WRWD-FM
Encyclopedia
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
. The station is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
.
, Albany
and Hartford
were garnering significant shares in the Hudson Valley. At the outset, most programming on the station was satellite fed with former WEOK
personality Ken Gonyea at the helm for Mornings.
1990 saw a major change as Walker gave control of the station to Thom Williams who replaced Ken Gonyea in mornings and as program director while taking the station in a classic-heavy direction. WRWD at this time added an AM simulcast in 1170 WWLE
, a daytime station licenced to Cornwall-on-Hudson which would soon take on the WRWD calls with the FM becoming suffixed. Also added were FM translators in Newburgh, Middletown, and Kingston, all of which either signed off or took on simulcasting new stations by 2000. By 1992, WRWD added former WBPM personality Mike Vincent to their afternoon roster, who later left WRWD by February 1996 for middays/Production Director for 103.1 WGNY,Newburgh, NY.
In 1996, WRWD AM/FM and WBWZ were sold by Walker to Hudson Valley Radio Partners, a short-term holding company. The new ownership relieved morning man Terry Donovan of his duties and took the station to an all-local, current-leaning mainstream format and returned Mike Vincent to mornings from WGNY. Vincent would stay with WRWD until August 1999.
After WWLE was sold in 2000, Roberts sold the remnants of their group to Clear Channel Communications
which assumed operational control in November. Under Clear Channel, WRWD became #1 in Dutchess and Ulster counties for the first time in 2002 - a feat repeated several times since then.
In 2005, WRWD added an AM simulcast when the former WELV changed format from standards to WRWD's Country Music format. Following the announcement of the proposed Clear Channel decision to be acquired by a private equity group, WRWD (AM) ended its simulcast, which has moved to WKIP-FM (99.3 MHz) in Ellenville.
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...
radio station licensed to Highland, New York
Highland, Ulster County, New York
Highland is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,060 at the 2000 census.Highland is a community in the Town of Lloyd, on U.S. Route 9W. Routes 44 and 55 run through it as well...
and primarily serving the mid-Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
of New York. The station broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
from a tower near Illinois Mountain in Marlborough, New York
Marlborough, New York
Marlborough is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 8,263 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Duke of Marlborough....
shared with sister station WBWZ
WBWZ
WBWZ is an Hot Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to New Paltz, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state...
. The station is owned and operated 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...
.
History
WRWD was put on the air in September 1989 by apple orchard owner William H. ("Bud") Walker who used the call letters to pay tribute to his children, Rachel, William Jr, and David. WRWD took on the country format long avoided by area stations at a time when past failures daunted existing owners and out-of-market stations from New York CityWYNY (New York)
WYNY was the call letters of radio stations on three different FM frequencies in or around New York City. The stations on the first two frequencies, 97.1 and 103.5, were closely related while the last one, 107.1 on an FM Quadcast, was not....
, Albany
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...
and Hartford
WWYZ
WWYZ is a Country Station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, broadcasting at 92.5 FM. It is currently owned by Clear Channel Communications, but was formerly locally owned by the Gilmore family as a sister to WATR and WATR-TV...
were garnering significant shares in the Hudson Valley. At the outset, most programming on the station was satellite fed with former WEOK
WEOK
WEOK is a radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Cumulus Media broadcasts on 1390 kHz at 5 kilowatts daytime and 106 watts nighttime from a two-tower directional antenna array adjacent to the Cumulus cluster complex on Pendell...
personality Ken Gonyea at the helm for Mornings.
1990 saw a major change as Walker gave control of the station to Thom Williams who replaced Ken Gonyea in mornings and as program director while taking the station in a classic-heavy direction. WRWD at this time added an AM simulcast in 1170 WWLE
WWLE
WWLE is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Cornwall, New York, USA, the station serves the Newburgh-Middletown area. The station is currently owned by 1170 Broadcast Radio, Inc. and features programing from CNN Radio.-History:The station went on the air as...
, a daytime station licenced to Cornwall-on-Hudson which would soon take on the WRWD calls with the FM becoming suffixed. Also added were FM translators in Newburgh, Middletown, and Kingston, all of which either signed off or took on simulcasting new stations by 2000. By 1992, WRWD added former WBPM personality Mike Vincent to their afternoon roster, who later left WRWD by February 1996 for middays/Production Director for 103.1 WGNY,Newburgh, NY.
In 1996, WRWD AM/FM and WBWZ were sold by Walker to Hudson Valley Radio Partners, a short-term holding company. The new ownership relieved morning man Terry Donovan of his duties and took the station to an all-local, current-leaning mainstream format and returned Mike Vincent to mornings from WGNY. Vincent would stay with WRWD until August 1999.
After WWLE was sold in 2000, Roberts sold the remnants of their group 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...
which assumed operational control in November. Under Clear Channel, WRWD became #1 in Dutchess and Ulster counties for the first time in 2002 - a feat repeated several times since then.
In 2005, WRWD added an AM simulcast when the former WELV changed format from standards to WRWD's Country Music format. Following the announcement of the proposed Clear Channel decision to be acquired by a private equity group, WRWD (AM) ended its simulcast, which has moved to WKIP-FM (99.3 MHz) in Ellenville.