WCRR

Infobox Radio Station
name = WCRR


area = South Bristol/Rochester, New York
branding = "Country 107.3"
slogan =
airdate = 1996
frequency = 107.3 (MHz)
format = Country music
erp = 650 watts
class = A
owner = Clear Channel Communications
website = [http://www.mycountryfm.com mycountryfm.com]
callsign_meaning = CountRy Rochester

WCRR, also known as Country 107.3, is an FM radio station airing a country music format. The Clear Channel Communications outlet broadcasts at 107.3MHz with an ERP of 650 watts. Their city of license is South Bristol, New York; however, it is programmed and operated by Clear Channel's Rochester, New York cluster.

WCRR is one of four country music stations available in the western Finger Lakes region. Besides rival (and the dominant Rochester station) WBEE, the other stations include WUUF in Sodus and WFLK in Geneva.

History

:"This article describes the history of the 107.3 frequency in the Rochester area. For the history of radio stations broadcasting from the Bristol Mountain site prior to 2004, see WFXF."

The station now known as WCRR was granted a construction permit in 1991 under the calls WFUD. It signed on in 1996 as WRCD, licensed to Honeoye Falls. A sister station to WMAX-FM 106.7, WRCD operated from the WMAX studios at 412 State Street in downtown Rochester and a transmitter site in Bloomfield, on the southeastern edge of the Rochester market. Under original owner Auburn Cablevision, WRCD used a satellite-delivered smooth jazz format from Sony's SW programming service.ref|1

In 1997, Auburn Cablevision sold WMAX-FM and WRCD to Jacor Communications. On February 19, 1998, Jacor rearranged the formats on its new acquisitions. WRCD's smooth jazz was replaced by a rhythmic top-40 format called "Jam'n 107.3." On March 1, 1998, WRCD changed calls to WMAX-FM, as the former WMAX-FM on 106.7 became WYSY.

The "Jam'n" nickname gave way to a more mainstream top-40 format as "Kiss 107" in December, 1998. On April 30, 1999, "Kiss" moved down the dial to 106.7, which changed calls from WYSY to WKGS. 107.3 stunted briefly as "Big Cow Country," then flipped to rhythmic oldies on May 1, 1999 as "Jammin' Oldies,ref|2" later modified to "Cool 107" under new calls WLCL which took effect July 9, 1999.

In February 2000, WLCL changed format to 80s pop music as "Channel 107.3." On September 3, 2001, WLCL began stunting with an all-ABBA format, returning the following week to rhythmic oldies.ref|3 At the same time, station owner Clear Channel was preparing to relocate the 107.3 facility to South Bristol as part of an upgrade to sister station WNVE on 95.1, which was changing city of license from South Bristol to Honeoye Falls in order to move its transmitter to Baker Hill, closer to Rochester. In January 2002, WLCL relocated its transmitter to the Bristol Mountain site built in 1948 for the Rural Radio Network and formerly used by WNVE. As a class A station from Bristol Mountain, WLCL's new signal in the Rochester market was relatively weak, though the station was well heard in most of the western Finger Lakes region.ref|4

In December 2002, WLCL dropped the rhythmic oldies format and began stunting with Christmas music as "Rudolph Radio," then with two days of country music. On December 26, 2002, WLCL changed format to classic rock as "107.3 the Fox," taking new calls WFXF on March 28, 2003.

On July 4, 2004, Clear Channel swapped formats and calls between 95.1 and 107.3, sending classic rock WFXF to the stronger 95.1 signal and moving the WNVE calls and "Nerve" modern rock format to the weaker 107.3 facility. The move followed Clear Channel's corporate decision to remove Howard Stern from its airwaves, which left WNVE without its main ratings draw.ref|5 By 2006, the playlist had shrunk to about 20 songs.

On August 30, 2006, the Nerve was replaced with a "Wheel Of Formats" under the moniker "Huge 107.3," sponsored by local automobile dealership Fuccillo Hyundai. After six days of stunting, the station flipped to a Rhythmic/Pop Contemporary format known as "SNAP! 107.3." The station also picked up "Wake Up With Whoopi" for mornings. It changed call signs to WSNP on September 15, 2006.ref|6

On May 18, 2007, Clear Channel pulled the plug on the format and went to country music "Country 107.3." On June 14, 2007, the calls were changed to WCRR.

External links

* [http://www.mycountryfm.com Country 107.3 Online]
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References

*1. http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-960809.html
*2. http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-990507.html
*3. http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-010903.html
*4. http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-020130.html
*5. http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2004/040712/nerw.html
*6. http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060905/nerw.html