BATAVIA/WBTA Radio sold to Majic Tones LLC

WBTA 1490 Radio is in the process of being sold to Majic Tones LLC, a company headed by the current station’s Account Executive Jim Ernst, who came on board at WBTA in 2014.

According to current owners Dan and Deb Fischer, the process has been long and there is still 90 days until the paperwork makes its way through the FCC.

For at least the next 90 days it is business as usual under HPL Communications, Inc.

“For Deb and I this has been a wonderful ride because of all of you. The next three months will give us plenty of time for sentimentalities but please understand this is a bittersweet time for us,” said Dan Fischer in an email to staff.

Dan and is wife formed HPL Communiations moved to Genesee County and purchased WBTA in 2014.

File photos- 2016

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—————Previously——-From February 6, 2016

BATAVIA

WBTA Radio celebrates 75 years on the air

Press release

WBTA Radio, Genesee County’s only locally owned commercial radio station, marked its 75th year of broadcasting today.

The station went on the air at 7AM, Thursday, Feb 6, 1941. It has been licensed as WBTA since its inception

The first voice on the air was that of the “genial” Jerry Flynn who opened the program, “Rise and Shine,” according to an article published in the Daily News. Flynn became better known later as a sports announcer. The station’s studios and offices were located on the second floor of 90 Main St. in Batavia where they remained until 1957.

WBTA studios moved several times over the years. Its next location was 22 Seaver Place, now the JC Penny & Co. loading dock. For several years the station occupied the second floor and later the first floor of 413 Main St. at the corner of Harvester Ave. The station moved to 113 Main St. in 2004 when it was purchased by its present owner, HPL Communications, Inc. owned by Daniel and Debrah Fischer.

As the studios and offices moved, the station’s transmission and tower site has remained on Creek Rd. in the Town of Batavia. In the early years, an engineer was required to be at the transmission site whenever the station was on the air. Technical improvements in the late 1950’s allowed the station to be remote controlled from the studio.

The station was originally owned by three Batavia residents: Joseph Ryan, of Union St.; Edward P. Atwatter of East Main St. and Edmund R. Gamble of Vernon Ave. Gamble also served as the general manager.

After the outbreak of World War II, several members of the stations’ staff left for military service including Gamble.

The next local owner of WBTA was William F. Brown. Brown was best known for his regular editorials on local issues, He won 16 Best Editorial awards from the New York State Broadcasters Association.

Brown expanded the station’s news coverage which was apparent in the 1971 coverage coverage of the Attica Prison Revolt.

In Feb., 2004 the Fischer’s formed HPL Communications, purchased WBTA and moved to Genesee County.

New digital studios were built and WBTA moved to its present location at the corner of Main and Center St. which became the name of the station’s morning talk show, “Main & Center.”

From 1977 to 2000, WBTA operated an FM station that was licensed to Attica, NY. The station was sold and became WLOF, which beams Catholic programming into the Buffalo area.

Under HPL, the station launched another FM station in 2014. It is licensed under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) translator rules and allows WBTA to broadcast in stereo at 100.1 Mhz. The station also streams 100% of its programming on the internet at WBTAi.com and via mobile devices with custom apps for Android and iPhone systems.

“We are proud of WBTA’s legacy of service to Batavia and Genesee County,” Fischer said. As a licensee of a broadcast station, we pledge to the FCC to “serve the public interest, convenience and necessity as a public trustee.”

WBTA is known in the industry as a “heritage” station, Fischer added, “our listeners have grown up with us.” Over the years we have reported individual milestones: births, anniversaries and obituaries. In times of war, the station has reported on service of local men and women in uniform.

The station has broadcast hundreds of local sporting events and have followed area high school teams to regional and state championships. WBTA has been the broadcast voice of Batavia’s professional baseball team.

Through affiliations with national news organizations such as ABC Radio, WBTA has provided coverage of the most notable events of the 20th and 21st century including the Pearl Harbor attack, the assassinations of the 1960’s, wars in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East, the manned moon landing and the terror attacks of Sept 11, 2001.

“Radio broadcasting has certainly undergone significant changes over the past 75 years and will continue to change and evolve over the next 75 years,” Fischer said, “but I believe its basic commitment to serving the public interest will never change.”