WRSI
Radio station in Turners Falls–Northampton, Massachusetts
title: "WRSI" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["radio-stations-in-massachusetts", "adult-album-alternative-radio-stations-in-the-united-states", "mass-media-in-franklin-county,-massachusetts", "radio-stations-established-in-1981", "radio-stations-established-in-1994", "montague,-massachusetts", "1994-establishments-in-massachusetts"] description: "Radio station in Turners Falls–Northampton, Massachusetts" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRSI" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Radio station in Turners Falls–Northampton, Massachusetts ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | WRSI |
| logo | WRSI FM logo.png |
| city | Turners Falls, Massachusetts |
| country | US |
| area | Northampton, Massachusetts |
| branding | 93.9 The River |
| airdate | |
| frequency | |
| format | Adult album alternative |
| erp | 4,900 watts |
| haat | 111 m |
| class | A |
| facility_id | 8775 |
| licensing_authority | FCC |
| coordinates | |
| former_callsigns | WPVQ (1993–2001) |
| owner | Saga Communications |
| licensee | Saga Communications of New England, LLC |
| sister_stations | |
| repeaters | |
| webcast | |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = WRSI
| logo = WRSI FM logo.png
| city = Turners Falls, Massachusetts
| country = US
| area = Northampton, Massachusetts
| branding = 93.9 The River
| airdate =
| frequency =
| format = Adult album alternative
| erp = 4,900 watts
| haat = 111 m
| class = A
| facility_id = 8775
| licensing_authority = FCC
| coordinates =
| callsign_meaning =
| former_callsigns = WPVQ (1993–2001)
| affiliations =
| owner = Saga Communications
| licensee = Saga Communications of New England, LLC
| sister_stations =
| repeaters =
| webcast =
| website =
WRSI (93.9 FM, "93.9 The River") is a radio station licensed to serve Turners Falls, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Saga Communications and licensed to Saga Communications of New England, LLC. It airs an adult album alternative music format.
History
On July 11, 1977, Ed Skutnik filed an application on behalf of his Company, Green Valley Broadcasting Co., Ltd. to build a new FM station in Greenfield, Massachusetts. A competing application was filed by Poet's Seat Broadcasting, Inc. for the same vacant FM channel (95.3 MHz in Greenfield). After years of hearings and appeals, the FCC ultimately awarded the permit to Green Valley Broadcasting, which began construction in January 1981.
WRSI officially went on the air July 26, 1981, with a diverse programming line up, including music from the genres of rock, classical, jazz, new age, folk, world and country. A concerted effort was made to showcase local western Massachusetts musicians.
WRSI was the first stereo FM station in Franklin County, Massachusetts, and used next to no compression of its audio signals. WRSI was also the first station in western Massachusetts beginning, in 1982, to use compact discs as part of its regular programming.
WRSI added a sister station in March 1987. WPOE (1520 AM) in Greenfield was purchased from Poet's Seat Broadcasting Inc. The call letters were changed to WGAM.
Green Valley Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (Ed Skutnik, owner) sold WRSI and WGAM to Howard Communications Corp. in October 1988 for $1.535 million. Howard Communications went into receivership in January 1992. At that time, Skutnik was asked to manage the stations until a new owner was found.
In November 1992, under the ownership of Skutnik, Radio Skutnik Inc. bought back WRSI and WGAM from the receivership. In October 1996, Radio Skutnik sold WRSI and WGAM to Watertown Radio Associates. In August 1999, Vox Media Corp. purchased Dynacom and all of its radio assets, including WRSI, for a reported $5.5 million.
In February 2001, WRSI swapped frequencies with WPVQ so that WPVQ now broadcasts on 95.3 MHz from Greenfield, and WRSI broadcasts on its current 93.9 MHz. The 93.9 FM station was assigned the WRSI call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on February 1, 2001.
In December 2003, Saga Communications announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase WRSI (93.9 FM) and WPVQ (95.3 FM) plus WRSY (101.5 FM) from Vox Media. The $7 million deal closed in April 2004.
Alumni
Rachel Maddow, host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and a former Air America Radio personality, worked for WRSI as host of "The Big Breakfast" after getting her start in radio at nearby WRNX.
References
References
- "Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
- Fybush, Scott. (August 25, 1996). "The Country Wars End". New England Radio Watch.
- Fybush, Scott. (August 6, 1999). "Sales Galore". NorthEast Radio Watch.
- Fybush, Scott. (December 31, 2001). "2001: The Year in Review". NorthEast Radio Watch.
- "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
- Fybush, Scott. (December 29, 2003). "Saga Adds in Pioneer Valley". NorthEast Radio Watch.
- Fybush, Scott. (April 12, 2004). "Nassau Shakeup in Maine". NorthEast Radio Watch.
- Lehoczky, Etelka. (August 31, 2004). "Left and centered: Air America radio's Rachel Maddow is out, brilliant, and ready to defend the other L word: liberal". The Advocate.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::