WRVV (97.3 FM, "The River 97.3") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to serve

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...

. The station is owned by

iHeartMedia, Inc. iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

and broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. The station's studios and offices are located at 600 Corporate Circle in Harrisburg. WRVV has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 15,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

antenna is on the

WHP-TV WHP-TV (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has st ...

broadcast tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

on Blue Mountain in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County at (). It uses the slogan is "Real. Rock. Variety." WRVV broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

technology. Its HD2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compres ...

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

s the

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

programming on

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

WHP 580 AM.

History

WHP-FM

On January 10, 1945, WHP, Inc. applied to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

for a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

for a new station on 43.5 MHz on the original 42-50 MHz FM broadcast band. After the FCC created the current FM band on June 27, 1945, the Commission granted the permit on November 21, 1945, while modifying it by reassigning the station to 97.3 MHz on the new FM band. The FCC then granted permission to begin broadcasting at any time beginning on March 18, 1946. WHP, Inc operated the station under

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) st ...

(STA) for several years, during which time numerous changes were made to the station's broadcast facilities. In June 1946, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

with the WHP-FM

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

. Its power was only 4,300 watts. A TV station,

, was added in 1953. WHP-AM-FM originally

their programming. In the 1950s, it duplicated WHP about 50% of the broadcast day, with the remainder devoted to instrumentals and some

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

programming. In the 1960s, the station's format evolved to

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

, which would continue for nearly three decades. In the late 1980s, however, the soft instrumental format was aging and management decided a change was needed. By March 1988, WHP-FM had tweaked the format to "music-intensive

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

WXBB

In February 1990, the station switched its call letters to WXBB, and flipped to Top 40/CHR as ''B97.3''. The Top 40 format was short-lived, and the station returned to

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

as WHP-FM in December 1990. In March 1992, WHP-AM-FM were sold to Pennsylvania Broadcasting Associates, a division of Dame Media, which separated the stations from WHP-TV.Broadcasting Yearbook 1994
page B-313,

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcas ...

Studios were moved out of the WHP-TV building to their current location at 600 Corporate Circle in Harrisburg. The FM station went through numerous changes following the sale.

WRVV

The call sign was changed to WRVV in March 1992. 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''. WRVV's slogan was changed to "Rock and Roll without the Hard Edge." The station changed format to "Rock Adult Contemporary." The format played tracks from popular rock albums released over the previous 15 years intended for a general rock listener not interested in current titles. The station's Operations Manager at the time, Chris Tyler, created the format.

iHeartMedia ownership

In August 1998, the Dame Media stations, including WHP and WRVV, were sold to Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to

The format changed to

after the sale. In the mid-2000s, the station changed its slogan to "Real. Rock. Variety." In 2004, WRVV and

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

WNNK-FM WNNK-FM (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Owned by Cumulus Media it carries a hot adult contemporary format. The station's studios are on Vartan Way in Harrisburg, with its transmitter atop ...

were the first stations in Harrisburg to begin using

. Since the mid-1990s, WRVV and WNNK frequently trade the number one spot in

Nielsen Audio Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

's Harrisburg-

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

radio market.

References

External links

WRVV Official Website
* {{IHeartMedia RVV Radio stations established in 1946 Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1946 establishments in Pennsylvania IHeartMedia radio stations