
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 4, 1993                   TAG: 9306040280
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

WJJJ, WVVV MAY BE BOUGHT BY COUNTRY-STATION OWNER

The owner of country music radio stations in Pulaski and Wytheville has applied to the Federal Communications Commission to buy radio stations in Blacksburg and Christiansburg.

New River Media Group, which owns WPSK (107.1 FM) in Pulaski and WYVE (1280 AM) in Wytheville, wants to purchase WJJJ, known as "1260-J," and WVVV, which calls itself "Rock 105."

If the commission approves, New River Media Group will pay $455,500 for the AM-FM combination and the real estate, plus another $57,000 for a non-competition agreement. Blacksburg-Christiansburg Broadcasting Co. now owns the stations.

Plans for the stations are incomplete. No decisions have been made about the stations' staffing or music formats, said Ralph B. Davis, who heads New River Media Group.

"We will be looking very closely at format," he said.

WJJJ (1260 AM) is a 2,500-watt, daytime-only station with an oldies format, while WVVV (104.9 FM) plays classic rock.

New River Media Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cumberland Group Limited in Richlands, which also owns Advent Communications, Inc., the licensee of WYVE.

Davis heads Cumberland Group and is 100 percent stockholder of both New River Media and Advent Communications.

Recent changes in FCC rules now permit common ownership of multiple stations within the same market provided no single station attracts over 25 percent of the total audience.

Davis said it would take a few months for the transfer to be approved.

He also said his company plans to go forward with plans, already under way, to swap dial positions with Roanoke station WVRV (105.3).

The arrangement would permit both stations to increase power to 25,000 watts. WVVV now operates with 2,700 watts.

WVVV applied to the FCC in January to make the change, which must be coordinated with the Roanoke station.

If approved, the change would extend the Blacksburg station's secondary coverage area from the Roanoke Valley to the Wythe-Pulaski county line.

Davis did not rule out other broadcasting acquisitions in the New River or Roanoke valleys in the future, but he said his company is not now looking at any other stations.

by CNB