WRNR Rides Again!

• For the many fans of the late, lamented Triple A WRNR/Grasonville-Annapolis, MD, there’s been a major musical void since Steve Kingston sold the 25-year-old station’s 103.1 frequency to the Baltimore-based Peter & John Radio Fellowship for $1.54 million in February 2023, while retaining the station’s intellectual property.

Those fans will soon be rewarded for the patience, as Kingston and Cortona Media partner Kirk Litton are deep into the process of resurrecting WRNR-FM, this time at 93.5, and powered by the legendary 810 WYRE/Annapolis, which Kingston famously programmed in the mid-’70s — and now owns.

As chronicled in a lengthy piece by Mark R. Smith in Business Monthly, the view of WRNR as a community resource was part of what moved the owner of the building and its adjacent radio tower, the City of Annapolis, to lease part of the building and the tower to Cortona. “It’s been unused for a long time,” said Acting City Manager Vickie Buckland, “so when they approached us about their leasing it, we were interested.” The City Council approved a four-year lease (with additional option years) that call for the City to receive at least $500 per month or 1% of gross advertising revenue per month, whichever is amount greater.

Two years ago, the combination of the stream and WYRE-AM signal marked the start of the simulcast that reaches “tens of thousands of people per month,” said Litton, who added, “We’ll gradually be adding live, hosted shows to the station. Today, we’re almost down to hanging the antennae and flipping the switch.”

RAMP reached out to Kingston over the weekend to get more details, and he told us, “This is a full-circle moment for me, as WRNR will again provide music, news and local information to Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay region as we look forward to relaunching the station on our new home and super-serving the community on 93.5 FM, 810 AM and streaming at WRNR.com.” You are invited to stay tuned for further exciting developments!