Update: WADV was back on the air as of mid-June 2024. Neither the station nor its attorney responded to LebTown requests for comment.
LebTown has received multiple enquires from readers so far this year asking why local station WADV-AM 940 has been silent on the airwaves.
The short answer is: We don’t know. And neither does the Federal Communications Commission, or the lawyer who has represented the station in recent years.
Multiple phone calls and emails to station ownership did not receive a response.
The station was previously warned by the FCC in 2020 for failing to notify the commission of its silent status in a timely manner. After an 11-month absence which saw the replacement of a failed transmitter, it returned to the air.
Read More:
- (2021) WADV back on the air after a year offline
- (2020) Radio silence: FCC chides AM station WADV for failing to notify commission of intent to halt operations
Radio broadcasters may “temporarily discontinue operations for good cause, and for a period not to exceed 30 days without further authority,” the FCC stated in its 2020 letter to WADV. The rule requires the broadcaster to notify the FCC by letter within 10 days of discontinuing operations.
It is not known when exactly WADV went off the air, but LebTown first received reader questions about the radio silence in late January. The radio station had previously broadcasted a Christian and Southern gospel program to the Lebanon County area.
The FCC has not received any silent station request or other filing from the station.
A spokesperson for the FCC said that the commission cannot comment on what, if any, actions it could take.
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