WAMC (1400 AM) is a

public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

station licensed to

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 ...

and owned by WAMC, Inc. The station broadcasts with 1 kW, and is an AM repeater of WAMC-FM.

History

WAMC was first licensed on August 1,

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

to W. Neal Parker and Herbert M. Metcalfe as WBGF in

Glens Falls, New York Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

, and initially broadcast on 1370 kHz. In 1932 the station's license was assigned to O. T. Griffin and G. F. Bisssel, representatives for the ''

Elmira Star-Gazette The ''Star-Gazette'' is the major newspaper for Elmira, New York. Based in Elmira, the publication is owned by Gannett. History The ''Star-Gazette'' was the first newspaper of the now massive Gannett conglomerate. It was founded as the weekly ...

'', and the call letters became WESG. The newspaper proposed to move the station to Elmira and change its frequency to 1420 kHz. However, this plan was abandoned a few months later, when the newspaper decided to instead lease Cornell University's station in Ithaca, WEAI. Therefore the WESG call letters were transferred to the Ithaca operation, with the Glens Falls station changing its call sign to WGLC, and remaining on 1370 kHz. The next year WGLC moved to

Hudson Falls, New York Hudson Falls (formerly Sandy Hill) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village located in Washington County, New York, United States. The village is in the southwest of the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Kingsbur ...

. In late 1934 the call letters were changed to WABY, when Al Kelert moved the station to Albany,"Changes to List"
''Radio Service Bulletin'', December 31, 1934, page 7. in turn making the first station to broadcast from that city (though not the first one to originate, a distinction held by WOKO, now WOPG). WABY moved to 1400 kHz in 1941 due to the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

(NARBA) frequency shift. The station provided the typical mix of popular music and network programming throughout most of its first 30 years of service. In 1961, the station changed to a high energy

top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

format, but was short-lived as the competition in that format was intense, leaving the format in late 1963. From 1964 to 1971, WABY ran a MOR format, followed by oldies in 1971, and a return to top-40 in 1973. By 1976, it had changed to

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

, using NBC's "News and Information Service." It then switched to

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

in 1979. In 1981, WABY changed to a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

format until 1982 when it was flipped to adult standards. Getting many key market names, WABY spent years as one of the highest-rated standards stations in the United States, and added an FM simulcast on 94.5 MHz in 1995. In February 1999, Bendat sold his stations to Tele-Media, Inc., which switched the AM side to an

format by day with simulcasting of the FM (which itself would flip to

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, quie ...

that summer) on nights and weekends. This arrangement remained through Tele-Media's ownership of the station through Tele-Media's sale of WABY and WKLI to

Galaxy Communications Galaxy Media (formerly Galaxy Communications) is a radio broadcasting company with radio stations entirely in the Central New York area. History Ed Levine, current president, attended the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where his love fo ...

in August 2001 and through the flip of 94.5 FM to

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, primar ...

as WRCZ. On April 22, 2002, after 68 years, the WABY calls left 1400 kHz as Galaxy replaced it with WHTR and launched a

hot talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

simulcast with new move in 93.7 FM. (As a tribute, a

Mechanicville, New York Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,196 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents. The city is lo ...

station (now

WSSV WSSV (1160 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Mechanicville, New York, and serving the Capital District. The station broadcasts a classic hits radio format and is owned by Loud Media. By day, WSSV transmits with 5,000 watts, bu ...

) adopted the WABY call letters from 2002 to 2014; that station's owners then moved the call sign to a co-owned station in Watervliet). The talk format was short-lived, and that August, 1400 and 93.7 switched to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

as WKRD (1400 retained the WHTR calls). Galaxy sold 1400 to Northeast Public Radio (WAMC, Inc.) in February 2003, giving it the WAMC calls (90.3 FM took on the WAMC-FM calls as a result). The WABY call sign was displayed on the WAMC tower until recently, although the current WABY broadcasts from a different location.

References

External links

* (covering WBGF / WESG / WGLC / WABY from 1930-1981) {{Authority control AMC (AM) Radio stations established in 1930 NPR member stations 1930 establishments in New York (state)

History

See also

References

External links