New Morning Broadcast Already Airs Countywide News, Weather, and Traffic As WRCR Shifts to WABC Simulcast
By Kim Anderson
Nanuet, NY — In the wake of WRCR Radio’s sale to Red Apple Media and the subsequent pivot to simulcasting WABC 770 AM programming, Rockland News is stepping in again to fill the local media void—at least for the time being.
The digital publication, purchased in 2020 and now with over 5,500 published stories as well as an audience of up to 120,000 monthly views, has converted its weekly supplemental podcast – into a livestream morning show.
The show already had been posting shows multiple times per week on platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify, covering vital news from Rockland County’s five towns, alongside local weather and traffic updates, and a variety of guests ranging from State Senator Bill Weber, to Rockland’s County Executive, as well as local Supervisors, Mayors, retailers, musicans, creators and community advocates.
“We are in a unique position to be able to do this – right now,” stated Tom Ossa, CEO of Rockland News Inc. and Rockland Web Design. “We’ve been building up our digital setup for the past five years, plus another 14 with Rockland Web Design, my first company – still going strong.”
Ossa also cited the various ways the public can already connect to the company’s media properties. “So we have the RocklandNews.com website, the Rockland News podcast, The Rockland Newsletter, and now we’ve got this new weekday live stream. Plus, we’ve already been interviewing local officials and community members for 5 years. That’s four years with the previous podcast and for a solid year now for Rockland News. So bottom line – we’ll take a shot at it, and see how it goes.”
Rockland News Not Handling Public Emergency Broadcasts. Just the Standards
The Rockland News executive outlined the simple plan. “News, traffic, weather. Simple as that. We are working on local sports, as well as community event announcements, and will be increasing our interviews with local stakeholders in the County. But it will all be quick. We’re thinking 10-15 minutes, max. People are busy. We’ll start it up nice and steady, and then we’ll add to it as opportunities arise.”
But Ossa also made abundantly clear he and his team have no plans to take on emergency broadcasting responsibilities—“That’s a different level of infrastucture entirely, and stations like WABC and WCBS should handle,” said Ossa. “We’re still a small, scrappy team of 8-10 people – not including all our contributors and sources. So we know where we can be useful, and that’s basically just listening and keeping these human connections alive. For emergency information, we are more than happy to refer to WABC, link to them, keep in touch with them, all that. Business is business, but public safety is public safety.”
WRCR’s AM radio continued faithfully with regular daily broadcasting to its audience on AM 1700 for many years. A planned sale was rumored for nearly six months. However, some within the radio station were still caught by surprise of the final sale, including some employees and broadcasters of WRCR. Several longtime hosts, such as Jeff and Will’s morning show, as well as Bob Trivero’s Doo Wop Dream Machine, stopped broadcasting suddenly last week, just prior to the planned new studio opening and the Garner Arts Center.
Over the weekend, the WRCR Facebook page was also deactivated and no longer available to the public. The website, still hosted by Rockland Web Design, is active, but no new content has been posted to it. The fate of station recordings, – tapes, MP3s and other file formats, stored by the original WRCR station for many years – is unknown, but likely transferred along with the AM 1700 frequency to the new owners, Big Apple Media.
“It’s a shame. That’s literally decades of recorded content. I’m hoping it gets reposted – there are some great shows over the years. Luckily, at Rockland News we’ve been recording local news and interviews for years. So now we’ll add a regular morning format, local weather, traffic, and public service announcements.” Ossa added. “We have 30 years of local contacts available to us, to select from and invite onto the show. For instance, there’s a huge Meals on Wheels Rockland benefit concert that is happening at Clover Stadium on September 27th this year. So we’ll be inviting Meals on Wheels representatives to be on the show, and talk about all the good they do for our Senior populations. It’s a win-win.”
A Storied History with Familiar Voices Ends Abruptly
The move by Rockland News comes on the heels of WRCR’s quiet but impactful departure from locally produced content. Following the station’s acquisition by Red Apple Media—owners of WABC 770 AM—the station abruptly ended its independent programming earlier this month, marking the end of an era of Rockland-centric radio that dated back nearly 70 years.
Senator Bill Weber has since called for the restoration of Rockland-focused programming on the 1700 AM frequency, though Red Apple Media has yet to issue any statements on such plans.
Several insiders over the weekend, on a condition of anonymity, told Rockland News that WABC does indeed plan to return local content onto AM 1700. Local personalities such as Steve Possell, Neil Richter, Jeff and Will, and many others had long been staples of the WRCR airwaves, offering not just news but also a sense of community belonging.
WRCR’s closure also sent shockwaves through the local online community, sparking debates concerns about the loss of hyper-local media. However, many of them also admitted that they hadn’t turned on AM radio for a while.
The shift from traditional AM/FM to digital-first platforms like podcasts and livestreaming has been gaining steam for over ten years, but COVID supercharged the transition. Adding to the challenge is the recent initative by several electric car manufacturers to not include the AM broadcast band in new vehicles, citing noise interference between battery and signal. Several US Officials have recently introduced legislation to keep AM radio in new cars.
Invitation for Guest Morning Show Hosts
Ossa also sees this as an opportunity to open doors for community participation, inviting local podcasters, influencers, and civic voices to serve as guest hosts. “This isn’t just about our Rockland News message. We want to be a digital conduit for many of the local voices we already have. So we’re inviting people to apply as guest hosts for the show—starting with once a week. We’ll probably have our first guest host sometime around June. We already have a few people that applied.”
Ossa, who himself has a unique history with radio—having operated his first business from within the WRCR station’s offices at Clover Stadium under a barter agreement in 2014—emphasized the evolving role of digital media. “Technology has been changing rapidly, and luckily since we’ve always devoted some of our budget each year to researching new technology, we were up and running with the livestream literally in one business day. We had eight guests on the show day one, and four on day two.”
For those interested in participating in the new morning show or becoming a guest host, Rockland News has opened applications on its website, the application is available on the Alert page, by choosing the ‘podcasting’ option.
When asked why take this new live streaming project on, Ossa said “Well, first and foremost – the public needs it. While larger networks may be adding in national and international stories and sponsors into their local programming, we’re focused 100% on Rockland. Period.
“Second, we also enjoy it and we have the resources to do it for a while. So we might as well plant the flag now, and bring our valued colleagues along for the ride.”
In the meantime, Rockland County residents can find their morning headlines, weather, and traffic on the Rockland News podcast—proving once again that even as media formats change, the need for a local voice remains strong.
To follow Rockland News’ morning show and podcasts, visit their new all-in-one location: RocklandSound.com.
