| Broadcast area | Grand Rapids metropolitan area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 100.5MHz |
| Branding | 100.5 The River |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult Contemporary |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WFGR,WGRD-FM,WLHT-FM,WNWZ | |
| History | |
First air date | June 15,1993 (as WQFN) |
Former call signs | WQFN (9/20/1991-6/26/1998) |
Call sign meaning | W TheRiVer |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 72529 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 3,000watts |
| HAAT | 100 meters (328 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | rivergrandrapids.com |
WTRV (100.5FM) is acommercialradio station broadcasting anadult contemporaryradio format. The station islicensed toWalker, Michigan, and serves theGrand Rapids metropolitan arearadio market. WTRV is aClass A station, so it is limited to 3,000watts. Its signal can be heard as far south asOtsego, far east asIonia, and as far north asFremont.
The studios and offices are on Ottawa Avenue NW in Grand Rapids.[2] Thetransmitter is on Peach Ridge Avenue NW at 3 Mile Road, nearInterstate 96.[3]
On June 15, 1993, the station firstsigned on asWQFN.[4] 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 withChristian radio stationWFUR and operated out of the WFUR studios. Originally WQFN was a fullyautomatedadult contemporary station. After a year, it flipped toSmooth Jazz fed via satellite fromJones Radio Networks. The smooth jazz format was a moderate ratings success.
In 1998, the station was acquired by Capstar, which later became part ofiHeartMedia, Inc.[5] Capstar switched thecall sign toWTRV.
The station featured amiddle of the road (MOR) andsoft AC format featuring a mix of lightoldies and selected recent songs, from artists such asThe Carpenters,Barry Manilow,Neil Diamond andBarbra Streisand. These acts were no longer played on competitor and formereasy listening station WOOD-FM (nowWSRW). WTRV now features a softer, gold-leaning version of the Mainstream AC format formerly heard on sister stationWLHT, which shifted toHot AC in2009.
In 2000, the ownership changed again, this time to Regent Communications.[6] 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 includeCeline Dion,Billy Joel,Elton John,Whitney Houston andRod Stewart. The station's playlist now resembles gold-based soft AC stations such asWFEZ inMiami andWDUV inTampa.
WTRV airedDelilah'ssyndicated nighttime love-songs show for a time until it moved to sister station WLHT and later to what is now WSRW. Delilah is syndicated byPremiere Networks, asubsidiary of iHeartMedia, which owns WSRW.
WTRV was the first station in the Grand Rapids market to switch to a format of all-Christmas music 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-ownedhot adult contemporary stationWLHT-FM went all-Christmas (which it had never done before) to compete withWOOD-FM, which also goes all-Christmas every holiday season. In2010, WTRV returned to an all-Christmas music format for the holidays, because WLHT-FM had moved to anadult Top 40 sound, not usually associated with Christmas music.
In2018, 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-nationWEZW inSouth Jersey) waited until November 1 to switch, which factored into WTRV's decision to flip early.[7] 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 toWWIZ which flipped on October 25, 2019 (though WWIZ's move, which included a change to a "Christmas" brand, was suspected of being astunt). WTRV changed at the same time asWLTC inCusseta, Georgia.[8]
It was reported on May 19, 2024, that WTRV was beginning to reduce the amount of softer, older music they were playing on the station and adding more modern, upbeat music.[9]
43°00′58″N85°44′24″W / 43.016°N 85.740°W /43.016; -85.740