City Virginia, Minnesota First air date 1936 Class C | Frequency 1400 kHz Format Silent | |
Power 1,000 watts (unlimited) | ||
WEEP (1400 AM) is a radio station formerly licensed to serve Virginia, Minnesota. The FCC license, most recently held by Full Armor Ministries, Inc., expired on August 1, 2005. The station last aired a Religious radio format. The station began broadcasting in 1936, with a power of 250 watts. It was the ninth oldest station in Minnesota.
The station was purchased in 1951 by Frank P. Befera, a pioneer in Minnesota broadcasting. The station remained in the Befera family (dba Virginia Broadcasting Company) until it was sold to Full Armor Ministries of Eveleth, Minnesota, for a reported sale price of $52,000. The deal closed on October 1, 2000, gained FCC approval on February 13, 2001, and transfer was consummated on April 1, 2001.
The station was assigned the WEEP call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on March 7, 2001. The call letters were deleted from the FCC database on June 27, 2006, although the station is officially listed as "licensed and silent."
The station has been silent since a transmitter failure in December 2002. The tower, lacking basic maintenance, was described as "rusting away" during an August 2005 visit by radio journalist Scott Fybush.
Efforts to sell the station to the city of Virginia were complicated and ultimately thwarted by licensee Full Armor Ministries' failure to file a timely license renewal. In January 2008, the FCC denied a petition for reconsideration from the (now former) licensee and the city.
In 2008, the City of Virginia gave permission to a local firm to dismantle the former studio building and radio tower. The building was moved and the tower taken down. Today, only a small grove of trees marks the area where the radio station was located. The city is hoping that the site will eventually be used for future economic endeavors.