Utica’s Roser Surrenders License for WVTL

UTICA-ROME — Another AM station bites the dust. Locally-owned Roser Communications Network has surrendered its broadcast license for 1570 WVTL Amsterdam. In turn, the Federal Communications Commission announced today that the license has been cancelled, effective July 6, 2026.

WVTL and FM translator W284BZ (104.7 FM) most-recently offered a classic country music format. The signals went dark on January 1. As part of a “request for silent authority” application filed with the FCC in February, RCN President Kenneth Roser told the Commission:

Roser Communications Network, Inc., licensee of WVTL and W284BZ, both licensed to Amsterdam, New York, can no longer justify the costs associated with continued transmission and seeks to sell the stations. It took both stations dark on January 1, 2026. It requests a six month period to remain silent.

Although the STA approved WVTL and W284BZ to remain silent through early August, RCN filed an application to cancel the license on June 29. The FCC approved as of July 6 and announced this approval in its daily list of broadcast license actions today.

WVTL was a Class B signal broadcasting at 1,000 watts during the day, with the FCC requiring a sharp drop to just 204 watts at night to avoid interfering with Mexican clear channel (note the lower case; no relation with the company which has since rebranded as iHeart) station XERF on the same frequency.

According to WVTL’s Wikipedia entry, Roser in 2021 had a tentative deal to sell WVTL to Think Tank Media, the owner of nearby WENT Gloversville, but the deal fell through the following year.

The elimination of WVTL allows Roser to focus on its core stations based in Utica, including Bug Country 99.7/101.1 (WBUG/WBGK), top-40 KISS-FM 97.9/105.5 (WSKS/WSKU) and Talk! 100.7FM (WUTQ). Kenneth Roser is also president and CEO of advertising agency Professional Media Services (ProMedia).

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