WTRV (100.5 FM) 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 ...

broadcasting a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

-leaning

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

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, ...

. The station is

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Walker, Michigan Walker is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 23,537 at the 2010 census. Walker was originally organized as Walker Township in 1837 and later incorporated as a city in 1962. It is part of the Grand Rapid ...

, and serves the

Grand Rapids metropolitan area The Grand Rapids metropolitan area is a triangular shaped Metro Triplex, in West Michigan, which fans out westward from the primary hub city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the other two metro hubs of Muskegon and Holland. The metropolitan area h ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. WTRV is a Class A station, so it is limited to 3,000

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 Wa ...

s. Its signal can be heard as far south as Otsego, far east as

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...

, and as far north as Fremont. The studios and offices are on Ottawa Avenue NW in Grand Rapids. The

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

is on Peach Ridge Avenue NW at 3 Mile Road, near

Interstate 96 Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 (US 31) and Bus ...

History

WQFN

On June 15, 1993, the station first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

as WQFN. It was owned by William E. Kuiper, Jr. and had its studios and offices on Fremont Avenue NW. Kuiper served as the president and general manager, while his wife Ruth was the sales manager. For several years, WQFN was co-owned with

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

station WFUR and operated out of the WFUR studios. Originally WQFN was a fully

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

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 ...

station. After a year, it flipped to

Smooth Jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

fed via satellite from

Jones Radio Networks Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such ...

. The smooth jazz format was a moderate ratings success.

Capstar ownership

In 1998, the station was acquired by Capstar, which later became part of

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 ...

Capstar switched the

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 assigne ...

to WTRV. The station featured a middle of the road (MOR) and

soft AC 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, quiet sto ...

format featuring a mix of light

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

and selected recent songs, from artists such as

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

and

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

. These acts were no longer played on competitor and former

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, n ...

station WOOD-FM (now WSRW). WTRV now features a softer, gold-leaning version of the Mainstream AC format formerly heard on sister station

WLHT WLHT-FM (95.7 MHz) is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan owned by Townsquare Media. WLHT's studios are located on Ottawa Avenue Northwest in downtown Grand Rapids, while its transmitter is located i ...

, which shifted to

Hot AC 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, quiet s ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Regent/Townsquare ownership

In 2000, the ownership changed again, this time to Regent Communications. At the beginning of 2015, the station added more soft oldies and pop songs dating back to the 1970s, resulting in selected previously dropped tracks by artists such as the Carpenters and Manilow being re-added into rotation and becoming a younger-skewing version of the original "River." The core artists include

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. The station's playlist now resembles gold-based soft AC stations such as

WFEZ WFEZ (93.1 MHz; "Easy 93.1") is an FM radio station broadcasting a Soft AC format. Licensed to Miami, Florida, United States, the station serves Miami-Dade, Broward, and most of Palm Beach Counties. WFEZ is owned by Cox Media Group. Its studi ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

WDUV WDUV (105.5 FM "The Dove") is a commercial radio station licensed to New Port Richey, Florida and serving the Tampa Bay Area. Owned by Cox Radio, it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary format. It switches to all-Christmas music from mid-Novemb ...

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. WTRV aired Delilah's syndicated nighttime love-songs show for a time until it moved to sister station WLHT and later to what is now WSRW. Delilah is syndicated by

Premiere Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of iHeartMedia, which owns WSRW.

Christmas Music

WTRV was the first station in the Grand Rapids market to switch to a format of all-

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

between Thanksgiving Week/Mid-November and Christmas Day. However, in 2007, the station did not make the usual switch. WTRV opted to continue with its regular format, with Christmas music mixed in for the holiday season. Meanwhile co-owned

hot 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, quiet ...

station

WLHT-FM WLHT-FM (95.7 MHz) is a hot adult contemporary music formatted radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan owned by Townsquare Media. WLHT's studios are located on Ottawa Avenue Northwest in downtown Grand Rapids, while its transmitter is located in ...

went all-Christmas (which it had never done before) to compete with

WOOD-FM WOOD-FM (106.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Muskegon, Michigan, serving West Michigan and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It simulcasts a news/talk radio format with sister station WOOD 1300 AM. The studios and offices are at ...

, which also goes all-Christmas every holiday season. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, WTRV returned to an all-Christmas music format for the holidays, because WLHT-FM had moved to an

adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

sound, not usually associated with Christmas music. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, WTRV was the first station in the United States to flip to the all-Christmas format when it made the switch on October 29. Early adopters (such as frequent first-in-the-nation

WEZW WEZW (93.1 FM) is an FM radio station based in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey and serving the Ocean City, Cape May and Atlantic City markets. Its studios are located at the Bayport One complex in West Atlantic City, and its transmitter is located i ...

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

) waited until November 1 to switch, which factored into WTRV's decision to flip early. On October 29, 2019 at 5:00pm CDT WTRV flipped to the all-Christmas format, making it the 2nd station in the US for the 2019 Holiday season to flip to all-Christmas music, next to

WWIZ WWIZ is a commercial Frequency modulation, FM radio station in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Youngstown, Ohio market broadcasting at 103.9 Megahertz, MHz with an oldies format between January and September or October, ...

which flipped on October 25, 2019 (though WWIZ's move, which included a change to a "Christmas" brand, was suspected of being a

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

). WTRV changed at the same time as

WLTC WLTC (103.7 Lite FM) is a radio station that is licensed in Cusseta, Georgia and serves the city of Columbus, Georgia and its metro area. It broadcasts an adult contemporary format.Cusseta, Georgia Cusseta ( ) is a city in Chattahoochee County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,267 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Chattahoochee County, w ...

References

Michiguide.com - WTRV History

External links

* {{coord, 43.016, N, 85.740, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title TRV Soft adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1993 Townsquare Media radio stations