WRVF

WRVF

City	Toledo, Ohio
Broadcast area	Toledo, Ohio
Branding	101.5 The River
Slogan	The '80s to Now
Frequency	101.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	August 11, 1946 (as WSPD-FM)
Format	Adult Contemporary) HD2: News/Talk (WSPD simulcast)
ERP	33,000 watts
HAAT	164 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	62188
Callsign meaning	W RiVer-FM
Former callsigns	1971-1995: WLQR 1946-1971: WSPD-FM
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (Citicasters Licenses, Inc.)
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	1015theriver.com

WRVF (101.5 FM, "101.5 The River") is an American adult contemporary music formatted radio station in Toledo, Ohio, owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications). The station boasts a signal that covers most of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan and can be heard well in parts of the Detroit area. The station is audible as far North as Sterling Heights, Michigan, as far east as Sandusky, Ohio, westward almost to the Indiana state line, and almost as far south as Lima, Ohio. The 101.5 frequency has featured some form of soft music format for decades, evolving from easy listening into mainstream AC.

The River is locally well known, some might say infamous, for playing non-stop Christmas music between mid-November through Christmas day, one of the first AC stations in the country to do so. This tradition began in 1995 (the year the station's calls changed from WLQR-FM), several years before the practice became commonplace for AC stations around North America. The morning show of WRVF featured Toledo radio legend Jack "Mitch" Mitchell until March 31, 2006.

WRVF's studios and offices are located at Superior and Lafayette in downtown Toledo. The station's transmitter is located at North Wynn Road at Cedar Point Road in Oregon, Ohio.

History

What is now WRVF began as WSPD-FM, signing on the air on August 11, 1946. The station served as a partial simulcast of WSPD-AM until the late 1960s when the station adopted a MOR format using Drake-Chenault's "Hit Parade" package. In 1971 the station was sold to Susquehanna Broadcasting and became a beautiful music station, known as "Stereo 101 - WLQR". It played half-hour music tapes mastered at Susquehanna's studios in York PA with local announcers Steve Kendall, Mike Stanley, Larry Weseman and Bill Stewart. The station retained this format until 1987 when it became "Soft Rock 101.5 WLQR"; by this time the station was again co-owned with WSPD.

A few years later the station began stunting by playing "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks with a man with a southern voice announcing that something new was coming to WLQR on Monday. The following Monday the station kept its soft AC format and became "101.5 The River", changing its call letters to WRVF. The WLQR calls are now used on AM 1470 in Toledo (the former WOHO and WWWM-AM), and over 106.5 FM as of June 2009.

Since 2007, WRVF-FM has been broadcasting in IBOC "HD RADIO". The "HD1" programming is the digital version of its analog audio, while the "HD2" 'channel' broadcasts a simulcast of news/talk sister station WSPD-AM. WRVF is also the (LP) Local Primary (EAS) Emergency Alert Station in Northwestern Ohio. The station broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 33,000 watts.

WRVF became the new home of the popular "Friday Night '80s" feature in May 2007 after crosstown competitor WWWM (Star 105) dropped it in favor of Delilah six nights a week. However, from 7 p.m. to midnight on Friday nights, the show consists of John Tesh's show with '80s music played in place of the normal AC format. The River also aired the '80s version of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Saturday nights from 6 to 10 p.m., until the show was dropped after Christmas of 2011.

From October 2010 to October 2014, WRVF had a competitor in the AC format in "My 98-3" WMIM, licensed to Luna Pier, Michigan. WMIM switched to a country music format in October 2014, leaving WRVF again as the only mainstream AC station in the market. Also in the fall of 2014, WRVF backed away from its longtime "soft rock" image and began re-imaging itself as "The '80s to Now," with a slightly more contemporary music mix.

External links

Query the FCC's FM station database for WRVF

Radio-Locator information on WRVF

Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WRVF

Radio stations in the Toledo, Ohio market

By FM frequency	88.3 88.3 88.9 89.3 89.7 90.3 91.3 92.5 92.9 93.5 94.5 94.9 95.7 96.1 96.9 97.3 98.3 99.1 99.9 100.7 101.5 102.3 103.3 103.7 104.1 104.7 105.5 106.5 107.3 107.7 107.9

By AM frequency	730 1230 1370 1470 1520 1560

Digital radio	1230 1370 92.5-1 92.5-2 93.5-1 99.9-1 101.5-1 101.5-2 104.7-1 104.7-2 105.5-1 105.5-2 106.5-1

By callsign	W225AM W235BH W258BT W264AK W277BI W281AL WCKY-FM WCWA WGTE-FM WIMX WIOT WJUC WJYM WJZE WKKO WKXA-FM WLQR WLQR-FM WMIM WMLZ-LP WMTR-FM WNKL WNOC WNWT WOTL WPFX-FM WPOS-FM WRQN WRVF WSPD WTPG WVKS WWWM-FM WWYC WXKR WXTS-FM WXUT WYSZ

Ohio radio markets Akron Canton Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dayton Lima Marietta Toledo Youngstown–Warren Other Ohio radio regions Ashtabula Ironton Mid-Ohio Sandusky Southern Ohio Wheeling/Steubenville See also List of radio stations in Ohio List of radio stations in Michigan Detroit Radio South Central Michigan Radio Southwestern Ontario Radio

Adult Contemporary radio stations in the state of Ohio

Stations	WBNV – Barnesville WCPZ – Sandusky WCSM – Celina WDOK – Cleveland WFRO – Fremont/Sandusky WGTZ – Eaton/Dayton WHIZ-FM – Zanesville WHOF – North Canton/Akron/Canton WJER – Dover–New Philadelphia WKKI – Celina WKTN – Kenton WMOA – Marietta WMVR – Sidney WMXY -- Youngstown WNDH – Napoleon WNTO – Racine WNWV - Elyria/Cleveland WPTW – Piqua WQAL – Cleveland WQIO – Mount Vernon WREO – Ashtabula WRRM – Cincinnati WRVF – Toledo WSNY – Columbus WTNS-FM – Coshocton WVNO – Mansfield WVNU – Greenfield WWJM – New Lexington WYNT – Caledonia WYVK – Middleport

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Ohio

iHeartMedia

Corporate officers	Bob Pittman (Chairman/CEO)

Board of directors	Lowry Mays Irving Azoff B. J. "Red" McCombs J. C. Watts John H. Williams

Radio stations	List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia

Radio networks	Fox Sports Radio Premiere Networks Premium Choice Total Traffic and Weather Network

Miscellaneous	Clear Channel Outdoor Clear Channel UK iHeartRadio List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia Mediabase Radio Computing Services

Coordinates: 41°40′23″N 83°25′30″W / 41.673°N 83.425°W / 41.673; -83.425

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