The Rural Radio Network (RRN) was an interconnected group of six commercial
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
stations spread across
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
and operated from
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
-- the first all-radio, no-wireline network in the world. It began operation in 1948 as an innovative
broadcast
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
service to the
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
community, but competition from television—and a lack of affordable, well-performing FM receivers—caused the founders' original business plan to fail. The stations changed ownership, as well as
Radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
s, several times in futile attempts to achieve profitability. Perhaps the group's most notable owner was the
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...
, headed by televangelist
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...
, which acquired the stations through a corporate donation in 1969. A decade later, Robertson decided to sell the stations and the licenses were gradually transferred to individual owners in 1981 and 1982, thus dissolving one of the nation's earliest FM networks.
Network history through 1981
Planning
The concept of building the world's first farmer-owned network originated at the
Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange (commonly known as "GLF"), an agricultural
co-op
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
founded in 1920 in Ithaca, which later merged with another co-op to form the
Agway
Agway of DeWitt, New York, is an American agricultural business that offers feed for livestock and poultry, as well as seed, fertilizers, and herbicides.
History
Agway was formed on July 25, 1964, from a merger between the Grange League Federati ...
organization that remains today. GLF, also noted for its role in founding the
P&C Foods supermarket chain, began to use radio several years before the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and later assembled an informal network of about ten
AM stations, connected by leased telephone lines, over which a weekly five-minute program was aired. The value of this early "network" was proven during the war when GLF members found it difficult to attend regular meetings.
In December 1946, GLF's directors approved a plan to expand the use of radio and allocated $10,000 to form the Rural Radio Foundation, a non-profit organization that would embrace several agricultural interest groups including the New York State
Grange
Grange may refer to:
Buildings
* Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906
* Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682
* Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery
Geography Australia
* Grange, South Austral ...
,
Dairymen's League
Dairylea Cooperative Inc. was a dairy cooperative which was founded in 1907 as The Dairymen's League when group of dairy farmers in Orange County, New York united to increase their bargaining power. In the 1920s, the Cooperative's membership had i ...
, and New York Artificial Breeder's Co-op. This foundation, which formally incorporated on March 18, 1947, would be sole owner of a subsidiary commercial broadcasting corporation, The Rural Radio Network, Inc., with any operating profits to be turned back to the founding groups for educational and research purposes. Corporate officers included president H.L. Creal, vice-president Clifford Snyder, and secretary-treasurer George Slocum. They were convinced that the recently opened 88-108 MHz FM band offered superior reliability over
AM "standard broadcast" -- particularly before sunrise when many farmers would start their daily tasks—and broader opportunities to establish new stations where needed. In April 1947, GLF appropriated an additional $200,000 to launch the new FM network.
R. B. Gervan, head of GLF's Information Service, was granted a leave of absence from that position to serve as General Manager of RRN until it was well established. Robert B. Child, an experienced farm broadcaster, was hired away from Schenectady's
WGY to serve as Program Director. Donald K. de Neuf was hired as Chief Engineer, and with optimism he began planning the network's technical facilities.
A primary objective was to provide satisfactory rural coverage throughout the
"milkshed" of
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
extending from the
Niagara Frontier
The Niagara Frontier refers to the stretch of land in the United States that is south of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie, and extends westward to Cleveland, Ohio. The term dates to the War of 1812, when the northern border was in contention b ...
to the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...
, and north to the
Saint Lawrence Valley
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
. The network would be headquartered in Ithaca, near the geographical center of this region and home of the
New York State College of Agriculture
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University (CALS or Ag School) is a statutory college and one of the four New York State contract colleges on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. With enrollmen ...
at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, the state's
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
institution. With the help of engineering consultants Dr. Miller McClintock, Murray Crosby, and William S. Halstead (the latter two would later develop an
FM stereo
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capa ...
system), six hilltop transmitter sites, each over 610 m (2000 ft)
AMSL
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
and spaced roughly 80 km (50 mi) apart across
line-of-sight paths, were identified and acquired for the project. Based on 50 μV/m (34 dBμ) rural service contour predictions, these stations would have a combined coverage area encompassing 118,000 farms, 76 percent of the total farms in New York state at that time. Space for RRN's studios and offices was leased in the existing Ithaca Savings Bank building at 306 East State St. in downtown Ithaca, and
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, which then manufactured broadcast products at the Electronics Park plant in nearby Syracuse, was chosen as the prime equipment supplier. Applications for the six FM construction permits were filed with the
FCC
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 jurisdiction ...
in mid-July 1947 and granted three months later.
