Radio The River 95.3 (WZRV)

WZRV is a radio station based in Front Royal, Virginia, serving the Northern Shenandoah Valley. It is owned and operated by Royal Broadcasting, Inc. The station has an oldies/classic rock format.

WZRV , originally known as WIXV, began broadcasting in 1980 with an adult contemporary format. Later that year, the station changed its calls to WFTR after its sister station WFTR-AM. In the late 1990s, WFTR switched to a classic country format called "Real Country 95-3." On December 14, 2000, the station changed its calls to WDRV (known as "The Drive") and switched to an oldies format. However, due to a Chicago station requesting the WDRV call letters, 95.3 changed its calls to wzrv on March 15, 2001.

wzrv has added several former DJs from Winchester country station WUSQ to its lineup, including Randy Woodward, Mario Retrosi, Lonnie Hill, and Jimmy Lee. It is the only locally-owned radio station in the Winchester area since the sale of WINC, WINC-FM, and its simulcasters in May 2007.

In September 2007, wzrv adopted the branding "The River," which references the Shenandoah River that runs through its listening area. The station also switched from the ABC Radio "Oldies Radio" network to Dial Global's "Oldies Channel" network.

WZRV continues to have local morning and afternoon shows and provides local news and weather updates during satellite hours. The station competes with local active rock stations WWRE/WWRT by adding classic rock songs to Dial Global's oldies playlist.

While WZRV switched to Dial Global, it still uses ABC Radio News, but in a shortened 2-minute version instead of the previous 4 1/2-minute version.

In late November 2008, WZRV became the first commercial station in the area to play exclusively Christmas music. [*]