WRVE

Infobox Radio station


name = WRVE
airdate = February 1, 1939
frequency = 99.5 MHz HD Radio
erp = 14.5 kw
haat = convert|282|m|ft|lk=on|sp=us
class = B
branding = 99.5 The River
callsign_meaning = W (Hudson) RiVEr
city = Schenectady, New York
area = Primary: Capital District, Upper Hudson Valley, Lower Adirondack Region
Secondary: The Berkshires, Eastern Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson Valley
format = Hot Adult Contemporary
callsign_meaning = (Hudson) RiVEr
former_callsigns = WGFM (1939-1988)
WGY-FM (1988-1994)
owner = Clear Channel Communications
sister_stations = WGY, WHRL, WPYX, WTRY-FM, WKKF, WOFX
website = [http://www.wrvefm.com/ www.wrvefm.com]

WRVE (99.5 The River) is a Hot Adult Contemporary radio station licensed to Schenectady, New York and serving the Capital District and Upper Hudson Valley of New York. It broadcasts at 99.5 FM at 14.5 kilowatts ERP from a transmitter in Guilderland, New York. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is one of six radio stations currently owned by the company in the Albany market.

History

Though the history of the station as WRVE and "The River" dates back only to March 1994, the station has a wildly successful past, a byproduct of the station being owned by General Electric with similarly pioneering sisters WGY and WRGB. WRVE traces its history to W2XDA Schenectady and W2XOY New Scotland, two two experimental frequency modulation transmitters on 48.5 MHz which signed on in 1939. The two were merged into one station, with the W2XOY calls, on November 20, 1940 with the station taking the WGFM calls later in the decade and moving to 99.5 MHz when the FM band was relocated.

On June 1, 1961 at 12:01 AM (EDT), WGFM became the first FM station in the United States to broadcast in stereo. During this time the station began to break away from simulcasting WGY and migrated to a classical format which evolved into easy listening. As FM developed, the 99.5 frequency played host to formats ranging from TM's automated "Stereo Rock" ("Rock 99", mid-1970s) and Adult Contemporary ("99 The Light", early-1980s)

In 1983, the station flipped to Top 40 as "99 'GFM" and spent much of the 80s in hot pursuit of WFLY; it was during this time General Electric sold WGFM and WGY and the stations went through several owners over the next decade. By 1989, flagging ratings led the station to reimage and, in turn, drop the longtime WGFM calls for what the station had promoted itself as early on: WGY-FM. After almost two years as a younger-leaning Top 40 as "Electric 99" (in an indirect reference to WGY-FM's decades long General Electric ownership), WGY-FM flipped to Oldies at a time when two other stations in the market had the format. WGY-FM and WGFM launched many careers.

In late 1993, Dame Media purchased WGY and WGY-FM. When Dame took control in March 1994, they immediately changed 99.5's format from Oldies to the current "River" format. At the outset, the station branded as "Rock without the hard edge" and sounded more akin to an Adult Album Alternative station though it mainstreamed over time (even more so after Clear Channel purchased Dame in 1998).

In 2005, WRVE upgraded to IBOC digital radio alongside the rest of Clear Channel's Albany stations. On August 17, 2006, WRVE began airing an HD2 channel with an Adult Album Alternative similar to, but more varied than, the original "River" format.

External links

*fmq|WRVE