WKVU (107.3
FM) is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
broadcasting a
Christian adult contemporary
Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...
format. Licensed to
Utica, New York
Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...
, United States, the station serves the
Utica–Rome metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by the
Educational Media Foundation
Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville.
EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...
, and is an affiliate of the ''
K-Love
K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music.
As of June 2019, the network's progr ...
'' network.
History
WKVU signed on in 2001, on 100.7 FM, when Bethany Broadcasting sold its religious station broadcasting on that frequency, WVVC, to the Educational Media Foundation. Upon acquiring WVVC, EMF changed its call sign to
WKVU and began simulcasting its
K-Love
K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music.
As of June 2019, the network's progr ...
satellite format of
Christian adult contemporary
Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...
music on the station.
Its current frequency was previously owned by
Galaxy Communications, who ran a
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
format on the frequency under the callsign WRCK and slogan Rock 107. Prior to this WRCK was a longtime powerhouse
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...
station. During this time, WRCK was known as Power Hits Rock 107 until March 17, 1994, when they changed their name to Hot 107. However, their Top 40 format lasted until June 13, 1994, when The Radio Corporation (now
Galaxy Communications) purchased the station from H & D Entertainment Incorporated saddening and upsetting listeners who listened to Top 40 music in the Utica-Rome area about the takeover and format change to classic rock. In October 2007, Galaxy purchased a portion of
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...
' Utica cluster, including WRCK's rival,
WOUR
WOUR (96.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Utica, New York. It broadcasts a classic rock radio format, with occasional recent rock hits, calling itself "The Rock of Central New York". The station is owned by Townsquare Media as ...
. WOUR's signal was deemed to be stronger and more favorable than WRCK's and so WRCK was spun off to EMF. Some of WRCK's former staff moved to WOUR. EMF then announced that it would keep the WRCK call letters and simulcast their
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...
satellite format
Air1
Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network.
History
On July 15, ...
on the station. WRCK's last song as Rock 107 was
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
's "Stairway to Heaven" before the
Air1
Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network.
History
On July 15, ...
satellite feed was picked up.
Back during the early 1980s, the WRCK calls belonged to
ABC Radio Networks ABC Radio may refer to:
Australia
* History of ABC Radio (Australia), the division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) responsible for:
** ABC Classic, a classical music radio station
** ABC Classic 2, an un-presented streaming-only ...
owned-and-operated WRCK-FM 95 (dial position 94.7) in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
In 1980, the station changed its calls to
WLS-FM to join with its sister
AM station,
WLS-AM, while the WRCK calls went to 107.3 FM.
On December 15, 2010, WRCK swapped frequencies with WKVU, with WRCK (and its
Air1
Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network.
History
On July 15, ...
affiliation) moving to 100.7 FM and WKVU moving to 107.3 FM. The next year, EMF sold WRCK to Ken Roser, who renamed the station
WUTQ-FM
WUTQ-FM (100.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Utica, New York. The station serves the Utica-Rome region of New York State. It is owned by Roser Communications Network and it airs a talk radio format.
The studios and offices ...
and began simulcasting the
full service–
soft 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format then heard on sister stations
WUTQ and WADR, which assumed the WRCK callsign. EMF then moved its
Air1
Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network.
History
On July 15, ...
affiliation to
WOKR, which would change its call sign to WARW in January 2015.
Former on-air staff
* Gomez and Dave (Mornings as under the classic rock format)
* Paul Szmal
* Bill Keeler (Morning announcer under the Top 40 & classic rock formats)
* Gary Spears
* Frank McBride
* J.P. Marks
* Bill Whiteman
* 'Big' Larry Williams (deceased)
* B.B. Good (She worked on
Radio Disney
Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California.
The network broadcast music programming ...
)
* Bud in the Night Time
* John Carucci
* JR Jim Reitz (deceased)
* Karen Hanna (deceased)
* Scott Burton
* Ugly Michaels Mike Hotaling
* Kevin Quinn
* Cheri Kendall
* Rich Lundy Bramley
* Nick at Night Norod
* Kelly Steve Abel
* Rick Pendleton
* Becky Williams
* Janet Bauer
* Kym Charmicheal
References
External links
*
*
{{Utica Radio
KVU
Educational Media Foundation radio stations
K-Love radio stations