New station owner to bring KQV-AM radio back on air

A month after Pittsburgh's oldest all-news radio station went dark, KQV-AM has been snapped up by a new owner, pending approval by federal regulators.

Broadcast Communications Inc. — which owns several AM and FM stations in Western Pennsylvania — has agreed to buy the dormant station from Calvary Inc. for $55,000, free and clear of debt, Federal Communication Commission records show.

The final transaction hinges on the FCC's approval.

KQV, whose roots dated to 1919, went off the air Jan. 1.

Bob Dickey Jr., KQV's departing vice president and general manager, told the Tribune-Review in mid-December that the decision to go silent could be attributed to years of declining advertising revenue coupled with increased labor costs.

Prior to folding, KQV had been independently owned since 1982, when Dickey's father, Robert W. Dickey Sr., and the late Dick Scaife, former Tribune-Review publisher, formed Calvary Inc. to buy it from Taft Broadcasting. Scaife sold the station back to Dickey and his sister, Cheryl A. Scott, after their father died in 2011.

Scott died in November.

Dickey Jr. had said he hoped someone would revive the station and make it last another 100 years.

The buyers — Robert M. Stevens and Ashley R. Stevens of BCI — will acquire the station's license as well as all its equipment, documents, production libraries and other assets, free and clear of debt, according to the limited asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on Jan. 31.

Robert Stevens, who owns stations Maryland, was not immediately available to comment.

With the acquisition of KQV, Robert Stevens will own four AM and three FM stations within a market of 45 stations, which complies with federal broadcasting ownership rules, the purchase agreement states.

BCI's other radio stations

The purchase agreement, signed by Stevens and Dickey Jr. on Tuesday, further authorizes BCI to apply with the FCC to move KQV's transmission facilities to one of BCI's existing transmitter sites, WEDO-AM in McKeesport.

BCI purchased WEDO 810 AM for $175,000 from Judith Baron's 810 Inc. in 2015.

Among BCI's other holdings in the region: WKFB 770 AM (talk/oldies) in Jeannette; WKHB 620 AM (talk/oldies) in Irwin; WKHB 103.9 FM (variety/oldies) in Scottdale; WKVE 103.1 FM (classic rock) in Mt. Pleasant; WANB 1210 AM (country) in Waynesburg.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@tribweb.com or via Twitter @NewsNatasha.