WRWD-FM
| File:Wrwd logo.jpg | |
| Broadcast area | Hudson Valley, eastern Catskills |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 107.3 MHz |
| Branding | Country 107.3 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| History | |
First air date | September 1989 |
Call sign meaning | William R Walker (father of original owner) D (random letter) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | A |
| Power | 330 watts |
| ERP | 6 kW |
| Links | |
| Website | www.wrwdcountry1073.com |
WRWD-FM (aka Country 107.3) is the callsign of a country music radio station licenced 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.
WRWD-FM's programming is simulcasted during the daytime hours on 1370 WRWD in Ellenville (the former WELV). The programming of both stations is known on-air as "WRWD" regardless.
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 father (likewise, later addition WBWZ would pay tribute to his mother). 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 City, Albany and Hartford were garnering significant shares in the Hudson Valley. At the outset, most programming on the station was satellite fed with former WKIP personality Mike Vincent hosting mornings on the station.
1994 saw a major change as Walker gave control of the station to local country artist Ken Goynea ("Smilin' Ken your Radio Friend") who replaced Vincent 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. WRWD's ratings would soon fall under Gonyea's direction as the listener base that WRWD had acquired would soon leave. Also added were FM translators in Newburgh, Middletown, and Kingston, all of which either signed off or took on simulcasting new stations by 2000.
In 1996, WRWD AM/FM and WBWZ were sold by Walker to to Hudson Valley Radio Partners, a short-term holding company. The new ownership relieved Gonyea of his duties and took the station to an all-local, current-leaning mainstream format and returned Vincent to mornings from WBWZ. Though Vincent would soon leave radio (and return on a limited basis years later), the new approach restored the station's former numbers and the next year the stations were sold to Roberts Radio. After WWLE was sold in 2000, Roberts sold the remnants of their group to Clear Channel Communications which took over that 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 returned to an AM simulcast when the former WELV flipped from standards to a WRWD simulcast during daytime hours.
External links
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