The Rural Radio Network (RRN) was an interconnected group of six commercial FM radio stations spread across upstate New York and operated from Ithaca, New York—the first all-radio, no-wireline network in the world. Page 40, Retrieved March 26, 2015 It began operation in 1948 as an innovative broadcast service to the agricultural community, but competition from television—and a lack of affordable, well-performing FM receivers—caused the founders' original business plan to fail. The stations changed ownership, as well as Radio formats, several times in futile attempts to achieve profitability. Perhaps the group's most notable owner was the Christian Broadcasting Network, headed by televangelist Pat Robertson, which acquired the stations through a corporate donation in 1969. A decade later, Robertson decided to sell the stations and the licenses were gradually transferred to individual owners in 1981 and 1982, thus dissolving one of the nation's earliest FM networks.
Network history through 1981 Planning The concept of building the world's first farmer-owned network originated at the Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange (commonly known as "GLF"), an agricultural co-op founded in 1920 in Ithaca, which later merged with another co-op to form the Agway organization that remains today. GLF, also noted for its role in founding the P&C Foods supermarket chain, began to use radio several years before the start of World War II and later assembled an informal network of about ten AM stations, connected by leased telephone lines, over which a weekly five-minute program was aired. The value of this early "network" was proven during the war when GLF members found it difficult to attend regular meetings.
In December 1946, GLF's directors approved a plan to expand the use of radio and allocated $10,000 to form the Rural Radio Foundation, a non-profit organization that would embrace several agricultural interest groups including the New York State Grange, Dairymen's League, and New York Artificial Breeder's Co-op. Page 27, Retrieved March 26, 2015 This foundation, which formally incorporated on March 18, 1947, would be sole owner of a subsidiary commercial broadcasting corporation, The Rural Radio Network, Inc., with any operating profits to be turned back to the founding groups for educational and research purposes. Corporate officers included president H. L. Creal, vice-president Clifford Snyder, and secretary-treasurer George Slocum.Seeds That Grew, a History of the Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange" Hinsdale, New York: Anderson House, 1960 They were convinced that the recently opened 88-108 MHz FM band offered superior reliability over AM "standard broadcast"—particularly before sunrise when many farmers would start their daily tasks—and broader opportunities to establish new stations where needed. In April 1947, GLF appropriated an additional $200,000 to launch the new FM network. Page 27, Retrieved March 26, 2015
R. B. Gervan, head of GLF's Information Service, was granted a leave of absence from that position to serve as General Manager of RRN until it was well established. Robert B. Child, an experienced farm broadcaster, was hired away from Schenectady's WGY to serve as Program Director. Page 65, Retrieved March 26, 2015 Donald K. de Neuf was hired as Chief Engineer, and with optimism he began planning the network's technical facilities.
A primary objective was to provide satisfactory rural coverage throughout the "milkshed" of New York State extending from the Niagara Frontier to the Capital District, and north to the Saint Lawrence Valley. The network would be headquartered in Ithaca, near the geographical center of this region and home of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, the state's land grant institution. Page 27, Retrieved March 26, 2015 With the help of engineering consultants Dr. Miller McClintock, Murray Crosby, and William S. Halstead (the latter two would later develop an FM stereo system), six hilltop transmitter sites, each over AMSL Page 64, Retrieved March 26, 2015 and spaced roughly apart across line-of-sight paths, were identified and acquired for the project. Based on 50 μV/m (34 dBμ) rural service contour predictions, these stations would have a combined coverage area encompassing 118,000 farms, 76 percent of the total farms in New York state at that time. Space for RRN's studios and offices was leased in the existing Ithaca Savings Bank building Page 65, Retrieved March 26, 2015 at 306 East State Street in downtown Ithaca, and General Electric, which then manufactured broadcast products at the Electronics Park plant in nearby Syracuse, was chosen as the prime equipment supplier. Applications for the six FM construction permits were filed with the FCC in mid-July 1947 and granted three months later.
+ Original stations of the Rural Radio Network Page 65, Retrieved March 26, 2015 Community of License County Nearby Metro Areas Call Sign Frequency Transmitter Coordinates Wethersfield Wyoming Buffalo WFNF 107.7 Bristol Center Ontario Rochester WVBT 101.9 Ithaca Tompkins Ithaca, Elmira WVFC 95.1 DeRuyter Madison Syracuse WVCN 105.1 Cherry Valley Otsego Utica, Albany WVCV 101.9 Turin Lewis Watertown, Utica WVBN 107.7
Station construction and configuration
Gervan had promised his managers that the network would be ready for operation by the summer of 1948, requiring de Neuf's engineering staff and contractors to construct transmitter buildings and towers through the winter season. The likelihood of heavy precipitation in upstate New York's snowbelt required temporary heated shells to be erected around each building site, allowing concrete to be poured and masonry work to proceed on schedule. The worst weather conditions, by far, were encountered at the Turin site on the highest point of the Tug Hill Plateau, a remote area due east of Lake Ontario known for record lake-effect snowfall. Pending installation of telephone service, RRN engineers assigned to each construction site kept in contact by means of high-band VHF mobile two-way radios that were later modified for remote-pickup use. Page 64, Retrieved March 26, 2015
Meanwhile, the GLF laboratory began testing various AM/FM table radios to determine which product would be carried in its farm supply stores. None of the existing models offered sufficient sensitivity to perform at all locations within the network's expected coverage area, so North American Philips was contracted to design a special high-sensitivity GLF-branded "farm radio" and serve as its OEM. Designated the GLF model F-770, the set was priced at $87.50 (more than $700 in 2005 dollars after adjustment for inflation), a considerable expense for many farm families in 1948. A $15 two-section outdoor "turnstile antenna", manufactured by the Technical Appliance Corporation (TACO) of Sherburne, New York, was offered as an accessory.
