The station, which has been owned since 1987 by Crystal Coast Communications, has daytime power of 1,000 Watts and 64 Watts at night.

The station went on the air on June 20, 1955 as a sister station to WALK and WALK-FM radio in Patchogue, New York. Its studio at 29 East Main Street burned within six months in what is listed by the Riverhead Fire Department as one of the worst fires in the town's history.

In 1963 it was sold to Island Broadcasting System with its sister stations, WALK AM & FM. Island Broadcasting was owned in part by NBC News anchorman Chet Huntley. In 1967, WRIV applied for a television license for Channel 55. WRIV-TV, which likely would have gone to air as the NBC affiliate for eastern Long Island, held a construction permit for the station until the early 1970s. The Channel 55 allocation was dormant until WLIG-TV went on the air in 1985; today Channel 55 is known as WLNY-TV and is owned by CBS.

WRIV was sold again in 1981 to East End Communications and was sister station to now defunct WGLI/1290 in Babylon before being sold to its current owners.

WRIV is the only commercial AM radio station in the five east end towns of Long Island. It maintains an Adult Standards/Information format and has local personalities. The station is an affiliate of the ABC Information Network.