WRVV

WRVV
City Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area South Central Pennsylvania
Branding The River 97.3
Slogan "Harrisburg's Real Rock Variety"
Frequency 97.3 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date June 1946
Format Analog/HD1: Classic Rock
HD2: Talk radio (WHP simulcast)
ERP 15,000 watts
HAAT 260 meters (850 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 15324
Transmitter coordinates 40°20′43.3″N 76°52′7.9″W / 40.345361°N 76.868861°W / 40.345361; -76.868861 (NAD27)
Callsign meaning W (Susquehanna) RiVer V
Former callsigns WHP-FM (1946-1990)
WXBB (1990)
WHP-FM (1990-1992)
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc.)
Sister stations WRBT, WHKF, WHP, WTKT
Webcast Listen Live
Website theriver973.iheart.com

WRVV (97.3 FM, "The River 97.3") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts a classic rock format. The station's studios and offices are located at 600 Corporate Circle in Harrisburg.[1] Its antenna is on the WHP-TV broadcast tower located on Blue Mountain in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County at (40°20′43.1″N 76°52′8.3″W / 40.345306°N 76.868972°W / 40.345306; -76.868972).[2][3] WRVV's slogan is "Real. Rock. Variety."

WRVV broadcasts using HD Radio. Its HD2 subchannel simulcasts the talk radio programming broadcast on sister station WHP.[4]

History

In June 1946, the station first signed on as WHP-FM.[5] It was owned by WHP, Inc. and was the second FM station in the region. (WGAL-FM went on the air in 1944, now 101.3 WROZ.) A TV station, WHP-TV 21, was added in 1953. WHP-FM originally simulcast the programming of 580 WHP. Over time, it duplicated WHP about 50% of the broadcast day, with the remainder devoted to instrumentals and some classical music programming. In the 1960s, the station's format evolved to beautiful music, which would continue for nearly three decades. But by the late 1980s, the soft instrumental sound was aging and management decided to change formats.

In February 1990, the station switched its call sign to WXBB.[6] Its format flipped to Contemporary Hit Radio as "B97.3." The Top 40 format was short-lived and the station returned to easy listening as WHP-FM in December 1990.

In March 1992, WHP-AM-FM were sold to Pennsylvania Broadcasting Associates, a division of Dame Media, no longer co-owned with Channel 21.[7] Studios were moved out of the WHP-TV building to a new location at 600 Corporate Circle, Harrisburg. The station went through numerous changes following the sale. The call sign was changed to WRVV in March 1992.[8] The station's branding was switched to "The River 97.3" (it was the first station in the country to be branded as "The River"[9]) while the station's slogan was changed to "Rock and Roll without the Hard Edge." The station changed format to Rock AC,[7][10] a rock music format playing releases from the previous 15 years intended for a general rock listener not interested in current releases.[11] The station's new Operations Manager at the time, Chris Tyler, created the format.[12]

In August 1998, the Dame Media stations including WRVV were sold to Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to iHeartMedia, Inc.[13][14] The format changed to classic rock after the sale. In the mid-2000s, the station changed its slogan to "Real. Rock. Variety."

In 2004, WRVV and Cumulus Media's WNNK-FM were the first stations in Harrisburg to begin using HD Radio.[15] Since the mid-1990s, WRVV and WNNK frequently trade the number one spot in Nielsen Audio's Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle radio market.

References

  1. ↑ "THE RIVER 97.3 Contact Info: Number, Address, Advertising & More". iheart.com. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  2. ↑ "FM Query Results for WRVV". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  3. ↑ "TV Query Results for WHP-TV". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  4. ↑ https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=65 HD Radio Guide for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  5. ↑ Portzline, Timothy (2011). Harrisburg Broadcasting. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 35. ISBN 9780738575070.
  6. ↑ "Call Sign History, WRVV". fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  7. 1 2 Broadcasting Yearbook 1994 page B-313
  8. ↑ Portzline, Timothy (2011). Harrisburg Broadcasting. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 109. ISBN 9780738575070.
  9. ↑ "Clear Channel Cuts Chris Tyler In Harrisburg". mediaconfidential.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  10. ↑ "WTPA Faithful: Unwilling To "Bid" Adieu as Deadline Approaches". radioinfo.com. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  11. ↑ "Radio Station Format Guide". nyradioguide.com. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  12. ↑ "The River's (WRVV) Morning Man: Chris Tyler". harrisburgpa.com. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
  13. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 2001 page D-381
  14. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; OUTDOOR ADVERTISER BUYING DAME MEDIA, A BROADCASTER". Bloomberg News. June 17, 1998. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  15. ↑ Portzline, Timothy (2011). Harrisburg Broadcasting. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 117. ISBN 9780738575070.
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