WRWC
Encyclopedia
WKIP-FM is a radio station licensed to Ellenville, New York
and serving an area including much of the Hudson Valley and the eastern parts of the Catskills. WKIP-FM is owned by Clear Channel Communications
and broadcasts on 99.3 MHz at 330 watts power from a tower site on Shawangunk Ridge in Ellenville. The high elevation of this tower site gives the station a fringe coverage area that stretches from the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts
to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania
.
/Easy Listening
format with mostly instrumentals. The station would be known as WDRE and be automated.
In January of 1985, Eric Straus (grandson of Nathan Straus, then owner of WMCA
in New York City
) purchased the stations as the first stations in what would eventually become a regional group. The formats of both WELV and WDRE were dropped. WDRE reverted to the WELV FM call letters and began simulcastinng its AM station, WELV again. The stations flipped to an Adult Standards
format. Core artists included Frank Sinatra
, Jack Jones
, Neil Diamond
, Kay Starr
, Frankie Laine
, Harry James
, Carpenters, Nat King Cole
, Tony bennett
, Glenn Miller
, Bing Crosby
, Perry Como
, Barry Manilow
, The 5th Dimension, and others. The stations would also play softer Elvis Presley
and Beatles songs. At some points, the stations played a few adult contemporary songs mixed in. The station ran a syndicated format, Unforgetable from 1985 to 1986 and then a locally based format until 1989.
In mid 1989, WELV's long-standing format was broken with WELV-FM flipping to a music-intensive, mainly satellite-fed Adult Contemporary format as WWWK (K-Lite) with WELV simulcasting it much of the day. The "K-Lite" format would last until late 1994 when WWWK (and WELV) flipped to a satellite-fed Hot Adult Contemporary format, a format that would serve as a placeholder while Straus waited for a purchase of two stations in Hudson
to close.
In the Spring of 1995, WWWK joined with WRVW
in Hudson with the two stations simulcasting a satellite "hot country
" format known as Thunder Country with WWWK changing its calls to WTHN in the process. With the move, the on-air operations for WTHN (and WELV) would move from Ellenville to Hudson, a move that would be short lived as both the Hudson and Ellenville stations would move to Poughkeepsie in 1997 when the format added WTND
in that city.
Faced with competition from market dominant WRWD, WVOS-FM
in Monticello, and WGNA-FM
in Albany, the Thunder Country format never was successful. After Straus Media sold its stations to Clear Channel Communications
in 2000, a format change at WTHN became apparent. On December 22, these rumors became truth when WCTJ (the former WTND) and WTHN entered joint stunting as Variety 96 & 99 and launched as Rhythmic Top 40 that afternoon using Clear Channel's KissFM brand. Shortly after the start of 2001, WTHN would change its calls to WFKP to match that of WCTJ's new WPKF
calls.
Though the Kiss format was successful marketwide and on WPKF, WFKP suffered from unsteady ratings in the nearby Newburgh/Middletown market. After a period of declining ratings, WFKP left its simulcast with WPKF in March 2005 to flip to an adult contemporary format as "LiteFM", airing a delayed and localized version of the programming heard on sister WRNQ
in Poughkeepsie. However, the experiment proved unwieldy and in the wake of Clear Channel announcing the sale of their Poughkeepsie-area stations the simulcast was terminated on November 20, 2006. Coincidentally, this briefly reunited the former WELV and WELV-FM in terms of programming.
On November 20, 2006, WRWC (then WFKP) flipped from its "LiteFM" adult contemporary format (a "shadowcast" of the same format airing on WRNQ
in Poughkeepsie) to two days of love songs as "Cupid 99.3". After that ended, WFKP began playing a "Country Holiday Favorites" format and announced that after Christmas the station will begin simulcasting with sister station WRWD-FM
, also from Poughkeepsie. On November 28, new call letters of WRWC would follow.
On November 2, 2009 WRWC changed their call letters to WKIP-FM and changed their format to news/talk, swapping formats with sister station 1370 AM, WRWD.
Ellenville, New York
Ellenville is a village in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 4,135 at the 2010 census. The postal ZIP code is 12428. The telephone exchange is predominantly 647 and an overlaid 210 in the 845 area code.- Geography :...
and serving an area including much of the Hudson Valley and the eastern parts of the Catskills. WKIP-FM is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and broadcasts on 99.3 MHz at 330 watts power from a tower site on Shawangunk Ridge in Ellenville. The high elevation of this tower site gives the station a fringe coverage area that stretches from the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
History
The 99.3 frequency first signed on in 1970 as WELV-FM, sister to AM daytimer WELV (today's WRWD) and the first FM station in Ulster County outside of Kingston. The FM signal allowed WELV to extend its Middle of the Road programming with the two stations simulcasting during daytime hours with the FM continuing after the AM's signoff. This arrangement would continue until 1981, when WELV-FM would separate from the AM and switch to a Beautiful MusicBeautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
/Easy Listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format with mostly instrumentals. The station would be known as WDRE and be automated.
