WPVM-LP

WPVM-LP
City Asheville, North Carolina
Branding MAIN-FM
Slogan "The Progressive Voice Of The Mountains"
Frequency 103.7 MHz
First air date 2003
Format Progressive Talk
Public affairs
Language(s) English
ERP 100 watts
HAAT 18 meters
Class L1
Facility ID 133357
Transmitter coordinates 35°35′48.8″N 82°13′19.2″W / 35.596889°N 82.222000°W / 35.596889; -82.222000
Callsign meaning "P"rogressive "V"oice of the "M"ountains
Former frequencies 103.5 MHz (2004-2013)
Affiliations Pacifica Radio
Owner Mountain Area Information Network
Webcast Listen Live
Website http://mainfm.org/

WPVM-LP (103.7 FM) is a non-commercial LPFM radio station located in Asheville, North Carolina licensed to the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), a nonprofit Internet service provider founded in 1995 for a 14-county area of western North Carolina. MAIN operates the station as MAIN-FM. The station is an integral part of MAIN's alternative media vision to enable citizens to spend their Internet dollars to support non-corporate news, music, and public affairs programming.

On May 8, 2015 the FCC granted a transfer of the FCC license to broadcast to Friends of WPVM. The station has been under new management by Friends of WPVM since that date.

Programming

Since going on the air in October, 2003, MAIN-FM (then known as WPVM) has produced live broadcasts of community events such as the WordFest poetry festival, media reform talks, and the 2007 Right to Dissent public forum at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. MAIN-FM features a mix of local and syndicated programs including Democracy Now!,[1] and the Thom Hartmann Program, "with a strong emphasis on local voices."[2]

History

The station began broadcasting in October, 2003 under an LPFM Class 1 license for 100 watts effective radiated power (ERP), but FCC rules forced the station to reduce its power to 1 watt ERP due to a commercial station in Knoxville, TN using the same 103.5 FM frequency.

Wally Bowen, executive director of station operator Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), said a "Save Our Sound" fund-raising campaign would start Oct. 25, 2010. MAIN-FM needed $3500 a month to stay on the air. In September, 2011, the new owners of MAIN-FM's broadcast tower demanded a multiyear lease which would have locked-in the station's reduced signal for years to come. Instead, the MAIN Board of Directors voted to vacate the tower, take the station off the air temporarily, and find a new transmitter site where a stronger signal would be possible.

MAIN board chairman Roger Derrough said the station "has never paid for itself" given its reduced-signal. MAIN, he said, makes its money providing Internet access and web hosting. When the nonprofit started, MAIN was the only Internet access provider for many in the Asheville area and surrounding counties. At first the nonprofit ISP only offered dial-up. Upgrading to wireless Internet has cost a lot, and MAIN can no longer afford to subsidize MAIN-FM.[2]

MAIN-FM broadcast at reduced power until October, 2011 when the MAIN Board of Directors voted to take the station off the air rather than sign a multi-year tower lease that would have prevented a future transmitter move to improve the station's signal. Bowen said in 2012 that MAIN-FM had to move its transmitter from Busby Mountain in order to increase its signal to 100 watts, but the process was delayed in December 2011 when the first proposed site could not be used.[3][4]

MAIN-FM continued to stream its programming online. The radio station was temporarily off the air pending the full implementation of new LPFM rules by the FCC, which were expected to free up new frequencies for low-power FM stations. MAIN expected to file for a new frequency in 2013 to strengthen MAIN-FM's signal and expand the station's coverage in a greater Asheville area.

New rules for LFPM stations took effect in January 2013, and MAIN-FM received approval for its 103.7 frequency in February. The 100 watt signal now covers more of the area.[5]

MAIN's Board of Directors voted to divest of the station in September 2014. Some Directors were opposed to the divestiture and launched a very hostile sabotage plan to prevent the transfer,and much drama ensued. Working from a pristinely legal foundation, the non-profit that the MAIN Board of Directors majority chose as recipient of the FCC license forged ahead under extremely hostile circumstances and accomplished the necessary steps required by the FCC in order to be eligible to receive the license. WPVM fm is now financially solvent, has a new convenient location in downtown Asheville, and is on its way to becoming the best radio station in the City of Asheville, NC.

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 Kiss, Tony (2010-10-20). "Asheville's MAIN-FM radio station set to launch 'Save Our Sound' fundraising drive to avoid shutting down". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Boyle, John (2012-02-06). "Asheville's Answer Man addresses telephone pole hanging on by splinters". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  5. ↑ Kiss, Tony (2013-06-25). "Main-FM returns to radio airwaves". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2013-06-27.

External links

Coordinates: 35°31′41″N 82°29′42″W / 35.528°N 82.495°W / 35.528; -82.495

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