Charleston, W.Va., Bristol Broadcasting stations report technical issues after on-air ‘ransomware’ mention
WVSR-FM (Electric 102.7), owned by Bristol Broadcasting, told listeners around 7 a.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, that the station was experiencing a technical disruption in Charleston, West Virginia, according to a listener who heard the on-air announcement. Staff said the incident occurred Sunday and they had just received approval to discuss it on air. The advisory warned of limited functionality — remote hosts unable to join live, traffic/analysis systems and weather inserts affected, and issues with small-cell LTE and office VoIP phones. The announcement used the term “ransomware” while noting the cause was still being assessed, the listener said.
By Tuesday morning, Oct. 7, online streams delivered via the AmperWave player platform (player.amperwave.net) for 97.5 WQBE, 102.7 WVSR and 94.5 WYNL were observed offline or repeatedly failing to connect. AmperWave is a cloud streaming and monetization platform used by U.S. broadcasters to host station players and insert digital ads.
DysruptionHub emailed a Bristol Broadcasting official and did not receive a response by publication time today. Phone calls to multiple published numbers reached the same automated attendant that required a known extension or last name; after multiple attempts, the system would not route to a live operator. Over-the-air broadcasts continued, and it was not immediately clear whether the disruption was limited to business/studio networks or included transmitter-site equipment.
Bristol operates five stations from a shared Charleston facility: WQBE-FM (97.5), WVSR-FM (Electric 102.7), WYNL-FM (New Life 94.5), WVTS-AM (1240) and WBES-AM (950). No threat actor has been identified, and DysruptionHub has not independently verified the root cause or any data exposure. This story will be updated if the company issues a statement or notifies authorities.
Correction:
A previous version of this story said WVSR-FM announced the disruption on Sunday. The station announced it on air around 7 a.m. ET Tuesday and said the incident occurred Sunday. This story has been corrected.