WRWD-FM

Infobox Radio station
name = WRWD-FM


city = Highland, New York
area = Hudson Valley, eastern Catskills
branding = Country 107.3
slogan = Continuous Country Favorites
airdate = September 1989
frequency = 107.3 MHz, 99.3 MHz
format = Country music
power = 330 watts
erp = 6 kw
haat = 295 meters
class = A
callsign_meaning = children : Rachel, William Jr, and David
owner = Clear Channel Communications
website = [http://www.wrwdfm.com/ www.wrwdfm.com/]
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WRWD-FM ("Country 107.3") 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.

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 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 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 WRWC (99.3 MHz) in Ellenville.

External links

* [http://www.wrwdfm.com WRWD Homepage]
*FMQ|WRWD
*FML|WRWD