WRCR

Last updated

WRCR
Wrcr1700.png
Broadcast area Rockland County, New York
Frequency 1700 kHz
BrandingAM 1700 Radio Rockland
Programming
Format Adult contemporary music and news/talk
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerAlexander Broadcasting, Inc.
History
First air date
September 1, 1965(59 years ago) (1965-09-01)
Former call signs
  • WRRC (1965–1968)
  • WKQW (1968–1977)
  • WGRC (1977–1987)
  • WLIR (1987–2000)
Former frequencies
1300 kHz (1965–2015)
Call sign meaning
Rockland County Radio
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 64556
Class B
Power
  • 10,000 watts (day)
  • 1,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
 41°11′22.3″N74°00′53.5″W / 41.189528°N 74.014861°W / 41.189528; -74.014861
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wrcr.com

WRCR (1700 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Haverstraw, New York, and serving Rockland County. WRCR broadcasts an adult contemporary music format with weekday talk and brokered programming shows. The station is owned by Alexander Broadcasting, Inc. [2] [3] Studios and offices are at 144 Ramapo Road in Garnerville.

Contents

By day, WRCR is powered at 10,000 watts non-directional. But to avoid interference with other stations at night, it reduces power to 1,000 watts at sunset. The transmitter site is at South Mountain Park in Haverstraw.

Programming

Weekdays on WRCR feature a local news and call-in program, The Morning Show with Jeff and Will, in AM drive time. The rest of the day, WRCR plays adult contemporary music and has a schedule of brokered programming during the day. It is an affiliate of USA Radio News. It also broadcasts New York Boulders minor league baseball games. WRCR is the only radio station providing English-language news and information specifically for Rockland County, as WRKL 910 AM in nearby New City, simulcasts the Spanish-language Christian radio programming of WNYG, Patchogue, New York.

For several years, WRCR carried a local morning talk show co-hosted by Steve Possell. Possell had been heard on Rockland's airwaves (previously on WRKL New City) for nearly 50 years. He retired in 2021.

History

Early years

The station signed on the air on September 1, 1965. The original call sign was WRRC, and later WKQW and WGRC. It had several different owners and formats including Soft Oldies and Adult Standards as a "Music of Your Life" station.

It was a daytime-only station, on 1300 kHz in Spring Valley, New York, with studios at the Broadcast House on Route 59. The station used its original transmitter site in Nanuet, New York, for 52 years, although a new tower was erected in 2015 for the operation at 1700 AM.

The station used the call letters WLIR from late 1987 until 2000. WLIR had been the call sign for a popular modern rock FM station operating at 92.7 MHz on Long Island. When that station lost its FCC license, management brought the WLIR call sign to this co-owned Rockland County station. In 2000, WLIR changed its call sign to WRCR.

Move to 1700 AM

On March 17, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz. One of the authorizations was for WZNN in Rochester, New Hampshire, to move from 930 to 1700 kHz. [4] However, the 1700 AM operation in New Hampshire was never built, and its construction permit was cancelled on December 22, 2000. [5]

The abandonment of the New Hampshire assignment left 1700 AM unoccupied by any stations in the Northeastern United States. Normally the FCC did not allow any stations not included in its May 17, 1997 authorization list to apply for operation on an expanded band frequency. However, in 2006 the commission granted a request allowing WRCR to move from 1300 to 1700 kHz, stating that a "waiver is warranted to permit the licensing of a station that could provide full-time local emergency radio service to Rockland County residents who would be at great risk in the event of a radiological emergency at the Indian Point facility". [6]

On July 13, 2015, WRCR moved from 1300 to 1700 kHz, increasing its power from 500 to 10,000 watts by day and adding night service at 1,000 watts. The higher power allowed the station to be heard over a wider area of the lower Hudson Valley and Northern New Jersey. Along with the facility upgrade, the station's City of License was changed from Spring Valley to Ramapo. Both are communities in Rockland County.

Station temporarily goes silent

On August 7, 2017, management announced via the station's website that WRCR would be forced to go silent for an unknown amount of time. [7] The station would be off-the-air on its 1700 kHz frequency until further notice due to an emergency relocation of the transmitter and tower equipment. On August 29, 2017, Alexander Broadcasting Inc. filed a "Notice of Suspension of Operations" with the FCC. [8]

The station sought consent to go silent on the 1700 kHz frequency. It stated that the owner of the land where WRCR's transmitter and tower were located had opted not to renew the station's lease. The landlord had the electrical power and other vital utilities to the property shut off without notifying the station. In the notice on the station's website, management stated that WRCR would continue to broadcast via live streaming on the website and also via the TuneIn app and Amazon Echo devices.

The station resumed radio broadcasting on April 27, 2019. It began using a new transmitter site in South Mountain Park in the town of Haverstraw, New York. The station was authorized to move its community of license to Haverstraw, effective October 21, 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AM expanded band</span> Broadcast stations between 1600 and 1700 kHz

The extended mediumwave broadcast band, commonly known as the AM expanded band, refers to the broadcast station frequency assignments immediately above the earlier upper limits of 1600 kHz in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Region 2, and 1602 kHz in ITU Regions 1 and 3.

KKOL is an AM radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Salem Media Group. It airs a conservative talk radio format, branded as "1300 The Answer," featuring nationally syndicated Salem Radio Network hosts including Dennis Prager, Mike Gallagher, Sebastian Gorka, Hugh Hewitt, Brandon Tatum and Charlie Kirk. The radio studios and offices are on Fifth Avenue South. KKOL is the oldest radio station in Seattle, first licensed on May 23, 1922.

