Galaxy Media (formerly Galaxy Communications) is a radio broadcasting company with radio stations entirely in the

Central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York S ...

area.

History

Ed Levine, current president, attended the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where his love for radio began. After serving as program director for the college radio station, Levine and two classmates started Syracuse’s first live FM radio station in 1978. In 1989, the first Galaxy station, WKLL was launched by the current CEO, Ed Levine, and his business partner, Bob Raide. WKLL was named for Ed and wife Pam’s then-19-month-old daughter Lauren. In the 1990s, Galaxy launched additional stations in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas * Syracuse, Mi ...

and Utica. In 2001, the headquarters was moved from Bridgeport to a new building in Armory Square, located in downtown Syracuse. WKLL remains owned by Galaxy to this day. In 2016 Galaxy moved their Utica studios (WKLL, WUMX, WTLB and WRNY) from Washington Mills to Downtown Utica inside the brand new Landmarc building (the old

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

location) and renamed it Galaxy Media in 2018. Galaxy divested itself of its

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

cluster and swapped several stations in a multi-owner deal that included

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

in Utica/Rome 2007. In October 2016, Galaxy Communications (through Galaxy II Media, LLC) agreed to acquire Gamma Broadcasting's stations in

Berkshire County, Massachusetts Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a County (United States), county on the Western Massachusetts, western edge of the U.S. state, U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 129,026. I ...

for $3.15 million: WBEC,

WBEC-FM WBEC-FM (95.9 MHz) is a commercial station in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a Top 40 radio format. WBEC-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 1,000 watts. The transmitter is off Alpine Trail in ...

, and WUPE in Pittsfield, WNAW and

WUPE-FM WUPE-FM (100.1 MHz) is a classic hits radio station owned by Townsquare Media. Licensed to North Adams, Massachusetts, United States, WUPE-FM serves Pittsfield. History The station went on the air July 12, 1964, as WMNB-FM, owned by the Hardm ...

in North Adams, and WSBS in Great Barrington. In 2018, Galaxy Communications rebranded to Galaxy Media company and brought aboard 10 new investors to buy out the shares that had been owned by a private investment firm and help the company reduce debt. Those investors are local people including Ed Levine's long-time friend and Syracuse University basketball coach

Jim Boeheim James Arthur Boeheim Jr. ( ; born November 17, 1944) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Syracuse Orange men's team of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Boeheim has guided the Orange to ten Big East Conference ...

. Additionally in 2018,

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

acquired the classic rock radio station WOUR-FM 96.9 in Utica from Galaxy Media in Q4.

Stations

Syracuse/Oswego

* WTKW/ WTKV -

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

("TK") * WKRL/ WKRH -

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge ...

("K-Rock") * WZUN (Classic Hits) * WTLA/ WSGO (

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN" ...

) * WZUN-FM -

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

("Sunny")

Utica/Rome

* WKLL - active rock ("K-rock") * WTLB / WRNY (AM) (ESPN Radio) * WUMX - hot

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

("Mix") * WIXT - variety hits ("Tony FM")

Former

Several stations formerly in the Galaxy family were sold to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

. * WOUR, Now owned by Townsquare Media. * The Bone of Albany, NY: (WOOB and WBOE, now

WYAI WYAI (93.7 FM) is a listener-supported, non-commercial Christian Worship radio station licensed to Scotia, New York, and serving the Capital District and Mohawk Valley. The station is owned by Educational Media Foundation and broadcasts at 1,2 ...

and WYKV respectively) * WSCP-FM of Sandy Creek/Pulaski, NY (now WGKV) * WRCK in Utica (now WKVU) - Swapped with WOUR * WOKR: Remsen, NY (now WAWR)

References

{{reflist

External links

Galaxy Media
Mass media in Syracuse, New York Radio broadcasting companies of the United States