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WRRB (96.9 FM) is an
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
radio station licensed to
Arlington, New York Arlington is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ...
and serving the Mid-
Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
of New York state. The station is owned by
Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
and broadcasts at 310 watts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in
Marlborough, New York Marlborough is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the southeastern corner of the county. The population was 8,808 at the 2010 census. U.S. Route 9W passes through the eastern part of the town. US Route 44 and NY 55 cross the no ...


Programming

WRRB's programming is simulcast with that of 92.7
WRRV WRRV (92.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Middletown, New York and serving Orange County, including parts of the mid Hudson Valley and Catskills Mountains. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts an alternative roc ...
Middletown, New York which serves the lower Hudson Valley,
Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...
,
Sussex County, New Jersey Sussex County is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton. ...
and
Pike County, Pennsylvania Pike County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,535. Its county seat is Milford. Pike County is included in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, ...
. Though on paper WRRV is seen as the primary station, in reality WRRB is the more dominant of the two based on cume and sales (and the fact that, since 2000, the station has been run out of the longtime studios of sister
WPDH WPDH (101.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are on Pe ...
on Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie). Information on the specifics of WRRV's format can be seen in the article on WRRV.


History

The 96.9 frequency came on the air in Fall 1989 as Bridge Broadcasting-owned WEXT ("Next FM") running a "new adult contemporary" format (a combination of
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 ...
and
new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...
). Aside from its licence, WEXT had another first in being the first station operated by a
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
as
WKIP WKIP (1450 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts at 1,000 watts from a two-tower array adjacent to its radio studios in the Arlington section of the Town of Pou ...
/
WRNQ WRNQ (92.1 MHz "Q92") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switchi ...
owner Richard Novik later controlled WEXT. WEXT's format was a bit ahead of its time and though it had a strong start and admiration of music critics and musicophiles, however this critical success did not translate into ratings as "Next FM" was the market's lowest rated FM signal in its only
Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
ratings book in 1990. Even with the station's poor ratings, it was somehow seen as a threat to the ratings of the more mainstream and successful WRNQ. To boost WRNQ, Novik flipped WEXT's format to a simulcast of the
talk radio 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 ...
format of WKIP in February 1991 as WKIP-FM. Though the two stations split off at points, the simulcast of WKIP came with nearly no measurable ratings on 96.9 and at a financial loss on Novik's end. In August 1993, Novik terminated the LMA with Bridge who on September 1 of that year began an LMA with
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
-based
WDST WDST (100.1 MHz), branded as "Radio Woodstock 100.1", is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Woodstock, New York, and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley. Radio Woodstock is known as a progressive station that was at the forefront of both the mo ...
, bringing that station's storied
Adult Album Alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...
format to points south under the calls WDSP. With a dedicated existing WDST audience on board and a good number of new listeners, WDSP became a middle-of-the pack station overall in the market but with good demographics; this success led Bridge to sell the station to WDST owner CHET-5 Broadcasting in 1994. The station remained moderately successful, however a financial crisis in early 1997 led CHET-5 to sell WDSP and
WKNY WKNY (1490 kHz; "Radio Kingston") is an AM and FM radio station in Kingston, New York, serving Ulster County. It broadcasts at a power of 1,000 watts from a single tower located off Albany Avenue. The studios and offices are on Broadway in Kin ...
in Kingston to the Crystal Radio Group in April of that year. Seeing an opportunity to take its WRRV in Middletown to a full-market signal, WDSP flipped to a WRRV simulcast as WRRB which continues to this day.


Townsquare Media

In October 2000, Crystal sold its holdings to Aurora Communications, which a year later was bought out by
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
. On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Cumulus would swap its stations in
Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...
and
Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
(including WRRB) to
Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
in exchange for Peak Broadcasting's
Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
stations. The deal was part of Cumulus' acquisition of
Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...
; Townsquare, Peak, and Dial Global are all controlled by
Oaktree Capital Management Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele. The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...
. The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.


References


External links


WRRV Website
* {{coord, 41.719, N, 73.996, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Dutchess County, New York RRB Townsquare Media radio stations