WTRV
 | |
| Broadcast area | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 100.5 MHz |
| Branding | 100.5 The River |
| Programming | |
| Format | Soft AC Christmas music (Nov.-Dec.) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WFGR, WGRD-FM, WLHT-FM, WNWZ | |
| History | |
First air date | 1993 (as WQFN) |
Former call signs | WQFN (9/20/1991-6/26/1998) |
Call sign meaning | W The RiVer |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 72529 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 3,000 watts |
| HAAT | 100 meters |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | rivergrandrapids.com |
WTRV (100.5 FM, "The River") is a radio station broadcasting a soft, gold-leaning adult contemporary format. The station is licensed to Walker, Michigan, and serves the Grand Rapids, Michigan market. Its signal can be heard as far south as Otsego, Michigan, far east as Ionia, Michigan, and as far north as Fremont, Michigan
For the first decade or so of its existence as WTRV, the station featured a MOR/soft AC format featuring a mix of soft oldies and selected more recent songs, from artists such as Carpenters, Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand who were no longer played on competitor and former easy listening station WOOD-FM 105.7. WTRV now features a softer, gold-leaning version of the Mainstream AC format formerly heard on sister station 95.7 WLHT, which has shifted to Hot AC since 2009.
At the beginning of 2015, the station scaled back on current/recurrent music and added more softer gold tracks 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" with core artists including Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Elton John, Daryl Hall and John Oates and Rod Stewart. The station's sound now resembles that of gold-based soft AC stations such as WFEZ in Miami, Florida and the former KIFM in San Diego, California.
100.5 FM went on the air in 1993 with the WQFN calls, which had previously been used in Muskegon at the station that is now WMRR. For several years, it was co-owned with Christian broadcaster WFUR and operated out of the WFUR studios. Originally WQFN was a fully automated adult contemporary station, soon flipping to Smooth Jazz fed via satellite from Jones Radio Networks. The smooth jazz format was a moderate ratings success. In 1997, the station was sold and converted to its current call sign and the MOR format, which stood for over a decade. 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-FM.
The current WTRV on-air lineup includes Andy Rent mornings, Matt Milhouse middays, program director Tom Cook (also PD of Channel 95-7) afternoons, and John Tesh evenings, with only the morning time slot live. The station is automated during overnights. Former air talents include Kim Carson, Gene Parker, Chuck Latour. The station formerly aired Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The '80s on Saturday evenings; that program is now heard Sundays on sister station WFGR.
WTRV was the first station in the Grand Rapids market to switch to a format of continuous Christmas music between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. However, in 2007, the station opted to continue with its normal format, with Christmas music mixed in, for the holiday season, while sister hot adult contemporary station WLHT-FM went all-Christmas (which it had never done before) to compete with WOOD-FM. In 2010, the station returned to an all-Christmas music format for the holiday season due to the rebranding of sister adult top 40 station WLHT-FM.
References
External links
- Facility details for Facility ID WTRV ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database