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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