Station construction and configuration
Gervan had promised his managers that the network would be ready for operation by the summer of 1948, requiring de Neuf's engineering staff and contractors to construct transmitter buildings and
towers
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifica ...
through the winter season. The likelihood of heavy precipitation in upstate New York's
snowbelt
The Snowbelt is the region near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores.
Ca ...
required temporary heated shells to be erected around each building site, allowing concrete to be poured and masonry work to proceed on schedule. The worst weather conditions, by far, were encountered at the
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
site on the highest point of the
Tug Hill Plateau
Tug Hill, sometimes referred to as the Tug Hill Plateau, is an upland region in northern New York State, famous for heavy winter snows. The Tug Hill region is east of Lake Ontario, north of Oneida Lake, and west of the Adirondack Mountains. The r ...
, a remote area due east of
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
known for record
lake-effect snowfall. Pending installation of telephone service, RRN engineers assigned to each construction site kept in contact by means of high-band VHF mobile
two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. It is an audio (sound) transceiver, a transmitter and receiver in one unit, used for bidirecti ...
s that were later modified for
remote-pickup use.
Meanwhile, the GLF laboratory began testing various AM-FM table radios to determine which product would be carried in its farm supply stores. None of the existing models offered sufficient sensitivity to perform at all locations within the network's expected coverage area, so
North American Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
was contracted to design a special high-
sensitivity GLF-branded "farm radio" and serve as its
OEM
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
. Designated the GLF model F-770, the set was priced at $87.50 (more than $700 in 2005 dollars after adjustment for inflation), a considerable expense for many farm families in 1948. A $15 two-section outdoor "
turnstile antenna
A turnstile antenna, or crossed-dipole antenna, is a radio antenna consisting of a set of two identical dipole antennas mounted at right angles to each other and fed in phase quadrature; the two currents applied to the dipoles are 90° out of pha ...
", manufactured by the Technical Appliance Corporation (TACO) of
Sherburne, New York
Sherburne is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The population was 4,048 at the 2010 census. The town contains two villages, Sherburne and Earlville. The town is at the northern border of Chenango County.
History
The area th ...
, was offered as an accessory.
Construction of five of the transmitter facilities concluded in time for the network to begin operation as scheduled, but the Turin site could not be completed until the fall of 1948. A major complication was the lack of electric power at Turin; the site was so remote that the local utility would not run lines, so a redundant pair of Smith-Meeker 15 kW Diesel generators were installed along with a 12,000 gallon fuel tank, sufficient to operate the station for four months.
All six of the RRN transmitter buildings, which resembled small
chalet
A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-suppo ...
s, were constructed of masonry and wood from similar floor plans. A steeply pitched roof was included in the design to shed snow and provide more interior headroom in the attic. A two-car garage, furnace room, generator room, and shower were at ground level, with a water well drilled through the floor of the generator room. The first floor, which was nearly eight feet above ground, included the transmitter room, a small studio area for visiting guests, a kitchen and workbench area, and a small restroom. The attic was accessible by means of a staircase and served as a dormitory for the operating and maintenance engineers. Just outside the kitchen was a side porch where off-air relay receive antennas were installed on a wooden lattice. Behind each building was a 30.5 m (100 ft) self-supporting tower that supported a four-section aluminum
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
"Pylon" tubular
slot antenna
A slot antenna consists of a metal surface, usually a flat plate, with one or more holes or slots cut out. When the plate is driven as an antenna by an applied radio frequency current, the slot radiates electromagnetic waves in a way similar to a ...
, 16.5 m (54 ft) high with a power gain of 6. de Neuf's choice of RCA's FM antenna over GE's competing "ring radiator" was likely based on the Pylon's reduced exposure to the elements, which would lessen the chances for
VSWR
In radio engineering and telecommunications, standing wave ratio (SWR) is a measure of impedance matching of loads to the characteristic impedance of a transmission line or waveguide. Impedance mismatches result in standing waves along the transmis ...
problems during icing conditions.
