WVTK
 | |
| City | Port Henry, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Champlain Valley, Vermont and Essex County, New York |
| Branding | 92-1 WVTK |
| Slogan | "Addison County's Radio Station" |
| Frequency | 92.1 MHz |
| First air date | 1982 (as WHRC-FM) |
| Format | Classic Hits |
| ERP | 18,000 watts |
| HAAT | 3 meters (9.8 ft) |
| Class | C3 |
| Facility ID | 53613 |
| Callsign meaning | VermonT's Kiss (from the Kiss-FM CHR format) |
| Former callsigns |
WHRC-FM (1982-1985) WKLZ (1985-1988) WHWB-FM (1988-1989) WMNM (1989-1998) WXNT (1998-1999) WLCQ (1999-2001) WJVT (2001-2003) |
| Affiliations | ABC Radio News |
| Owner | WVTK Radio, LLC |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | 921wvtk.com |
WVTK (92.1 MHz) is an FM radio station airing a classic hits radio format, licensed to Port Henry, New York, near the New York State/Vermont border. It is owned by Ken and Lori Barlow, and licensed to WVTK Radio, LLC.
WVTK has an effective radiated power of 18,000 watts, most of which radiates into the Champlain Valley. The signal can be heard clearly in Middlebury, Bristol, Brandon, Vergennes and Charlotte, Vermont, along with Port Henry, Ticonderoga and Essex, New York. WVTK's business offices and broadcast studios are located in the Historic Marble Works Complex in Middlebury. The broadcast tower is located off Edgemont Road in Port Henry.[1]
The station positions itself as "Addison County's Radio Station." WVTK serves as the voice of the Middlebury College Panthers hockey and football teams, as well providing coverage for local area high school football, hockey, and basketball coverage.
History
On September 15, 1982, the station first signed on as WHRC-FM.[2] It was owned by Peter Edward Hunn and broadcast a soft adult contemporary format from studios and offices on Joiner Road in Port Henry.
WVTK has been through many format and ownership changes during its decades on the air. Ken and Lori Barlow have owned the station since July 2008. The station was once oldies for a several years under the call sign of WMNM as "Oldies 92." It returned to oldies once again under the call sign of WLCQ ("Q92"). On May 1, 2007, an oldies format based on the 1960s, early 1970s, and late 1950s returned to 92.1 as "The True Oldies Channel", a syndicated radio service from ABC Radio Networks. The format change lasted for only about 16 months, as the new owners, the Vox Radio Group, flipped the station in early September 2008 to an adult contemporary music (AC) format, with an emphasis on serving Addison County, Vermont. The station switched to Classic Hits in the summer of 2014.
Throughout the years, the station has had numerous call signs including WHRC-FM, WKLZ, WHWB-FM, WMNM, WXNT, WLCQ and WJVT. The WHWB-FM and WLKZ call signs were also used in Rutland on the 94.5 frequency prior to going dark in 1993 before the 94.5 frequency was reborn as WJEN "Cat Country." The WHWB-FM call sign was originally used on 98.1 FM in Rutland.
The 92.1 frequency started out as a 3,000-watt facility, and was upgraded to the current 18,000 watts with additional height being added to the Port Henry tower in the early 1990s. Formats on the 92.1 frequency have included: religion, country, CHR (from 2003-2008 as 92-1 Kiss FM), adult contemporary, rock, smooth jazz (twice), and once as a part-time simulcast of News/Talk 1380 WSYB in Rutland. WVTK has also held an oldies format at three different times in its history.
Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) spun off WVTK to the new WVTK Radio, LLC in 2008. WVTK was not part of Clear Channel divesting its Burlington, Vermont stations to Vox Radio, current owners of WEAV, WEZF, WXZO & WCPV.