In a recorded message posted to the WNPV website, GM Phil Hunt said, after 60 years of serving the local community the station will go off the air April 30th. The Lansdale, PA station is heard on 1440 AM and 98.5 FM.
Hunt told listeners that, “In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to compete for both audience and advertising dollars, and unfortunately it is no longer sustainable to continue to run the business in a way that delivers the service our community expects and deserves.”
Listen to Hunt’s full 2-minute audio message to listeners HERE
I was a young boy of 12 when WNPV came on the air. For me the Philly stations (WIBG),(WFIL) were the competition. They played the top music of that era and WNPV was stogy. Sorry to see it go, but you must progress with the times and current wants. I would like to see North Montco Tech take over operation with a fresh and current format.
Although moot now, the question still has to be asked:
Did the station superlatively or even adequately serve the community?
Or, was it instead, a skin & bones operation that could no longer tolerate the indifference of local advertisers?
These suburban markets used to have a retail infrastructure that would support a local station. In my experience, those days are past. We all dream of running that small market station where everyone knows you and vice versa. Today, it’s a real slog. Retail is either nationally owned or just doesn’t exist anymore. Sadly we will see more of these stations going silent and the recent Coronavirus scare will only speed up the process.
If only I had the money to buy that little station…the Voice of the North Penn Valley! I would LOVE to superserve that community, which is a mix of Philly ‘burbs and farmland. I remember the AM station as a daytimer, but the addition of that FM translator is a great help.
Those homogenized corporate stations in Philly just don’t adequately serve outlying communities. Some of them don’t even adequately serve Philly.
This is the most disheartening kind of radio news. From the local call in shows, in-house production, homegrown personalities, area
news and sports coverage, to being a venue for local advertisers, WNPV is and has been the essence of what local radio should be. Ain’t no kind of “AI” gonna replace this.