Jazz station moves along – WYZR soon to be on the air

June 13, 2013 Off By Eric O'Brien

The sale of Bethany College-owned WBVC (88.1 Bethany, WV) to Pittsburgh Public Media was approved by the FCC on May 31. That means the station is one step closer to becoming a full-time jazz station made up of the same elements of the old WDUQ-FM (90.5) before it became WESA.. 88.1’s new call letters will be WYZR-FM and the studios will be located in McMurray, Washington County. At first, the programming will come from PPM’s Pittsburgh Jazz Channel.

It’s possible that the station could be ready to go in about a month, but certain pieces of equipment are on order and there is still need for funding to finish the studios. Once the studios are set up, the station will be heard south and west of Pittsburgh – in 88.1’s current signal footprint. There is a plan to get the station to cover areas north and east of the city to get entire coverage of Pittsburgh. No word yet on how that will be done.

(PG)