Tune a Roanoke Valley radio to 96.9 FM and supple jazz melodies play. Soon that music will be joined by community programming catering to Roanoke’s 24017 zip code, encompassing the Melrose, Villa Heights, Washington Heights, and Cherry Hill neighborhoods in the city’s northwest quadrant.
Radio Melrose, launched in July, resulted from an agreement between WVTF Public Radio and the station’s executive director, David S. Points, a retired U.S. Navy commander and former Michigan state legislator who owns WJFX (FOX) AM radio in Roanoke.
“WVTF has long served as a trusted source of news and information across the region. Radio Melrose extends that commitment into neighborhood-level programming,” said WVTF General Manager Roger Duvall. “We’re interested in uplifting the community as best we can.”
Points, 71, said the new station will cater to the communities in Northwest Roanoke with a mission to encourage education and highlight available community resources, such as the Melrose Branch Library in Melrose Plaza. He added that the station’s mission to educate also functions as community outreach from Virginia Tech. “You cannot put a price on that.”
The official launch of Radio Melrose on July 19 dovetailed with other revitalization efforts such as the establishment of Melrose Plaza, a center for education, banking, grocery shopping, health, and more at the corner of Melrose Avenue and 24th Street that held its grand opening on July 30.
“Radio Melrose is in the process of filling out more of its programming and will offer people and organizations in the community the chance to host their own programs,” Points said. “Currently it’s jazz-oriented, but we are moving toward community programs on Saturday and Sunday, health food programs, finance programs, programs that educate about mortgaging real estate.”
These programming plans became possible through the collaboration between WVTF and Radio Melrose. “He came to us with the idea already formed,” said Duvall. “Dr. Points is financing a lot of it himself.”
The reason for the arrangement is quite technical. 96.9 FM, which Points owns, is designated as a translator radio station by the Federal Communications Commission, which means that it’s permitted to only broadcast a signal that’s already in the market. To meet that requirement, WVTF is broadcasting Radio Melrose on one of its hybrid digital (HD) channels, with 96.9 rebroadcasting that signal.
“We teamed up in order to make this FM station happen,” said Duvall. He noted that once Points acquired the frequency with the intent to fulfill a need for the African American community in the region, the FCC placed him under a tight deadline to get the station on air. “We got it on the air with jazz music, and he’s still working on the talk show portion of it.”
“It’s taken off stronger and faster than I anticipated,” Points said. “I’m knocking on doors now. As we bring people in, we want to make sure we sustain them and offer gainful employment. One of the emphases is to bring young people in to learn about radio, so we don’t lose that knowledge base.”
By Mike Allen
