[3] First coming on the air in 1947, WCVI was a typical radio station of its time, boasting a middle-of-the-road music format with local talk and sports broadcasts, serving Western Pennsylvania's fabled "Fay-West" area (southern Westermoreland and northern Fayette Counties.
Over the years, WCVI became one of the top stations in Western Pennsylvania, and best known for fostering the careers of local sportscaster legends Kevin Harrison and Jack Benedict.
On June 28, 1951, the owner principals of WCVI changed, though the name of the licensee remained the same, with a local physician, Dr. Cam T. "Doc" Troilo assuming control of the station from Raymond Galiardi by 1955.
Though the licenses of the two stations were separately owned, both Heshler and Kelly were able to make a partnership work, doing business as Mar Kel Partners, Limited, reducing expenses through shared employee functions.
After Kelly acquired WPQR, he moved the on-air operations of his station to the WCVI building, but maintained a satellite sales office in downtown Uniontown.
Creditors forced WCVI and WPQR into receivership in August 2000 after they reportedly racked up more than $1.5 million in debts; both stations were finally sold in a bankruptcy bid sale that November for $475,000 to Keymarket Communications.
[8] WCVI also went silent in June 2001 after it and WPQR were acquired for $475,000 by Keymarket Communications of Carnegie in a January bankruptcy court sale, to satisfy more than a million dollars in debt incurred by Mar Com and Kel Com.