KLIB is a radio station that broadcasts from Roseville, California, and serves Sacramento. The station broadcasts to the Asian community, and is owned by Multicultural Radio Broadcasting. The transmitter's broadcast power is 5,000 watts daytime, 500 watts nighttime.

KRKS is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado. The station is owned and operated by Salem Media Group and it airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format. Its studios and offices are located on South Vaughn Way in Aurora, with the AM transmitter located on East 56th Avenue in North Washington. KRKS with co-owned KRKS-FM; together, are known as "The Word," but carry most programs at different times of the day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMLB</span> Radio station in Avondale Estates, Georgia

WMLB is an expanded band radio station licensed to Avondale Estates, Georgia, and serving the Metro Atlanta radio market. The station broadcasts with 10,000 watts daytime and 1,000 watts at night.

KBGG is a commercial radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and it airs a sports radio format, known as "101.3 & 1700 The Champ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KKLF</span> Radio station in Richardson, Texas

KKLF is a commercial radio station licensed to Richardson, Texas. Although the station's signal covers portions of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, it mainly serves areas of North Texas that are north and east of the Metroplex. This station broadcasts on the AM expanded band. It is owned by Claro Communications, Ltd., with Gerald Benavides as the licensee. It broadcasts a Tejano radio format, using the monikers "Jalapeño Radio". The DJs speak both Spanish and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPKX</span> Radio station in New Hampshire, United States

WPKX is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Rochester, New Hampshire, that broadcasts a sports radio format, largely supplied from Fox Sports Radio. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and serves the Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester media market, also heard in Southern Maine. WPKX broadcasts at 5000 watts around the clock from a transmitter off Route 108 in Rochester. To protect other stations on 930 kHz, WPKX uses a directional antenna at night.

KHPY is an AM radio station in Moreno Valley, California, broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire radio market. KHPY airs Spanish-language Catholic religious programming from ESNE Radio. It was the first station operated, and later owned, by El Sembrador Ministries.

KHRO is a commercial radio station in El Paso, Texas. This station is owned by Entravision Communications. Its studio facilities are located on North Mesa Street/Highway 20 in northwest El Paso. The transmitter is located east of downtown in Ascarate Park, near Texas State Highway Loop 375. KHRO simulcasts the radio format heard on sister station KINT-FM.

WEUP is an urban contemporary gospel and urban adult contemporary formatted radio station that serves Huntsville, Alabama, and the majority of the Tennessee Valley in North Alabama, United States. WEUP is dubbed "Huntsville's Heritage Station" because it was the first in the region to broadcast an urban format. It has an urban contemporary sister station called WEUP-FM. The station's studios and transmitter are both co-located along Jordan Lane in Northwest Huntsville. WEUP is simulcast on WEUV in Moulton, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KWHN</span> Radio station in Fort Smith, Arkansas

KWHN is a commercial radio station in Fort Smith, Arkansas, known as "News Talk 1320 KWHN". It airs a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Lexington Avenue in Fort Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWRU</span> Korean American radio station

WWRU is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Jersey City, New Jersey, broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. It airs Korean language talk and music shows, with the studios in Manhattan.

WDCY is an AM Christian radio station broadcasting a Christian talk and teaching radio format. Licensed to Douglasville, Georgia, it serves the Atlanta metro area. The station is owned by Word Christian Broadcasting Inc. Much of the programming is simulcast with co-owned 1500 WDPC in Dallas, Georgia and 1300 WNEA in Newnan, Georgia.

KSMH is a radio station broadcasting a Catholic religious radio format as a member of the Relevant Radio network. Licensed to West Sacramento, California, United States, it serves the Sacramento metropolitan area. The station is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTGM</span> Radio station in Maryland, United States

WTGM is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, United States, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia. WTGM is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, and that is shown on the Fox Sports station logo.

KNTS is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. Along with sister station KKDZ 1250 AM, it simulcasts a format of South Asian music and talk from the Radio Punjab network. It is owned by the Baaz Broadcasting Corporation, with offices on 104th Avenue SE in Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KYYS</span> Radio station in Kansas City, Kansas

KYYS is a radio station broadcasting a regional Mexican format. The station is licensed to Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It is currently owned by Audacy, Inc. and operations are under an LMA with Reyes Media Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVNS</span> Radio station in Brownsville, Texas

KVNS is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Brownsville, Texas, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia and features programming from Fox News Radio, Premiere Radio Networks and Westwood One. It shares studios with its sister stations, KHKZ, KQXX-FM, KTEX, and KBFM, located close to the KRGV-TV studios in Weslaco, Texas, while its transmitter is located near Brownsville, Texas.

WJCC is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Miami Springs, Florida, and serving the Miami metropolitan area. It is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting with studios on NW 58rd Street at NW 72nd Avenue in Miami. It broadcasts mostly Haitian Creole talk, music and news with some other ethnic programming. The station has a brokered programming format, where hosts pay for their time on the air and may advertise their services and products. Most of the schedule is used by Radio Mega, which broadcasts in the U.S. and Haiti.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WRCR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "WRCR Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ↑ "WRCR Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  4. ↑ "FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations" (FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997.
  5. ↑ "Station Search Details (DWAYU)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  6. ↑ "In The Matter of Alexander Broadcasting, Inc." (FCC 06-125), Adopted: August 17, 2006, Released: August 22, 2006, pages 9968-9973.
  7. ↑ WRCR temporary shutdown notice (Retrieved September 29, 2017, via wrcr.com website)
  8. ↑ Alexander Broadcasting Inc. licensee of WRCR (Facility ID: 64556) filed a Notice of Suspension of Operations (Retrieved September 29, 2017, via FCC.gov website)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.