WANB-FM gets new (old?) callsign; More stations remove webcast
Pittsburgh:Sort of. Long-time Waynesburg FM station, WANB (103.1) has switched its callsign to WKVE. The station is owned by Broadcast Communications and will soon have a new home in Mt. Pleasant, PA. B.C. owner, Bob Stevens has used the 'KVE calls before on his former station (97.5 FM; now WDDH) in St. Mary's PA during the mid-1990s. The calls were most recently used at a K-Love outlet in North Carolina.
In the interest of disclosure, this editor works part-time for Broadcast Communications but actually got the scoop from our friend Scott Fybush. Several weeks ago, you might remember the story on PBRTV regarding Renda Broadcasting's removal of streaming audio from its music stations. Fybush is reporting that WBEB (Philadelphia) owner Jerry Lee has done the same at his station to protest the new SoundExchange licensing fees. Lee feels the fees "no longer make streaming a viable option." He goes on to mention that by 2015 nearly half of the station's revenue from the streaming audio would go directly to SoundExchange which would destroy any possibilities for growth business opportunity for stations AND musicians.