Outlet profile

WV MetroNews

U.S. center-right

Owned byWVRC Media (formerly West Virginia Radio Corporation), controlled by the Raese family through Greer Industries; John Raese, a Republican businessman and perennial Republican candidate for Senate and governor, serves as chairman of the board

FundingAdvertising revenue from its statewide commercial radio network; no public subsidy, subscription, or foundation funding

On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The parent company, West Virginia Radio Corporation, was founded on December 7, 1940, by Herbert and Agnes Greer in Morgantown, West Virginia. When Agnes Greer died in 1972, control passed to her three grandsons, Richard, John, and David Raese. John Raese—a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1984, 2006, 2010, and 2012, and for governor in 1988—became chairman of the board and a driving force behind the company's expansion. In 1984 Dale Miller was named company president, and in 1985 he launched the MetroNews Radio Network as a satellite-distributed statewide news service, beginning with 37 affiliate stations. The network steadily grew to cover all 55 West Virginia counties through more than 60 affiliates and won exclusive radio and TV rights to West Virginia high school sports championships. In December 2021 the parent company rebranded from West Virginia Radio Corporation to WVRC Media. The flagship political talk program, MetroNews Talkline, was long hosted by Hoppy Kercheval, whose approach was widely noted as relatively balanced; Kercheval retired in late 2024. Following that transition, some listeners publicly described the new hosts as markedly more favorable to the Trump administration. Media bias trackers AllSides and Biasly both rate the outlet near the center of the political spectrum, though each assigns low confidence to that rating.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record