WPRV

WPRV (790 AM, "AM 790") is a radio station located in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned by Cumulus Media, and airs a Talk radio format. The station's studios are located in East Providence and the transmitter site is located separately in East Providence just east of the Seekonk River. The station operates at 5,000 watts around the clock and serves the Providence metropolitan area.
While its sister stations WPRO and WEAN-FM simulcast mostly local talk shows, WPRV's schedule mainly comes from nationally syndicated talk programs, much of which are produced by Cumulus Media subsidiary Westwood One, along with some locally produced brokered programming in afternoon drive.
Programming.
WPRV is the Providence affiliate for "First Light", "America in the Morning", "The Chris Plante Show", "The Dave Ramsey Show", "The Mark Levin Show", "The Dan Bongino Show", "The Ben Shapiro Show", "The Michael Knowles Show" and "Red Eye Radio". 
Weekends feature shows on money and health, including Ric Edelman, as well as repeats of weekday programs. The station also serves as the Providence affiliate for the New York Yankees Radio Network, the Boston Celtics Radio Network, and also carries Brown University football and men's basketball. Most hours begin with ABC Radio News.
History.
Yankee Network.
WEAN was Rhode Island's first radio station. (That call sign now belongs to co-owned 99.7 WEAN-FM). On Friday evening, June 2, 1922, WEAN first signed on the air. The broadcast was arranged in conjunction with the radio editor of the newspaper The Providence News. WEAN received its first license three days later, on June 5, 1922.
WEAN was originally owned by the Shepard Stores of Boston, and starting in the late 1920s, received programming from Boston sister station WNAC, now 680 WRKO. This would form the cornerstone of the Yankee Network, a regional radio service feeding newscasts and other programs throughout the region. In the 1940s and 50s, WEAN was a network affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System, carrying its dramas, comedies, variety shows, news and sports. WEAN's studios were in the Crown Hotel in Providence.
In the early 1950s, WEAN was sold to the "[[Providence Journal-Bulletin]]" newspaper. By the 1960s, WEAN was a [[full service radio|full service]], [[Middle of the road (music)|middle-of-the-road]] outlet, with popular music, news and sports. It transitioned to [[adult contemporary music]] by the 1970s. 
All News.
From 1975 to 1977, WEAN was an affiliate of [[NBC]]'s short-lived "News And Information Service", or "NIS," a 24-hour [[all-news radio]] network and branded "All News 79 WEAN." When NIS folded in 1977, WEAN continued as an all-news station with its own staff of anchors and reporters. Affiliation switched to [[CBS News Radio|CBS]] and while the station carried a considerable amount of CBS news content, most news originated locally, with a local staff that numbered as high as 22 members (not all full-time, but all working for the news department.) 
WEAN continued as an all-news station (Newsradio 79, WEAN), morphing in the early 1980s into all-news much of the day, but with local talk in certain dayparts and syndicated late-night talk. It continued as such, branded "Newstalk 79, WEAN" until shortly after the Journal-Bulletin sold it on April 1, 1985.
[[File:WEANers and Wagon.png|thumb|WEANers and Wagon]]
[[File:WEANie Wagon.png|thumb|WEANie Wagon]]
Oldies, Sports, Standards.
After ownership changes, WEAN changed call signs to WWAZ, with [[classical music]], followed by [[oldies]], then [[adult standards]] under the call sign WLKW. WLKW switched formats and call signs in 1998 to [[Sports radio|sports]] as WSKO ("The Score"), airing local and national sports shows (including [[ESPN Radio]] programs), with most programs simulcast with WSKO-FM 99.7 (which was replaced by WEAN-FM, a simulcast of [[WPRO (AM)|WPRO]]). The sports format was discontinued on March 10, 2008. Hosts over the years included John "Coach" Colletto, [[Andy Gresh]], Scott Cordischi, John Rooke, Steve Hyder, Jess Atkinson, Amy Lawrence, [[Scott Zolak]], John Crowe, and Bryan Morry.
After dropping sports, the station took on its current call letters, as well as an [[oldies]] format, largely provided by [[Scott Shannon]]'s [[The True Oldies Channel]] from [[Cumulus Media Networks|ABC Radio]]; 
Business News.
The Oldies format was discontinued on April 13, 2009. WPRV moved to a [[Business Journalism|Business News]] and Talk format, including shows from [[Bloomberg Radio]], although today much of the business programming has been scaled back and replaced with national talk shows. 
Because sister stations 630 WPRO and 99.7 WEAN-FM mostly air local talk hosts, WPRV serves as the Providence outlet for many of co-owned [[Westwood One]]s [[radio syndication|syndicated]] [[conservative talk]] shows. 
External links.
[[Category:Radio stations in Providence, Rhode Island|PRV]]
[[Category:News and talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1922]]
[[Category:RKO General]]
[[Category:Cumulus Media radio stations]]
[[Category:Boston Braves announcers]]