 | |
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Rockland County, New York |
| Frequency | 1700kHz |
| Branding | AM 1700 Radio Rockland |
| Programming | |
| Format | Adult contemporary music andnews/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Alexander Broadcasting, Inc. |
| History | |
First air date | September 1, 1965 (59 years ago) (1965-09-01) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies | 1300kHz (1965–2015) |
Call sign meaning | Rockland County Radio |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 64556 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 41°11′22.3″N74°00′53.5″W / 41.189528°N 74.014861°W /41.189528; -74.014861 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WRCR (1700kHz) is acommercial AM radio stationlicensed toHaverstraw, New York, and servingRockland County. WRCR broadcasts anadult contemporary music format with weekdaytalk radio andbrokered programming. The station is owned by Alexander Broadcasting, Inc.[2][3] Its studios and offices are at 144 Ramapo Road inGarnerville.
By day, WRCR is powered at 10,000 wattsnon-directional. To avoid interference with other stations at night, it reduces power to 1,000 watts at sunset. The station'stransmitter site is at South Mountain Park in Haverstraw.
Weekdays on WRCR feature a local news and call-in program,The Morning Show with Jeff and Will, in AMdrive time. The rest of the day, WRCR playsadult contemporary music and has a schedule ofbrokered programming during the day. It is anaffiliate ofUSA Radio News. It also broadcastsNew York Bouldersminor league baseball games. WRCR is the only radio station providing English-language news and information specifically for Rockland County, asWRKL910 AM in nearbyNew City,simulcasts theSpanish-languageChristian radio programming ofWNYG,Patchogue, New York.
For several years, WRCR carried a local morning talk show co-hosted by Steve Possell. Possell had been heard on Rockland's airwaves (previously on WRKL New City) for nearly 50 years. He retired in 2021.
The stationsigned on the air on September 1, 1965. The originalcall sign was WRRC, and later WKQW and WGRC. It had several different owners and formats including SoftOldies andAdult Standards as a "Music of Your Life" station.
It was adaytime-only station, on 1300 kHz inSpring Valley, New York, with studios at the Broadcast House on Route 59. The station used its original transmitter site inNanuet, New York, for 52 years, although a newtower was erected in 2015 for the operation at 1700 AM.
The station used the call letters WLIR from late 1987 until 2000. WLIR had been the call sign for a popularmodern rockFM station operating at 92.7MHz onLong Island. When that station lost its FCC license, management brought the WLIR call sign to this co-owned Rockland County station. In 2000, WLIR changed its call sign to WRCR.
On March 17, 1997, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz. One of the authorizations was forWZNN inRochester, New Hampshire, to move from 930 to 1700 kHz.[4] However, the 1700 AM operation in New Hampshire was never built, and itsconstruction permit was cancelled on December 22, 2000.[5]
The abandonment of the New Hampshire assignment left 1700 AM unoccupied by any stations in the northeastern United States. Normally the FCC did not allow any stations to apply for operation on an expanded band frequency that were not included in its authorization list issued May 17, 1997. However, in 2006 the commission granted a request allowing WRCR to move from 1300 to 1700 kHz, stating that a "waiver is warranted to permit the licensing of a station that could provide full-time local emergency radio service to Rockland County residents who would be at great risk in the event of a radiological emergency at theIndian Point facility".[6]
On July 13, 2015, WRCR moved from 1300 to 1700 kHz, increasing its power from 500 to 10,000 watts by day and adding night service at 1,000 watts. The higher power allowed the station to be heard over a wider area of the lowerHudson Valley andNorthern New Jersey. Along with the facility upgrade, the station's city of license was changed fromSpring Valley toRamapo. Both are communities in Rockland County.
On August 7, 2017, management announced via the station's website that WRCR would be forced to gosilent for an unknown amount of time.[7] The station would be off-the-air on its 1700 kHz frequency until further notice due to an emergency relocation of the transmitter and tower equipment. On August 29, 2017, Alexander Broadcasting Inc. filed a "Notice of Suspension of Operations" with theFCC.[8]
The station sought consent to go silent on the 1700 kHz frequency. It stated that the owner of the land where WRCR's transmitter and tower were located had opted not to renew the station's lease. The landlord had the electrical power and other vital utilities to the property shut off without notifying the station. In the notice on the station's website, management stated that WRCR would continue to broadcast via live streaming on the website and also via theTuneIn app andAmazon Echo devices.
The station resumed radio broadcasting on April 27, 2019. It began using a new transmitter site in South Mountain Park in the town ofHaverstraw, New York. The station was authorized to move itscommunity of license to Haverstraw, effective October 21, 2021.