Radio listeners in Habersham and surrounding counties have another choice on their FM dial.
WRWH Radio in Cleveland can now be heard on 93.9 FM.
The station launched its new FM signal on April 2.
“We have tried several times for more than 30 years to get a full power FM but there were no channels available,” says WRWH co-owner, General Manager, and on-air personality, Dean Dyer. “Our main objective for trying for so many years to get an FM station was to better serve our local area – Cleveland, Helen and all of White County. It also gives us the ability to serve our surrounding counties with a better, stronger signal reaching more homes and businesses with local news and weather information.”
The station uses what’s known as an FM translator to retransmit it’s AM signal to a wider audience.
Six decades and counting
WRWH Radio went on the air back in 1958. The station derived its call letters from the early days when it served Rabun, White, and Habersham counties.
“When WRWH first went on the air there were not a lot of AM stations – and no FM’s – on the air,” Dyer says. Back then the AM station carried farther because, as Dyer explains, there were “not so many things like fluorescent lights, computers, and huge powerlines that now interfere with the AM signal.”
Dyer and his wife, Bonnie, bought the station over 30 years ago. At the time, it was operating out of an old quonset hut on the southern edge of Cleveland. Today, the radio station broadcasts from a state-of-the-art studio built adjacent to the hut on Hood Street.
WRWH has had several different owners and formats through the years. The Dyers now co-own the station with Lamar and Patricia Canup. It offers a News/Talk format with some music segments.
The station is a leader in local news in White County. Now Habersham shares many of its reports. WRWH also carries sports reports, live sporting events, and weather.
“The station has provided employment for lots of different people,” Dyer says, “especially high school and college students.”
Now celebrating its 60th year on the air, Dyer says they’re planning an official celebration later this year.
Worth the wait
While the station’s strength lies in its local ties, Dyer credits a man in Washington DC with making WRWH’s FM launch possible. “I credit FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai for spearheading efforts to help AM stations like us obtain an FM signal to serve their communities.”
The process took two years from start to finish. If initial feedback is any indication, it was time well spent.
“In the short time we have been serving the area with the FM, the comments and feedback from our listeners has been tremendous,” Dyer says. “Many have said, ‘We are happy for you’. We say we are privileged to serve such a great community!”
