City | Media, Pennsylvania |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Greater Philadelphia (Delaware Valley) |
Branding | 100.3 WRNB |
Slogan | R&B + Old School |
Frequency | 100.3 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
First air date | November 8, 1982 (as WKSZ) |
Format | Urban AC |
Language(s) | English |
ERP | 17,000 watts |
HAAT | 259 meters |
Class | B |
Facility ID | 25079 |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°02′36″N 75°14′33″W / 40.04333°N 75.24250°W |
Callsign meaning | We're Rhythm aNd Blues |
Former callsigns | WKSZ (1982-1993) WPLY (1993-2005) WPHI (2005-2011) |
Owner |
Radio One (Radio One Licenses, LLC) |
Sister stations | WPHI-FM, WPPZ-FM |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website |
rnbphilly.com |
rnbphilly.com
1003thebeatphilly.com (2006)
WRNB is an urban adult contemporary station broadcasting at 100.3 FM. Licensed to Media, Pennsylvania, it serves the Philadelphia market and is owned by Radio One. It has studios located in Bala Cynwyd and broadcasts from a transmitter site in Philadelphia's Roxborough section. The station is severely short-spaced due to co-channel interference from WHTZ in New York City and WBIG-FM in Washington, D.C. (a similar situation occurs with WBEB (101.1 FM) being short-spaced with WCBS-FM and WWDC).
100.3 FM first went on the air in the 1940s as KYW-FM, and was changed to WXUR-FM in the 1960s, and simulcasting its sister station, WXUR 690. The station was owned by Carl McIntire, a Bible Presbyterian minister; it ran a religious format. In 1973, the FCC revoked the station's license for violating the Fairness Doctrine, refusing to air competing viewpoints. The frequency then went dark. The WXUR call letters are now used by a classic rock station in Herkimer, New York.
In 1981, after a seven-year comparative hearing, the FCC award the license to Greater Media, owned by Daniel Lerner. The name referred to the city of license and was not associated with the company Greater Media that owns WMGK and other stations. On November 8, 1982, 100.3 signed on again as WKSZ, "Kiss 100", with an adult contemporary (AC) format. By 1987, Kiss 100 was the number 1 Arbitron-ranked station among women ages 25 to 54. In the early 1990s, however, the battle for AC listeners heated up, and Kiss lost ground in the ratings, falling to 17th place in 1992 behind three other AC stations. They tried to mix AC and oldies with what they called the "50/50 mix", but it didn't work, and in 1993, returned to just a contemporary mix of love songs.