Media Contacts: Jaclyn Finn Lacey Brock

Media Contacts:

Jaclyn Finn Lacey Brock

Public Relations WRAT Promotions Coordinator

908-309-6135 732-681-3800

[e-mail] [e-mail]

Approaching 20 Years: The Story Behind the Rat

LAKE COMO, NJ- April 8, 2015- It was an early Monday morning in September of ’96 and the streets of South Belmar were quiet and desolate: the classic aftermath of summer’s end down at the Jersey Shore. However, something not so classic was underway at the local radio station 95.9 WADB.

For the past 54 hours, there had been only one song playing on a loop with zero interruption or messages: “Rat in My Kitchen” by UB40. The station’s homegrown listeners had heard that the station was being sold, but to whom remained a mystery- one as enigmatic as the recurrent song choice itself.

Just like clockwork, though, at the end of the 54^th hour there was a break in the roll and an unfamiliar station ID began to play. What seemed to have been a broken record turned out to be a radio stunt that cleverly hinted toward the station’s new moniker: the Rat. It was then, at 6 a.m. on Labor Day that WRAT FM made its debut for the first time, and a new local marvel was made.

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As soon as the new station was introduced to its potential following, the Rat revealed its music genre with the title of the first song they played: “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” by ACDC. “At that moment the Rat was born and we have been on the air continually for almost 19 years. It has become the heritage rock station of the Jersey Shore,” remarks founding general manager Dan Finn, who was given the task to launch the station back in 1996.

However, the road to success didn’t come easily. Along with unveiling themselves in this surprise fashion, the station couldn’t avoid receiving backlash from former listeners of 95.9 WADB. “Everyone was caught off-guard,” Finn acknowledges, “…but although there was a humungous outrage from the previous audience, there was a huge acceptance that came from the new audience, which opened so many doors for us.”

Fortunately for the new station, the public discourse stimulated countless news stories that led to free promotion and publicity; all of which they were in dire need of. At first, all of the former advertisers of the Monmouth-Ocean County conservative market had dropped the station due to the unappealing name change. Though this seemed like a negative thing, the general manager didn’t see it that way. Finn confesses that, “From the minute we blew up we had no fan base, no advertisers, no baggage. We got to truly build a radio station from the ground up- totally clean slate. If you build from the ground up you have a very firm foundation, and we built it right.”

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The evolution of the Rat brand- the company’s promotional van in 1996 (left) in comparison to the promotional van in 2015 (right) with an established and recognizable logo.

Since its debut almost two decades ago, the Rat has truly made a name for itself in the radio business. One thing, in particular, that has separated the Rat from the rest of the radio competition is its sense of connection and identification to its public. “The Rat has always had a unique bond with its listening audience,” Finn comments, “and this has been achieved on many different levels. One area is the music- in regards to knowing what songs to play and how the audience will receive them. Another aspect is community involvement. We make ourselves visible to the public in terms of getting involved with charitable events and reacting to the community’s needs.”

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For instance, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the station broke its rock format for the first time and became a viable source of news to the community. The devastation of the storm left the region without power or Internet; therefore the Rat was the closest radio station to the Atlantic Ocean that had the capacity to generate news. It then became the only station that vowed to stay on-air around the clock- receiving and disseminating information to the public. The Rat even received the “Best News 2012 ‘Superstorm Sandy Community Coverage’” award, which is unheard of for a rock station of its kind.

In addition to the station’s dedication to its listeners, the people that work there also have an unmatched dedication to one another. Commonly revered for its “family-like” impression, the Rat, for the most part, has had the same air staff and general management since the beginning. Though the music plays a keynote in upholding the station’s appeal to its listeners, WRAT owes a large amount of its success and loyal following to its treasured on-air personalities.

“All of the jocks strike a cord with the listeners and we often have people come up to them at events and admit that they feel like they are friends with them. Radio is the original social network, and the Rat is a prime example of this,” affirms Finn.

Celebrating its 20^th birthday next September, the Rat plans to continue serving its loyal listeners and providing the best rock music and community information in the area.

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About 95.9 WRAT FM

WRAT-FM is owned and operated by Greater Media.  Greater Media, Inc. is the parent company of 21 AM and FM radio stations in the Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets.  Greater Media also owns a group of weekly newspapers in central New Jersey as well as several telecommunications towers throughout the United States.