WRIV (1390
AM) is a
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
Riverhead, New York
Riverhead is a town within Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the po ...
and serves
eastern Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
. It broadcasts an
adult standards format.
The station, which has been owned since 1987 by Crystal Coast Communications, has daytime power of 1,000 watts and 64 watts at night.
History
The station, then owned by the Suffolk Broadcasting Corporation, went on the air on June 19, 1955 as a sister station to co-owned
WALK
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ov ...
and
WALK-FM
WALK-FM (97.5 FM) is a hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Patchogue, New York, and serving Long Island. The station is owned by Connoisseur Media, with studios and offices located at Airport Plaza in Farmingdale, New York and its ...
radio in
Patchogue, New York. Its first studio at 29 East Main Street burned within six months in what is listed by the Riverhead Fire Department as one of the worst fires in the town's history.
In 1963, WRIV, along with WALK and WALK-FM, was sold to Island Broadcasting System. Island Broadcasting was owned in part by
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
anchorman
Chet Huntley
Chet is a masculine given name, often a nickname for Chester (given name), Chester, which means ''fortress'' or ''camp''. It is an uncommon name of England, English origin, and originated as a surname to identify people from the city of Chester, En ...
. In 1965, WRIV applied for a television license for Channel 55. WRIV-TV, which likely would have gone to air as the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
affiliate for eastern Long Island, held a construction permit for the station until the early 1970s. The Channel 55 allocation was dormant until WLIG-TV went on the air in 1985; today Channel 55 is known as
WLNY-TV
WLNY-TV (channel 55) is an independent television station licensed to Riverhead, New York, United States, serving the New York City television market. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS flagship WCBS-TV (channel 2). ...
and is owned by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
.
WRIV was sold again in 1981 to East End Communications and became sister station to now defunct
WGLI 1290 in
Babylon, New York
The Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Its population was 218,223 as of the 2020 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It bord ...
before being sold to its current owners.
Some former personalities on the station include:
Ted Brown (following the demise of
WNEW) and former WALK morning personality Bob Klein.
WRIV is the only commercial AM radio station in the five east end towns of Long Island. It maintains an Adult Standards/Information format and has local personalities. The station is an affiliate of the
ABC Information Network.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Long Island Radio
RIV
RIV may refer to:
Anatomy and Medicine
* Right innominate vein
* Recombinant influenza vaccine
Military aviation
* March Air Reserve Base, a U.S. Air Reserve base in Riverside County, California, by IATA airport code
* Fieseler Fi 103R Re ...
Adult standards radio stations in the United States
Mass media in Suffolk County, New York
Radio stations established in 1955
1955 establishments in New York (state)