In January of 1985, Eric Straus (grandson of Nathan Straus, then owner of WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) purchased the stations as the first stations in what would eventually become a regional group. The formats of both WELV and WDRE were dropped. WDRE reverted to the WELV FM call letters and began simulcastinng its AM station, WELV again. The stations flipped to an Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
format. Core artists included Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Jack Jones
Jack Jones
Jack Jones may refer to:In the arts*Jack Jones , Welsh novelist and playwright*Jack Jones , American jazz and pop singer*Jack Jones , singer now known as Irwin ThomasIn politics...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
, Carpenters, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Tony bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, The 5th Dimension, and others. The stations would also play softer Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Beatles songs. At some points, the stations played a few adult contemporary songs mixed in. The station ran a syndicated format, Unforgetable from 1985 to 1986 and then a locally based format until 1989.
In mid 1989, WELV's long-standing format was broken with WELV-FM flipping to a music-intensive, mainly satellite-fed Adult Contemporary format as WWWK (K-Lite) with WELV simulcasting it much of the day. The "K-Lite" format would last until late 1994 when WWWK (and WELV) flipped to a satellite-fed Hot Adult Contemporary format, a format that would serve as a placeholder while Straus waited for a purchase of two stations in Hudson
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...
to close.
In the Spring of 1995, WWWK joined with WRVW
WZCR
WZCR is an oldies radio station licensed to Hudson, New York, and serving Columbia and Greene counties as well as the upper Hudson Valley, the southern Capital District, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts...
in Hudson with the two stations simulcasting a satellite "hot country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
" format known as Thunder Country with WWWK changing its calls to WTHN in the process. With the move, the on-air operations for WTHN (and WELV) would move from Ellenville to Hudson, a move that would be short lived as both the Hudson and Ellenville stations would move to Poughkeepsie in 1997 when the format added WTND
WPKF
WPKF is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River...
in that city.
Faced with competition from market dominant WRWD, WVOS-FM
WVOS-FM
WVOS-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Classic Hits format. Licensed to Liberty, New York, USA. The station is currently owned by Watermark Communications LLC and features programming from ABC Radio .-History:...
in Monticello, and WGNA-FM
WGNA-FM
WGNA-FM is a country music-formatted radio station licensed to Albany, New York and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and broadcasts at 12.5 kilowatts from the Helderberg Mountains tower farm in New Scotland...
in Albany, the Thunder Country format never was successful. After Straus Media sold its stations to Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
in 2000, a format change at WTHN became apparent. On December 22, these rumors became truth when WCTJ (the former WTND) and WTHN entered joint stunting as Variety 96 & 99 and launched as Rhythmic Top 40 that afternoon using Clear Channel's KissFM brand. Shortly after the start of 2001, WTHN would change its calls to WFKP to match that of WCTJ's new WPKF
WPKF
WPKF is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower mounted on the roof of the Ross Pavilion at the Hudson River...
calls.
Though the Kiss format was successful marketwide and on WPKF, WFKP suffered from unsteady ratings in the nearby Newburgh/Middletown market. After a period of declining ratings, WFKP left its simulcast with WPKF in March 2005 to flip to an adult contemporary format as "LiteFM", airing a delayed and localized version of the programming heard on sister WRNQ
WRNQ
WRNQ is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Highland, New York to which it moved...
in Poughkeepsie. However, the experiment proved unwieldy and in the wake of Clear Channel announcing the sale of their Poughkeepsie-area stations the simulcast was terminated on November 20, 2006. Coincidentally, this briefly reunited the former WELV and WELV-FM in terms of programming.
On November 20, 2006, WRWC (then WFKP) flipped from its "LiteFM" adult contemporary format (a "shadowcast" of the same format airing on WRNQ
WRNQ
WRNQ is an adult contemporary radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Highland, New York to which it moved...
in Poughkeepsie) to two days of love songs as "Cupid 99.3". After that ended, WFKP began playing a "Country Holiday Favorites" format and announced that after Christmas the station will begin simulcasting with sister station WRWD-FM
WRWD-FM
WRWD-FM are the call letters of a country music radio station licensed to Highland, New York and primarily serving the mid-Hudson Valley of New York. The station broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower near Illinois Mountain in Marlborough, New York shared with sister station WBWZ...
, also from Poughkeepsie. On November 28, new call letters of WRWC would follow.
On November 2, 2009 WRWC changed their call letters to WKIP-FM and changed their format to news/talk, swapping formats with sister station 1370 AM, WRWD.