the basketball court leading the Ambridge Bridgers to an undefeated state championship season in 1967.  Dennis Wuycik would later on have successful career at North Carolina and with several A.B.A. professional basketball teams.  The younger of the two boys, Donn was much more comfortable taking in a game from the sidelines and recording the contest with video equipment.  The fact is, Donn Wuycik was so accomplished in his skills to gather, edit and produce videos that he was hired on as one of the original field reporters for ESPN when it started up in the early 1980’s.   By all accounts, Donn Wuycik’s video work was in high demand as he was soon traveling all over the United States to provide footage for several major cable networks.

Scott Tady from the Beaver County Times published this recap of Wuycik’s early video career in an article released in December, 2014 following Donn Wuycik’s passing at age 60. “ After graduating in 1972 from Ambridge Area High School, Wuycik worked a number of jobs, including as a fitter for Dravo Corp., a cable installer, an ambulance driver in Aliquippa and police chief for South Heights.

In the late 1970s, Wuycik invested much of his life savings to buy TV camera equipment, launching a freelance news gathering business. Learning of an upstart sports cable network in Bristol, Conn., he auditioned with a tape he’d made of Beaver County’s annual World Championship Snow Shovel Riding Contest. That network, ESPN, hired him to provide its “Sports Center” program with taped highlights of major Pittsburgh sporting events and later for West Coast games. Camera work Wuycik did also appeared on CNN, the BBC and for ABC’s “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.”

Donn Wuycik, with the support of his family,  purchased WMBA at the young age of 32 in a deal that was finalized in 1986.    His company was called Donn Communications, and Donn Wuycik ran WMBA with the same tenacity and competitiveness as his brother demonstrated two decades earlier on the hardwood floors of area high school basketball courts.  He immediately brought about many changes to WMBA that others might not have even attempted, including constructing two new four hundred foot broadcast towers and installing new transmitting equipment so the station could be approved for night time broadcasting, which became a reality in 1988.  Donn Wuycik also moved the studio and offices for WMBA from the old Economy section of town on 14th Street to a nice, newly remodeled and more visible building on Merchant Street in Ambridge. 

Much like the way he lived his own life, Donn Wuycik put  more bravado into what WMBA was broadcasting.  It wasn’t uncommon in that era for the Ambridge station to carry three or four high school football games in a single weekend, including ones from far away as North Hills high school near Pittsburgh.  He  took his politics seriously as well.  Under Donn Wuycik’s leadership, WMBA would have a half dozen reporters on the streets and at various campaign headquarters on election nights in Beaver County.  Nobody was going to out do Donn Wuycik.  He worked hard and played even harder. He is best remembered for a quote of his that appeared on the Beaver County Boom Tee Shirts a couple years ago “It’s Gonna be big, and you’re gonna want to be there!”

“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by  Abbey Carpet and Floor,  Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing,  Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, The Community College Of Beaver County,  Farmers Building and Savings Bank, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican food, The Health Huts, Kitchen City, Laughlin Insurance Agency,  Rochester Manor and Villa and Young’s Jewelry and Coins.