A Western Tidewater radio station received several awards during the Virginia Association of Broadcasters’ 77th annual summer convention in Virginia Beach recently.

The highlight of the annual gathering was the Friday night Awards Dinner and Gala, where Virginia’s outstanding radio and television stations are recognized for their work.

Before approximately 500 fellow television and radio broadcasters from all around the state, Real Country 101.7 (WLQM-FM) was recognized for outstanding work in several categories, including a first-place award for “Best Station Website” honoring its recently launched website, www.realcountry1017.com.

The station also received first-place awards for “Best Human Interest Series” for its weekly School Pride series and “Best Station Contest/Promotion” for the “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa” contest. The station was also recognized with a runner-up award in the “Best Commercial” division for its “Ruby & Pearl” commercial, created for a furniture store client.

“I couldn’t be happier about tonight’s recognition,” said Michael Clark, station vice president and general manager.

“It’s validation of my team’s hard work and dedication throughout this past year, and to have our work validated by our broadcasting peers is extremely meaningful. We are one of the few remaining independently owned and operated stations and to go head-to-head with larger stations and win. That’s impressive.”

Once again this year, a panel from the West Virginia Association of Broadcasters served as judges for the VAB Station Awards. Television and radio stations compete among stations across the sate in similar-sized markets. Stations are grouped by large, medium and small market. Real Country 101.7 competed in the small market category.

“This was an exciting win tonight for our team, but more importantly for our listeners and advertisers,” said Clark.  “Our goal is to provide engaging and relevant programming content for our listeners and outstanding marketing ideas for our advertising partners. I think these awards prove we’re accomplishing both.”

Franklin Broadcasting Corporation is a third generation, locally owned and operated broadcast company, started by the Clark family of Franklin in 1956. Franklin Broadcasting owns WLQM-FM and sister station WLQM-AM, which serve the Western Tidewater and northeast North Carolina markets.