RRN's original equipment list at each transmitter site also included:
* General Electric BT-1-A 250 W FM transmitter with Phasitron exciter
* General Electric BT-2-B 1 kW power amplifier (added in 1951)
* General Electric BC-1-A studio consolette
* General Electric FS-1-A monitoring speaker
* General Electric YDA-1 distortion and noise analyzer
* General Electric modulation and frequency monitor
* Dual RCA turntables
* Radio Engineering Labs 646-B tunable FM receiver
* Radio Engineering Labs 670-L crystal-controlled relay receivers
* Hoisington 16-element horizontally polarized collinear receive antenna
* 15 kW gasoline-fueled emergency generator
The downtown Ithaca studio was also primarily GE-equipped and employed an early GE 940 MHz studio-transmitter link to relay programs to the Ithaca transmitter at the highest point in Tompkins County, Connecticut Hill. RRN engineers also outfitted a
remote broadcast
In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast (usually just called a remote or a live remote, or in news parlance, a live shot) is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television studio and is considered an electronic field productio ...
trailer which was taken to county fairs, farm meetings, and other public gatherings. This had a public-address amplifier and 50 W transmitter (tuned to 153.59 MHz) capable of sending remote programming to the closest hilltop transmitter site, where it could then be relayed to the rest of the network.
When the network was originally constructed, the FCC had not yet authorized remote control of FM stations. Each of the six transmitter sites had to be staffed with a licensed engineer throughout the broadcast day; this was a significant operating expense in the network's early years.
Early programming
The Rural Radio Network's first day of operation was Sunday, June 6, 1948. According to a newspaper ad published the preceding day, the 1:00 PM inaugural program was a 15-minute feature entitled "Radio for Rural People", followed by a 15-minute newscast. Several more farm-related programs, interspersed with musical interludes, aired until sign-off at 7:45 that evening.
RRN's initial schedule offered nine and one-half hours of daily programming, beginning at 11:45 AM. On December 6, 1948, service was expanded to fifteen hours, signing on at 6:00 AM with news and concluding at 9:15 PM with an evening prayer.
Some program highlights from that period:
* 6:55 AM - Johnny Huttar, RRN's farm reporter with the latest market reports, weather, farm news and answers to farm questions
* 8:30 AM - "Claire's Scrapbook" with Claire Banister, Kay Stevens, and Pat Landon, featuring household hints, fashion notes, poetry and recipes, and musical sketches
* 11:30 AM - Country Music
* 12:30 PM - "Cornell Farm Hour"
* 1:30 PM - "Empire State School of the Air" - educational programming targeted to Upstate New York classrooms
* 3:30 PM - "Mail Box Tunes"
* 5:00 PM - "The Storyteller" - children's program
* 6:30 PM - "The Supper Serenaders"
Program Director Bob Child decided against airing radio
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s after a survey of farm women revealed that 25 percent found them objectionable. In the words of one respondent, "There is never a happy family life in the soap box opera type of program."
Several non-owned stations were affiliated with the Rural Radio Network during its first year of operation. The largest was William G. H. Finch's WGHF in New York City, which is known today as
WFAN-FM
WFAN-FM (101.9 FM), is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc. the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN 660 AM. Its ...
, and others included WSLB-FM in
Ogdensburg, New York
Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...
; WFHA in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
; WACE-FM in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
; and
WFLY
WFLY (92.3 MHz, "FLY 92.3") is a Top 40/CHR radio station licensed to Troy, New York, and serving the Capital District. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and is considered the company's flagship station. The radio studios and offices a ...
in
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
. According to RRN's December 1948 program listing, WGHF cut away from the network at 8:00 PM each evening for a
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
program entitled "Programa Hispano".
Some of the individual RRN-owned stations also aired local segments from the studio facilities in each transmitter building. Thursday evenings at 7:30, WVBN in Turin carried a program called "County Students Speak", while WFNF in Wethersfield featured the live music of a
barbershop quartet
A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...
. On Fridays at 6:30 PM, WVBT in Bristol Center ran a local program called "
Canandaigua
Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county compl ...
Review".
