WHVW

WHVW (950 AM) is a radio station licensed to Hyde Park, New York that is noted for its eclectic format based on old-fashioned blues, jazz, country and Americana music. In a time of corporate ownership of broadcast outlets, it is also one of only three Hudson Valley radio stations (other two: WTBQ, Warwick; WDST, Woodstock) that are independently owned. WHVW broadcasts on 950 kHz with a power of 500 watts daytime and 57 watts nighttime from a tower located off Route 9G in the Town of Hyde Park. Studios are located at 316 Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York.

History

Originally owned by Ubiquitous Corp., WHVW signed on the air on July 4, 1963 as a daytime-only station broadcasting from a tower just north of the Poughkeepsie/Hyde Park line. Launching with a Top 40 format that served the Poughkeepsie area, the station became popular and within a few years was the #1 station in town, with their share of the audience over 50%. In 1966, WHVW-FM signed on at 97.7 MHz.

WHVW was sold to Castle Communications Corp in 1975. Despite the fact the Top 40 was still getting good ratings, the new owners made a radical format change to all-news (via NBC's News and Information Service) as WHPN, continuing the format after NBC folded the service in 1977. This move reduced the station's audience considerably and in 1978 the format changed again to adult contemporary with the new call letters of WWWI. Positioning itself as a more musical alternative to WKIP, the station struggled to find an audience as the ownership lost money.