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| Broadcast area | Buffalo metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 1300kHz |
| Branding | WXRL |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English |
| Format | Classic country |
| Affiliations | United Stations Radio Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1965; 60 years ago (1965) |
Call sign meaning | WX Ramblin' Lou |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 17068 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 42°52′58″N78°37′54″W / 42.88278°N 78.63167°W /42.88278; -78.63167 |
| Translator(s) | 95.5 W238DD (Lancaster) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
WXRL (1300AM) is acommercial radio station inLancaster, New York, serving theBuffalo metropolitan area. It broadcasts aclassic countryradio format. WXRL is owned and operated by the family ofRamblin' Lou Schriver, a localcountry music performer, under the name Dome Broadcasting Inc. WXRL's studios andtransmitter are on William Street in Lancaster.
By day, WXRL transmits with 5,000 watts. At night, to protect other stations on1300 AM from interference, it reduces power to 2,500 watts. WXRL uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array.[2] Programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translatorW238DD at 95.5MHz.
The stationsigned on in 1965, as WMMJ. It had been founded by Stan Jasinski, a local media personality known mostly for hispolka broadcasts. Polka has been a fixture of the station's format since its inception. When Jasinski shifted his focus to television and started up Channel 29WUTV in 1970, he sold the radio station toRamblin' Lou Schriver, who owned the station for the rest of his life and installed what was then the firstcountry music station in Western New York.[citation needed]
When more modern FM country stations such asWYRK andWNUC started reaching the airwaves in the early 1990s, Schriver, like numerous other AM country stations, maintained aclassic country format. Schriver died January 17, 2016, from heart failure at age 86.[3] His family and heirs continue to own and operate the station.
As of October 23, 2018, after a long application process with the FCC, WXRL added anFM translator at 95.5 MHz. The station's format did not change with the addition of the new translator. In 2020, WXRL became the last commercial radio station in the Buffalo area to begin streaming its programming on the Internet.
Local hosts include Craig Matthews, Larry Jones, Lynn Carol Schriver and Lou Five. Scott Cleveland was a longtime on-air personality with the station until his death in 2015. Ramblin' Lou Schriver's reruns of "The Old Country Church" continue to be posthumously broadcast on the station. The station has a "Drive Time Polkas" show from 5 till 7 pm Monday thru Saturday, hosted by Ron Dombrowski (who also hosts polka shows forWECK andWBBZ-TV), and also devotes a large portion of its weekend programming to polka music.[4]
Syndicated programs include theRenfro Valley Gatherin',Classic Country Today with Keith Bilbrey and "Country Music Greats" withJim Ed Brown. WXRL is an affiliate ofCBS Radio News.
The station also airs some local sports programming, predominantly fromLancaster High School.
WXRL carries only a small amount of external advertising, with most of its commercial spots advertising appearances by the Ramblin' Lou Family Band and "Ramblin' Lou Tours"[5] (bus trips sold and promoted by the Schriver family to locations mostly in the eastern United States). Milk for Health, a promotional organization representing Western New York's dairy farmers, has sponsored WXRL for its entire existence, a sponsorship deal that dates to before Schriver launched the station; Milk for Health had previously sponsored the Ramblin' Lou show on WWOL.[6]
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