Weather Roundup
One of RRN's most popular daily features was a series of live weather reports from each of the hilltop transmitter sites, moving from west to east. At 12:15 PM, an announcer in the downtown Ithaca studio would introduce the "roundup", then pause for a few seconds while the Bristol Center and Ithaca transmitters switched relay receivers. The engineer at Wethersfield would then fade down his relay receiver, switch on his
mic, and report the readings of each of his weather instruments. By means of RRN's off-air relay system, this would be simulcast on the other five stations. After another pause, Bristol Center's engineer would go live—followed in turn by the Ithaca, DeRuyter, Turin and Cherry Valley transmitter staff—who would each flip the necessary switches to air their respective reports and relay the rest "down the line".
aircheck from April 1949. The first report originates from the WFNF transmitter building on
New York State Route 78
New York State Route 78 (NY 78) is a state highway in western New York in the United States. While it is signed north–south, the southern portion runs in an east–west direction across Wyoming and Erie counties, from its beginning ...
in Wethersfield, New York, and is followed by local observations from WVBT atop Worden Hill near Bristol Center, WVFC atop Connecticut Hill near Ithaca, WVCN in DeRuyter, the defunct WVBN in Turin, and WVCV in Cherry Valley. The program concludes with an official forecast from the
US Weather Bureau in Albany.
In 1953, RRN was granted authority by the FCC to operate its outlying stations from Ithaca by remote control. With the elimination of attended transmitters, responsibility for "Weather Roundup" reports was delegated to other broadcasters around the state, who continued to support the program for the next two decades.
The fina
"Weather Roundup"aired June 4, 1968—two days before RRN/NERN's 20th anniversary.
Subsequent owners
On February 1, 1960, the network was purchased by the Ivy Broadcasting Company, a corporation headed by
Woody Erdman Ellis E. "Woody" Erdman (April 16, 1926, Ashland, Pennsylvania – February 10, 1997, Greensboro, North Carolina) was an American sportscaster, television producer, and businessman who served as chairman of Trans-National Communications, Internat ...
, who also owned WTKO (AM) in Ithaca and
WOLF (AM)
WOLF (1490 AM) is a sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Syracuse, New York, serving the Syracuse metropolitan area. The station is 100% owned by Craig Fox, who also owns several other radio and low-power TV stations in the state ...
in Syracuse. The group of FM stations was renamed the "Northeast Radio Network", and all stations received new call signs ending in "IV". Ivy filed in August 1961 to increase the effective radiated power of the stations, but only some of these requests were granted by the FCC.
In April 1966, Ivy sold the group of FM stations to Chenango and Unadilla Communications, a small upstate New York telephone company also known as C&U Telephone. However, in early 1968, C&U was acquired by Continental Telephone, a larger corporation. At that time, FCC regulations prohibited control of broadcast licenses by national phone companies of Continental's size, so the new parent was forced to divest the stations. This provided televangelist
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...
the opportunity to acquire the five-station network, then valued at $600,000, as a tax-deductible gift.
Mr. Robertson was already operating
WYAH-TV and FM station
WXRI
WXRI (91.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Southern Gospel format. Licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Piedmont Triad area. The station is currently owned by Positive Alternative Radio and fea ...
in the
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
area of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and he incorporated the five upstate New York stations into his fledgling
Christian Broadcasting Network
The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...
on January 1, 1969. Christian programming for CBN Northeast, as the New York station group was then called, originated from the transmitter site of the Ithaca station,
WEIV
''Weiv'' (, stylised in eiv is a South Korean online magazine that publishes music reviews, articles, and interviews with artists. The webzine was founded in August 1999 by Shin Hyeon-joon, a professor at Sungkonghoe University
Sungkonghoe U ...
. During CBN's period of ownership, the stations underwent significant equipment upgrades, including installation of new RCA
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
transmitters and
circularly polarized
In electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization state in which, at each point, the electromagnetic field of the wave has a constant magnitude and is rotating at a constant rate in a plane perpendicular to t ...
antennas. The off-air relay scheme was also eliminated in favor of Moseley PCL-303 950 MHz STLs between Ithaca and the outlying sites. In its earliest years of ownership, the fledgling CBN stations gained credibility in their communities and increased its listening audience in part because of its partnerships with Christian organizations that were meeting the needs of the community, including a new Teen Challenge Center in Ithaca (a drug rehabilitation center sponsored by the area Assembly of God churches) and The Love Inn ministry, which brought in up-and-coming musicians like Phil Keaggy and Ted Sandquist to the barn that housed their worship services in nearby Freeville and which was the brainchild of CBN station manager Scott Ross. The Sunday morning broadcast was a taped broadcast of the services of the Ithaca First Assembly of God Church, then pastored by Donald Minor. The CBN Northeast network operated through the 1980s, until the stations were sold individually to separate owners, thus breaking up one of the first FM radio networks in the country.
