The History of WVUV

WVUV Radio traces its history to 1942, when Navy man Homer Willess established a radio station on Tutuila to provide entertainment to the military troops stationed there.  (Click on "Early WVUV" above, to learn more).  The station eventually became part of "the Coconut Wireless" network, a chain of stations that served various Pacific islands during WWII.  After the war, the station was turned over to the government of American Samoa, which operated WVUV-AM until 1973. 

In 1973, WVUV-AM was privatized.  Businessman Lawrence Berger, who owned stations in Hawaii and Guam, purchased the station and began operating WVUV-AM as a commercial facility.  At the time, the station was operating on 1120 kHz, with a power of 10,000 watts.  (The original WVUV-AM, stablished in 1942, operated on 1050 kHz.  It is unclear when the station moved to 1120 kHz).

In 1980, Berger applied to change WVUV's frequency to 650 kHz.  However, due to a newly adopted International treaty, the application was modified to specify 648 kHz.  That application was granted and WVUV-AM moved to the new frequency in August, 1982.

After a fire destroyed the station's studio and transmitting facilities in Leone in 1999, the station was purchased in 2000 by South Seas Broadcasting, Inc.  South Seas returned the station to the air at low power and has been granted an FCC permit to construct new facilities for WVUV-AM. 

When the 103.1 frequency became available, the station joined the South Seas Broadcasting family and was christened WVUV-FM, in honor of American Samoa's pioneer radio station, WVUV-AM.  WVUV-FM, which commenced operation in March 2008, is known on-air as "V103."  Broadcasting to all of Tutuila on 103.1 mHz, "V103" features Polynesian and Samoan music and bilingual announcers.  V103 shares facilities with sister-station KKHJ-FM ("93KHJ"), operating from Pago Plaza in "downtown" Pago Pago.