‘Nash 94.7’, aka WRXP 94.7, becomes first country radio station in New York City in 17 years
Parent company Cumulus boasts new presence as 'America's Country Station'
Just call us Nashville North. Again.
Country music returned to New York City radio for the first time in 17 years on Monday morning, when Cumulus introduced "Nash 94.7" on WRXP at 94.7 FM.
Cumulus tagged it "America's Country Station," which based on radio history may not be bragging.
Past country stations in New York have had the highest listenership of any country station in America, simply because the total pool of listeners in New York is so much larger than in the country-intense markets of the heartland.
"Nash" is the first country music format on a major city station since WYNY became WKTU in 1996.
The WYNY call letters were later picked up by a suburban signal at 107.1 FM, which continued to play country until 2002.
The introduction of "Nash 94.7 FM" followed several days of "stunting," where 94.7 was playing rock, pop, alt-rock, smooth jazz and even pop standards.
The actual introduction Monday followed ringing bells, excerpts from several genres of music and the famous Christopher Walken clip about "more cowbell."
The first country song was "How Country Feels" by Randy Houser, followed by Alan Jackson's "She's Gone Country."
Jackson's song includes a line that goes, "Says, I'm a simple girl myself, grew up on Long Island."
Other early songs were by Brooks and Dunn, Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks.
There were no disc jockeys when the new format started. It's common for startups to be music-intensive for some time, to let listeners know what they will be hearing.
New York has had a number of country stations over the years, from WHN in the 1960s and 1970s to WKHK and WYNY. They have featured popular hosts including Donna Hanover, Jim Kerr and Dan Daniel.
Station executives have often said country has a loyal listener base around the city, particularly in the suburbs.
The problem, the new owners of WYNY said when they dropped country in 1996, is that country didn't have the "sizzle" they needed to attract attention for their station from media buyers who are based in New York. .
Ironically, the country music industry itself has long lamented the absence of a country radio station in New York, saying that void has made it harder to get the music on the radar of those same media buyers.
Many music people feel country music itself has moved closer to the pop/rock mainstream these days.
Country has also scored on mainstream TV this year, with the success of ABC's prime-time drama "Nashville."
Cumulus deferred comment on the new station Monday, saying it will have an official corporate announcement Tuesday.
Cumulus recently completed the purchase of 94.7 FM from Family Radio. Cumulus also owns and runs WABC (770 AM) and WPLJ (95.5 FM).
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