WYKV

WYKV is a Christian Contemporary radio station licensed to Ravena, New York and serving the Capital District and upper Hudson Valley of New York. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation and broadcasts at 3 kilowatts ERP from a location in Selkirk, New York. It is an O&O of EMF's K-LOVE network.

History

The 94.5 frequency signed on as WRAV-FM in November 1991 with a Jones "Adult Choice" satellite-fed Adult Contemporary format which tried to target Albany's southern suburbs. WRAV struggled from the outset with no less than three rivals in Albany and, soon after signing on, a rival in Catskill as well. As a result, the station struggled financially and was sold in November 1993 after nearly going dark; the new owners switched programming services to the ABC/SMN "Hot AC" format and relaunched the station as WEMX (Mix 94.5). Though WEMX was better off financially, it still struggled in terms of ratings and revenue.

In June 1995, WKLI/WABY(1400) owner Paul Bendat bought WEMX and that August (after five weeks of syndicated talk shows and hot adult contemporary music) changed the station's format to a simulcast of the adult standards format heard on WABY. Initially, the station had various prior commitments on weekends to clear and was forced to sign off overnights due to a programming service conflict between WABY and WCKL in Catskill. In May 1996, the station was granted a call letter change to WABY-FM. From the outset, the simulcast was wildly successful with ratings often being among the Top 5 stations (12+) in the Albany market. WKLI had always supported the WABY stations and although revenue at WABY improved, a misconception of the value of its audience due to poor sales staff never allowed it to reach its potential. A decline at WKLI coupled with the lure of money led to Bendat's days being numbered.