Successors
The Cherry Valley signal was the only one to retain its NERN/CBN callsigns, remaining on the air as
WJIV
WJIV (101.9 FM broadcasting, FM "Victory 101.9") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Cherry Valley, New York, and serving the Mohawk Valley. The radio format is primarily Christian talk and teaching, along ...
101.9. It has also retained a religious radio format since the Robertson era.
The DeRuyter license remains active as
WCIS-FM
WCIS-FM (105.1 MHz) is a Contemporary Christian radio station serving the Central New York Region. The station broadcasts with an ERP of 33 kW and is licensed to DeRuyter, New York; it is currently owned and operated by the Family Life Netwo ...
105.1, with a new tower but the original Rural Radio Network transmitter building. WCIS joined the
Family Life Network
The Family Life Network is a Christian radio network simulcasting via FM stations across Western and Central New York, as well as northern Pennsylvania from flagship station WCIK. It is owned and operated by the larger Family Life Ministries o ...
in the late 2010s; WCIS serves as the easternmost FLN affiliate, a network that covers all of the Rural Radio Network's former territory. During the 2000s (decade),
Clear Channel Communications
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 ...
owned the station, and on at least two occasions,
Craig Fox's companies owned the station, with various, quickly-changing formats.
The Ithaca signal became
WQNY
WQNY (103.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Ithaca, New York, United States, the station serves that market and occasionally has appeared in the Elmira- Corning ratings, as the station can be heard well ...
103.7, continuing to operate from the Connecticut Hill site that was the CBN network control point. Cemtrally located in a smaller market in Ithaca (as opposed to its counterparts, who serve bigger, more distant cities in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse with rimshot signals), WQNY has been the most commercially successful of the network's stations, having earned top Arbitron ratings in the Ithaca market. WQNY is currently owned by Saga Communications.
The
Bristol Mountain site remains in broadcast use, but not with the original RRN/NERN/CBN license. That station is now
WAIO
WAIO (95.1 FM, "Radio 95.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to Honeoye Falls, New York, and serving the Rochester metropolitan area. The station airs a hot talk, sports, and classic rock radio format and is owned and operated by iHeart ...
95.1 Honeoye Falls, operating from Baker Hill, closer to Rochester. The current signal at the old Bristol Mountain facility,
WNBL 107.3, is a newer license that was moved to Bristol in a frequency and location swap in 1999. Both stations are owned by
iHeartMedia
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 ...
. WAIO runs a
hot talk
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 featur ...
radio format, while WNBL has changed radio formats frequently, currently running a 80's music format.
The Wethersfield site remains on the air as
WLKK
WLKK (107.7 FM) is an American radio station located in Wethersfield, New York. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. It operates from studios at Audacy's Buffalo offices in Amherst, New York, with a transmitter located southwest of Warsaw. (Fo ...
107.7, with a new tower and a substantially renovated transmitter building. It has had varying success with several radio formats in the Olean, Buffalo and Rochester markets, currently airing country music. Its current owner is
Audacy
Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform owned by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a music recommender system and is the national umbr ...
.
The Turin transmitter building remains standing, but no broadcast station has operated there since WVBN went silent and radio service has never been restored to the town. The site now houses a microwave relay tower.
References
{{reflist
"FM Broadcast Network with Radio Links",''Communications Magazine'', October 1948
"Rural Radio Network BULLETIN", December 5, 1948
External links
Tracking the old Rural Radio Networkby Scott Fybush.
Defunct radio broadcasting companies of the United States
Defunct radio networks in the United States
Radio stations established in 1948
Radio stations disestablished in 1981
Defunct mass media in New York (state)
Defunct radio stations in the United States