WZRV
Encyclopedia
WZRV is an Oldies
/Classic Rock
formatted broadcast
radio station
licensed to Front Royal, Virginia
, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley
. WZRV is owned and operated by Royal Broadcasting, Inc..
(as "The Drive") and their format to Oldies. After a station in Chicago requested the WDRV call letters, 95.3 switched to calls to WZRV on March 15, 2001.
WZRV has add many of the old DJs from Winchester
country station, WUSQ, to their lineup. Most notably, Randy Woodward, former mid-day jock on WUSQ until 2000, does the morning show on WZRV. Mario Retrosi, former morning news reporter at WUSQ, now reads the news in the mornings on WZRV. Other former WUSQ'ers to come through the WZRV building are Lonnie Hill (now afternoons on WZRV) and Jimmy Lee.
With the May 2007 sale of WINC
, WINC-FM, and simulcasters WWRE/WWRT
, WZRV is left as the only locally-owned radio station in the Winchester area.
On September 4, 2007, WZRV began using "The River" branding. The branding is in reference to the Shenandoah River
that runs through WZRV's listening area, the north fork of which runs just north of Front Royal. On the same date, WZRV dropped ABC Radio's "Oldies Radio" network and picked up Dial Global
's "Oldies Channel" network.
WZRV continues to carry a local morning and afternoon show and with local news and weather updates during satellite hours. WZRV also continues to add classic rock songs to Dial Global's oldies playlist to compete with local active rockers (then) WWRE/WWRT (now WXNB/WXBN) in Winchester.
While WZRV switched to Dial-Global, the station continues to use ABC Radio News
, but only in the shortened 2 minute version, they had been carrying the full 4½ minute version.
In Late November 2008, WZRV became the area's first commercial station to go "All Christmas"
for part of the day. This was repeated in 2009 and 2010 during the Christmas holiday.
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
/Classic Rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
formatted broadcast
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal, Virginia
Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.-Geography:Front Royal is roughly west of Washington, D.C....
, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
. WZRV is owned and operated by Royal Broadcasting, Inc..
History
WZRV started as WIXV in 1980. WIXV held an Adult Contemporary format at the beginning. WIXV would change it calls later that year to WFTR, after sister WFTR-AM. In the late 1990s, WFTR switched from Adult Contemporary to Classic County as "Real County 95-3". On December 14, 2000, WFTR switched calls again to WDRVWDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
(as "The Drive") and their format to Oldies. After a station in Chicago requested the WDRV call letters, 95.3 switched to calls to WZRV on March 15, 2001.
WZRV has add many of the old DJs from Winchester
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
country station, WUSQ, to their lineup. Most notably, Randy Woodward, former mid-day jock on WUSQ until 2000, does the morning show on WZRV. Mario Retrosi, former morning news reporter at WUSQ, now reads the news in the mornings on WZRV. Other former WUSQ'ers to come through the WZRV building are Lonnie Hill (now afternoons on WZRV) and Jimmy Lee.
With the May 2007 sale of WINC
WINC (AM)
WINC is a News/Talk/Sports formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Winchester, Virginia, serving Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia. WINC is owned and operated by Centennial Broadcasting.-History:Richard F. Lewis, Jr...
, WINC-FM, and simulcasters WWRE/WWRT
WZFC
WZFC is a Country formatted radio station licensed to Strasburg, Virginia and serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley. WZFC is owned and operated by Centennial Broadcasting.-History:...
, WZRV is left as the only locally-owned radio station in the Winchester area.
On September 4, 2007, WZRV began using "The River" branding. The branding is in reference to the Shenandoah River
Shenandoah River
The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each, in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia...
that runs through WZRV's listening area, the north fork of which runs just north of Front Royal. On the same date, WZRV dropped ABC Radio's "Oldies Radio" network and picked up Dial Global
Dial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
's "Oldies Channel" network.
WZRV continues to carry a local morning and afternoon show and with local news and weather updates during satellite hours. WZRV also continues to add classic rock songs to Dial Global's oldies playlist to compete with local active rockers (then) WWRE/WWRT (now WXNB/WXBN) in Winchester.
While WZRV switched to Dial-Global, the station continues to use ABC Radio News
ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Cumulus Media Networks, newscasts on the hour to its more than 2,000 affiliates...
, but only in the shortened 2 minute version, they had been carrying the full 4½ minute version.
In Late November 2008, WZRV became the area's first commercial station to go "All Christmas"
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
for part of the day. This was repeated in 2009 and 2010 during the Christmas holiday.