WVMR, Frost West Virginia

Owned and operated by the Pocahontas Cooperative Communications Cooperative, WVMR is a sole service non-commercial broadcast station, located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. There are no other radio or television stations in the county, and WVMR was built to serve the residents of this isolated area with a full schedule of community oriented programming, produced locally by volunteers.

WVMR took to the air in 1982 at 1370 khz on the AM dial. Due to the restrictions imposed by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia (some 8 miles north of the WVMR transmitter), no FM broadcasting is allowed. The NRAO has very sensitive radio telescopes that would be overwhelmed by a local FM transmitter, and WVMR was only allowed to broadcast on the relativly low frequencies of the AM dial. Even so, WVMR has become integral to the Pocahontas County region, and is the sole source for news and information, as well as entertainment for the county.

One of the 45 foot diameter receiving dishes at the NRAO, Green Bank, West Virginia

In May of 1995, as part of a long term expansion, WVMR built two new FM stations in adjacent Highland and Bath Counties, Virginia. WVLS, Monterey and WCHG, Hot Springs, provide WVMR programming during the daylight hours, and then bring local programming to each of their listening areas after dark. As the volunteer base for these stations grow, so will the program schedule.

The elevation at WVMR is 2600 feet above sea level. The weather is quite mild in the summer, but can be pretty chilly in the winter.

WVMR operates with 5000 watts, and can be heard over a wide area as far south as Lewisburg (on Interstate 64), as far east as Monterey, Virginia, and north into Franklin, West Virginia. WVMR's call letters stand for "West Virginia Mountain Radio".