View source for WVAR

{{Infobox radio station
| name             = WVAR
| logo             = WSGB WVAR.jpg
| city             = [[Richwood, West Virginia]]
| area             = [[Richwood, West Virginia]]<br/>[[Craigsville, West Virginia]]<br/>[[Summersville, West Virginia]]
| branding         = ''The Mighty 1490''
| airdate          = November 16, 1957 (as WMNF)
| frequency        = 600 [[kilohertz|kHz]]
| translator       = 92.5 W223DF (Summersville)<br>98.9 W255DO (Summersville)
| format           = [[Classic hits]]
| power            = 1,000 [[watt]]s (daytime)<br>55 [[watt]]s (nighttime)
| class            = D
| facility_id      = 54372
| callsign_meaning = '''W'''est '''V'''irgini'''A''' '''R'''adio
| former_callsigns =
| affiliations     =
| owner            = Summit Media Broadcasting, LLC
| sister_stations  = [[WAFD]], [[WDBS]], [[WKQV]], [[WSGB]], [[WCWV]], [[WVBD]]
| webcast          =
| website          = [http://summitmediawv.com/front-page/wsgb-am/ WVAR/WSGB Online]
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
'''WVAR''' is an [[United States|American]] radio station located in [[Richwood, West Virginia]] that plays a [[classic hits]] format.
The station also carries [[West Virginia University]] basketball and [[Richwood High School (West Virginia)|Richwood High School]] sports. While it simulcasts sister station [[WSGB]] full-time, WVAR breaks away for sports broadcasts.
==History==
{{unreferenced|date=April 2015}}
===As WMNF===
WVAR first went on the air on November 16, 1957, and first broadcast at 1280 AM under the call letters WMNF.  The original owner was Royal Broadcasting Company, of which Herman Dotson served as president and Art Grunewald as general manager.  Studios were located along Cemetery Road in Richwood.  By 1959, the call letters were changed to WVAR, as they remain today.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
===As WVAR===
On January 1, 1965, WVAR was sold to R & S Broadcasting.  Carl Gainer was the new company president, and Virgil Graves became General Manager.  In 1968, WVAR moved from its dial position of 1280&nbsp;kHz to 600&nbsp;kHz.  The station retained its daytime-only broadcast hours and output power of 1,000 watts.
In 1991, WVAR moved its studios and offices to 713 Main Street in Summersville, but would maintain a local presence in Richwood at 2 Rhododendron Drive, formerly known as Cemetery Road.  On December 24, 1996, after more than 30 years of ownership, WVAR was sold by R & S Broadcasting to J & K Broadcasting.  The ownership change also resulted in the pairing of an FM sister station, [[WAFD]], which had gone on the air earlier that year with a southern and country gospel format.
In mid-February 2003, an ice storm that ravaged the southern part of West Virginia toppled the WVAR broadcasting antenna atop Hinkle Mountain which overlooks Richwood. In the following summer the station and its owner raised funds to erect a new antenna.  The station was closed with a dark license while funds were sought to replace it.
On March 13, 2007, J & K Broadcasting, Inc. sold WVAR to Summit Media Broadcasting, LLC for $1.24 million in a transaction that included sister FM station WAFD in Webster Springs.  Summit Media also owns WDBS-FM and WSGB-AM.  Studios were moved to 202 Back Fork Street in Webster Springs.
On May 15, 2007, WVAR dropped its country format and began simulcasting sister WSGB-AM's oldies format as "The Mighty 1490".  That October, Summit Media filed an application with the FCC to waive main studio requirements for WVAR, which would allow on-air operations to be co-located with WSGB and other stations in Summit Media's ownership group.
===Translator===
In November 2009, Summit Media filed an application to rebroadcast WVAR's signal over FM translator [[W251AY]], licensed to Birch River.  The translator, licensed to operate at 98.1&nbsp;MHz, broadcasts at 250 watts at a height of 256 m above average terrain.  The translator, which has been on the air since 2004, had been previously used to rebroadcast the signal of sister FM station [[WDBS]].
==External links==
*[http://summitmediawv.com/front-page/wsgb-am/ WVAR/WSBG Online]
*[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-BC-YB-IDX/90s-OCR-YB/1997-YB/1997-BC-YB-OCR-Page-0651.pdf#search=%22wafd%22 1997 Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook]
{{AM station data|54372|WVAR}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|200388|W223DF}}
*{{FXL|W223DF}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|145706|W255DO}}
*{{FXL|W255DO}}
{{EastCentralWV Radio}}
{{Classic Hits Radio Stations in West Virginia}}
{{coord|38|13|50|N|80|32|49|W|type:landmark_region:US|display=title}}
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1957]]
[[Category:Radio stations in West Virginia|VAR]]
[[Category:Classic hits radio stations in the United States]]