Construction of five of the transmitter facilities concluded in time for the network to begin operation as scheduled, but the Turin site could not be completed until the fall of 1948. A major complication was the lack of electric power at Turin; the site was so remote that the local utility would not run lines, so a redundant pair of Smith-Meeker 15 kW Diesel generators were installed along with a 12,000-gallon fuel tank, sufficient to operate the station for four months.
All six of the RRN transmitter buildings, which resembled small chalets, were constructed of masonry and wood from similar floor plans. Page 65, Retrieved March 26, 2015 A steeply pitched roof was included in the design to shed snow and provide more interior headroom in the attic. A two-car garage, furnace room, generator room, and shower were at ground level, with a water well drilled through the floor of the generator room. The first floor, which was nearly eight feet above ground, included the transmitter room, a small studio area for visiting guests, a kitchen and workbench area, and a small restroom. The attic was accessible by means of a staircase and served as a dormitory for the operating and maintenance engineers. Just outside the kitchen was a side porch where off-air relay receive antennas were installed on a wooden lattice. Page 40, Retrieved March 26, 2015 Behind each building was a self-supporting tower that supported a four-section aluminum RCA"Pylon" tubular slot antenna, high with a power gain of 6. de Neuf's choice of RCA's FM antenna over GE's competing "ring radiator" was likely based on the Pylon's reduced exposure to the elements, which would lessen the chances for VSWR problems during icing conditions.
RRN's original equipment list at each transmitter site also included: Page 40, Retrieved March 26, 2015
General Electric BT-1-A 250 W FM transmitter with Phasitron exciter General Electric BT-2-B 1 kW power amplifier (added in 1951) General Electric BC-1-A studio consolette General Electric FS-1-A monitoring speaker General Electric YDA-1 distortion and noise analyzer General Electric modulation and frequency monitor Dual RCA turntables Radio Engineering Labs 646-B tunable FM receiver Radio Engineering Labs 670-L crystal-controlled relay receivers Hoisington 16-element horizontally polarized collinear receive antenna 15 kW gasoline-fueled emergency generator
The downtown Ithaca studio was also primarily GE-equipped and employed an early GE 940 MHz studio-transmitter link to relay programs to the Ithaca transmitter at the highest point in Tompkins County, Connecticut Hill. RRN engineers also outfitted a remote broadcast trailer which was taken to county fairs, farm meetings, and other public gatherings. This had a public-address amplifier and 50 W transmitter (tuned to 153.59 MHz) capable of sending remote programming to the closest hilltop transmitter site, where it could then be relayed to the rest of the network.
When the network was originally constructed, the FCC had not yet authorized remote control of FM stations.Each of the six transmitter sites had to be staffed with a licensed engineer throughout the broadcast day; this was a significant operating expense in the network's early years.
Early programming
The Rural Radio Network's first day of operation was Sunday, June 6, 1948. According to a newspaper ad published the preceding day, the 1 p.m. inaugural program was a 15-minute feature entitled Radio for Rural People, followed by a 15-minute newscast. Several more farm-related programs, interspersed with musical interludes, aired until sign-off at 7:45 that evening.
RRN's initial schedule offered hours of daily programming, beginning at 11:45 a.m. On December 6, 1948, service was expanded to fifteen hours, signing on at 6 a.m. with news and concluding at 9:15 p.m. with an evening prayer.
Some program highlights from that period:
6:55 a.m. – Johnny Huttar, RRN's farm reporter with the latest market reports, weather, farm news and answers to farm questions 8:30 a.m. – Claire's Scrapbook with Claire Banister, Kay Stevens, and Pat Landon, featuring household hints, fashion notes, poetry and recipes, and musical sketches 11:30 a.m. – Country Music 12:30 p.m. – Cornell Farm Hour 1:30 p.m. – Empire State School of the Air – educational programming targeted to Upstate New York classrooms 3:30 p.m. – Mail Box Tunes 5:00 p.m. – The Storyteller – children's program 6:30 p.m. – The Supper Serenaders
Program Director Bob Child decided against airing radio soap operas after a survey of farm women revealed that 25 percent found them objectionable. In the words of one respondent, "There is never a happy family life in the soap box opera type of program."