WDVA
Station Information
Call Letters: WDVA
Frequency: 1250 AM
Location: Danville, VA
WDVA banned The Beatles!
Evidence of the Ban:
On August 4, 1966, The Danville Register reported, "The sound of records being smashed into pieces was the first thing heard last night by listeners tuning in a Danville disc jockey's regular evening show. That was deejay Wayne Williams' way of dramatizing a new station policy for WDVA -- no more Beatles' records.... Williams reported that he got a similar reaction after making his 'no more Beatles' pronouncement last night. 'The switchboard just lit up,' said the local disc jockey, 'and every caller was in favor of our stand.' Williams said most of the callers sounded like adults. His program was on the air for some 25 minutes before giving way to a ballgame, but Williams said he counted more than 20 calls.... Williams and WDVA program director Homer Thomasson decided to drop Beatle records yesterday afternoon. Williams noted that 'as far as I'm concerned, the new Beatle records are no good anyway.' Both said they had no use for 'anybody who thinks they're better than Jesus Christ.' "
Two days later (August 6, 1966), the Danville Register updated the situation. "One Danville station, WDVA, was among a number around the country which announced it no longer would play Beatle records because of Lennon's 'sacrilegious' remarks. WDVA disc jockey Wayne Williams announced the ban on his record program early in the week, and the station amplified its position in a subsequent editorial. Williams said last night the station will have no more to say about the matter, but if anybody wants to hear the Beatles, he'll have to tune in to another station. Telephone calls to the station, he said, have run overwhelmingly in favor of its stand. 'We weren't doing it for the publicity,' he added. 'We decided to ban them, we explained why, and that's it.'"
Current Info:
phone: (434) 797-1250
email: wdvaradio@gmail.com
Correspondence:
[contacted, no response]