WRDV is a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
public radio station serving some northern suburbs of the
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
area. The radio station studio is located in
Hatboro and the broadcast tower in
Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...
. WRDV's program hosts are volunteers who frequently play their own album collections on the air.
Programming
Music selection varies widely by host. Some of the music includes blues, country, jazz, 1920s and 1930s big band, doo-wop, A cappella, soul, Rhythm and Blues,
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 musi ...
and polka.
History
WRDV began broadcasting on Sept 6, 1976 as WCSD, a 10-watt radio station located at the former William Tennent High School on Street Road. Its call letters are the initials of the station's original owner, the
Centennial School District. In 1980 the station license was transferred from the School District to the Bux-Mont Educational Radio Association and the station relocated to the basement of the Warminster Township Building/Police Department at Henry and Gibson Avenues in Warminster, Pennsylvania. It began operations there on May 15, 1980, after a 16-month period of silence. In 1981 it increased power to 200 watts and in 1986 changed call letters to WRDV which stand for "Radio in the Delaware Valley." In 1987 WRDV began the "Delaware Valley Radio Network" by simulcasting on a translator in Sellersville/Quakertown at 88.7 and, in 1988, adding a translator at 91.9 FM in Lawrenceville/Trenton.
Also in the late eighties, several members of the station management launched sister station
WDVR
WDVR (89.7 FM) is a community radio station serving parts of western New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The station, which broadcasts a variety format, is licensed to Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
WDVR ...
89.7 FM, which is now located in Sergeantsville, New Jersey.
In the nineties, 89.3 WRDV increased power to 1000 watts and WRDV's 91.9 relay was reassigned to relay WDVR in Princeton. The Sellersville transmitter was closed and the FCC cancelled its license in 1998. WRDV later added 10-Watt translator relay W297AD at 107.3 in Philadelphia and 84 watt relay W300AA at 107.9 FM in Bensalem, PA. In the late nineties WRDV relocated its studios to Hatboro, Pennsylvania and began simulcasting WRDV programming on co-owned
WLBS in Bristol, PA at 100-watts at 91.7 FM. On May 25, 2004, WRDV changed the Bensalem frequency to 97.1 FM, with calls
of W246AR. Today WRDV operates with 1600 watts of power from its Warminster transmitter site where its transmitter has operated since 1980.
See also
*
List of community radio stations in the United States
This is a list of FCC-licensed community radio stations in the United States.
See also
List of Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates
This article provides a list of Pacifica Radio owned and operated stations, associated stations, and affil ...
References
Sellersville Translator and License: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Actions/ac990507.txt
Levittown Relay:
http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-020617.html
WRDV Power increase, WLBS, Philadelphia Relay:
http://paradio.tripod.com/philadfm.htm
WDVR-FM, 91.9 FM relay:
http://www.wdvrfm.org/
External links
WRDV websiteListen online
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{{coord, 40.2054, N, 75.1071, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
RDV
Community radio stations in the United States