On April 8, 1960, WRNW got its start at 454 Main Street in Mount Kisco playing a mixture of light classical and easy listening music, and it went stereo in 1964. Founder and broadcast engineer Richard Burden was instrumental in the development of FM stereo broadcasting. By 1967, the station had moved to the second floor at 78 Lexington Avenue, and in June of that year, program director Don Bayley adopted an album rock format making WRNW one of the first FM stations in the New York City area to play rock music. (New York's WOR-FM went rock in 1966, but was hampered by an strike; WNEW-FM started their "Progressive Rock" format in October 1967.) In 1969, the station was sold to Lake Champlain Broadcasting Company, which shared owners with 105.9 WHBI in Newark. WRNW then played big band music during the day and sold block time from 10p.m.–2a.m. weekdays and all day weekends to clients shared with WHBI. According to WRNW's founder, the letters "RNW" stood for "Radio of Northern Westchester."