Fort Smith Radio: Classic Rock Debuts On 101.9 FM

After playing Free’s “All Right Now” in a constant loop for months, a new Fort Smith radio station, K270BR The River 101.9 FM (via KISR 97.3 FM-HD3), has started airing a Classi Rock Format.

The River 101.9, has played Free’s 1970 Rock Classic “All Right Now”, over 70,000 times to draw attention to the station’s new format.

The River 101.9 is the newest addition to the group of stations owned by long-time area broadcaster Fred Baker, which includes: contemporary hits radio KISR 93.7 Fort Smith-96.1 Fayetteville, on the FM band since 1971, which originally played these classic rock tunes when they were topping the charts; La Raza 92.3, Fort Smith’s first and only Spanish-language FM station; Hog Country 93.1, featuring the newest in country music; The Rooster 105.5, playing the very best in classic country and western music, launched just over a month ago.

The River 101.9 will feature all the great classic rock hits from that era, plus deep album cuts. The playlist is described by program director Rick Hayes as “deep and wide”, just like the river. The station will also feature very limited commercial interruptions, playing far less commercials than most area stations.

K270BR 101.9 FM (250 watts) Red=Local 60dBu Coverage Area

The River 101.9’s library boasts thousands of classic rock songs, far more than other stations, and in uncompressed extra-high-fidelity digital audio. The River 101.9 will have state of the art equipment, with its programming delivered to the transmitters digitally via a dedicated laser fiber optic link.

Baker thanked the station’s staff, whom he called a great team of dedicated professionals, for all their hard work in building and preparing the station. Baker says he wants to thank the community for its nearly fifty years of support by bringing several unique new stations to Fort Smith, of which the River will be the second. Asked about others, he responded, “Keep listening!”