WBTK was a Spanish religious formatted broadcast radio station licensed to and serving Richmond, Virginia. WBTK was owned and operated by Mount Rich Media, LLC. The station operated from 1927 to 2026, for much of that time as WMBG and WTVR.
History The station was first authorized on January 7, 1927, as WMBG, a 10-watt station at around 1360 kHz, to auto parts dealer Wilbur Havens."New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 31, 1927, page 4. It was based on the second floor of Havens' shop on West Broad and Laurel streets in downtown Richmond, Virginia. Havens spent $500 to build the station. Although the call letters were randomly assigned from a sequential roster of available call signs, they were also said to stand for "Magnetos, Batteries, and Generators". The station began test transmissions later that month.
Following the establishment of the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), stations were initially issued a series of temporary authorizations starting on May 3, 1927,"List of broadcasting stations issued temporary permits", Radio Service Bulletin, April 30, 1927, pages 6-14. when WMBG was assigned to 1360 kHz. In addition, stations were informed that if they wanted to continue operating, they needed to file a formal license application by January 15, 1928, as the first step in determining whether they met the new "public interest, convenience, or necessity" standard."Extension of Broadcasting Station Licenses", Radio Service Bulletin, December 31, 1927, page 7. On May 25, 1928, the FRC issued General Order 32, which notified 164 stations, including WMBG, that "From an examination of your application for future license it does not find that public interest, convenience, or necessity would be served by granting it.""Appendix F (2): Letter to and list of stations included in General Order No. 32, issued May 25, 1928", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission for the Year Ended June 30, 1928, Together With Supplemental Report for the Period From July 1, 1928 to September 30, 1928, pages 146-149. However, the station successfully convinced the commission that it should remain licensed.
On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a major reallocation of station transmitting frequencies, as part of a reorganization resulting from its implementation of General Order 40. WMBG was assigned to 1210 kHz, sharing the frequency with WTAZ."Broadcasting Stations", Second Annual Report of the Federal Radio Commission (June 30, 1928), page 190.
By 1939, the station had moved to a new studio a few blocks down West Broad. In 1947, Havens added an FM station on 98.1, WCOD,History of NBC 12. WWBT. followed a year later by the South's first television station, WTVR-TV (channel 6). Channel 6 is still located on West Broad, years after its former radio sisters moved out.
Havens sold WTVR, WMBG, and WCOD to Roy H. Park Communications in 1966. Park changed the radio stations' call signs to WTVR (AM) and WTVR-FM, respectively. When Park died in 1993, the company's assets were sold to a Lexington, Kentucky group of investors that sold the radio properties separately to various owners, with WTVR-AM-FM going to Clear Channel Communications in 1995. The AM station changed its calls to WVBB in 2000. Clear Channel sold the AM station to Salem Communications in 2001 and changed the format to Christian talk as WBTK. In 2006, the station was sold to Mount Rich Media and changed to Spanish Christian talk.
In October 2026, WBTK's license was surrendered to the Federal Communications Commission. It was cancelled on October 5.
References
External links
FCC History Cards for WBTK (covering 1929-1981 as WMBG / WTVR)