First air date August 1999 Class A City of license Windham Owner Rip Radio LLC | ERP 580 watts Frequency 97.9 MHz Format Adult contemporary music Branding RIP 97.9 FM | |
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Broadcast area Catskills and Capital Region HAAT 322 meters (1,056 feet) Callsign meaning WRIP for Rip Van Winkle, famed folklore resident of the Catskill Mountains Area Catskill Mountains, Capital region Slogan Today's Hits & Yesterday's Favorites | ||
Wrip ripped radio smooth jazz
WRIP (RIP 97.9) is an Adult Contemporary station licensed to Windham, New York, serving the northern Catskill Mountains region and the Capital District of New York State. The station is locally owned and operated by Rip Radio LLC. WRIP broadcasts with 580 watts effective radiated power from atop Windham Mountain on Cave Mountain in Windham, 3,085 feet above sea level. A booster station atop nearby Hunter Mountain serves the Hunter, NY-Tannersville area. The station provides music, news, and weather information for residents and travelers in the Great Northern Catskills area, a popular skiing and vacation destination. The station also simulcasts at 97.5 MHz from Durham, New York and is carried on 104.5 MHz serving the greater Stamford, NY area from atop the town's Mount Utsayantha. As of 2015, the station was also heard on 103.7 FM, serving the greater Catskill and Hudson (NY) area.
WRIP first signed on in August 1999 as the first radio station in Greene County based outside of Catskill. Initially, the station had a uniquely split format of adult contemporary weekdays and oldies weekends. Now WRIP focuses primarily on AC hits from the 1980s, 1990s and today. Weekday mornings were hosted by station manager Guy Patrick Garraghan until his untimely death in November 2010. Garraghan was a lifelong local resident who spent 17 years on the air at WCKL in Catskill prior to coming to WRIP in 1999. He is credited for being the primary force in bringing local radio to the mountaintop region. Current Operations Manager Joe Loverro hosts morning drive, while WRIP President and General Manager Jay Fink hosts afternoon drive.
Weekends feature a mix of locally produced specialty programming such as Joe Loverro's Friday Night Gold, RIP Retro Saturday Night, an oldies show hosted by veteran personality Bill Lawrence, while Sunday evenings feature Jazz In the Catskills - Bop & Beyond hosted by Michael Benedict, Thomas Bellino and Dennis Jackson and Great American Standards showcasing light pop music from the 1940s, 1950s & 1960s - with host Kelly Green. In February 2010, the station launched a live weekly local music show, "Local Licks" - heard Tuesdays from 6:00-9:00PM featuring live in-studio performances. Most recently, the station added syndicated specialty programming to the weekly mix, including a deep cuts 1980s show, an all-1990s show, an all-Beatles show, and two countdown shows hosted by broadcast legends Dick Bartley and Casey Kasem.