WHYN (560

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

"''NewsRadio 560/98.9 FM WHYN''") is a commercial AM

news/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 ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. It serves the

Pioneer Valley The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Frankli ...

area of

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

and is owned by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

. Studios and offices are on Main Street in Springfield. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is on County Road in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. WHYN operates at 5,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s by day, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

, but must reduce power to 1,000 watts at night to avoid interfering with other stations on 560 kHz.

Programming

Weekdays begin with a local news and interview morning show with

Jim Polito Jim Polito is a radio talk show host for WTAG in Worcester, Massachusetts (AM 580 and FM 94.9). Polito graduated from Saint John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and Worcester State College where he majored in Urban Studies with a con ...

and John Baibak. That is followed by nationally syndicated talk shows including,

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

, The Financial Exchange, Clay Travis & Buck Sexton,

Jesse Kelly Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

, and ''

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...

'' with

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-based

Howie Carr Howard Louis Carr Jr. (born January 17, 1952) is an American conservative radio talk-show host, political author, news reporter and award-winning writer. He hosts ''The Howie Carr Show'' originating from his studios in Wellesley, MA and broadca ...

is heard weekday afternoons. Weekends feature shows on finance, law, home-improvement and religion (some of which are paid

brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...

). Weekend syndicated hosts include

Bill Handel William Wolf Handel (born August 25, 1951) is a Brazilian-born American radio host and attorney. Handel currently hosts two radio programs on KFI in Los Angeles, California. First is KFI's local morning drive time show, in which he comments on ...

, Gary Sullivan,

Bill Cunningham Bill Cunningham may refer to: People *Bill Cunningham (rugby union) (1874–1927), New Zealand rugby union player * Bill Cunningham (footballer), Irish international footballer active in the 1890s *Bill Cunningham (infielder) (1886–1946), profe ...

Joe Pags Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host. Biography Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby Co ...

Ric Edelman Fredric Mark "Ric" Edelman is an American investor and author. He is the founder of Edelman Financial Services (later, Edelman Financial Engines), the author of several personal finance books, and the host of a weekly personal finance talk radi ...

and

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentar ...

. Most hours begin with world and national news from

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

. WHYN partners with

WGGB-TV WGGB-TV (channel 40) is a television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power CBS affiliate WSHM-LD (channel 3.7). Both stations shar ...

and

WSHM-LD WSHM-LD (channel 3.7) is a low-power television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside ABC/Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WGGB-TV (channel 40). Both stations share studios ...

's "Western Mass News" for severe weather coverage and storm closings. The station also carries

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; fren ...

hockey games.

History

Early years in Holyoke and Northampton

WHYN first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

in April 1941, at 1400

kilohertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...

, with

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

, as its original

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...

. It was owned by the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation, whose owners also published the ''

Holyoke Transcript-Telegram The ''Holyoke Transcript-Telegram'', or ''T‑T'', was an afternoon daily newspaper covering the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States, and adjacent portions of Hampden County and Hampshire County. Published as a daily since 1882, after ...

'', and its 250-

signal primarily covered Holyoke and

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

, so its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

represented Holyoke and Northampton. In 1949, it moved to AM 560, powered at 1,000 watts, located in Holyoke. It was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

. WHYN added an FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

in 1947. That station took the call letters WHYN-FM and mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

the AM station's programming.

Relocating to Springfield

In the early 1950s, WHYN-AM-FM moved to Springfield and became affiliates of

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

in 1953, dropping Mutual programming. In 1953,

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

WHYN-TV Channel 55 was put on the air (today WGGB-TV Channel 40).Broadcasting Yearbook 1955 page 70
/ref> Around 1960, WHYN-AM-FM began programming

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 " con ...

music. Over the years, WHYN was known as "Whyn (pronounced WIN) Radio." During the

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

era, some of its monikers included "Channel 56," "Radio Five-Six-Oh," "Five-Sixty W - H - Y - N," "Fun Five Sixty" and "The Big Fifty-Six." Many jingles (mainly produced by

PAMS PAMS Productions, Inc. (an acronym for Production, Advertising and Merchandising Service), based in Dallas, Texas, was one of the most famous jingle production companies in American broadcasting. It produced identification packages for radio stat ...

) reflected these ongoing themes. In the early 1960s, WHYN was the dominant Top 40 radio station competing with rival 1270 WSPR. WHYN's Top 40 sound was so popular, the station not only led in the Springfield ratings, but it was often in the top 10 in nearby

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Some early airchecks of WHYN and its colorful

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

s (DJs) are at Northeast Airchecks and ReelRadio. In the 1960s, WHYN-FM ended its simulcast of AM 560 by switching to

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...

Switch to AC and talk

WHYN continued as a Top 40 station until young listeners began switching to FM for contemporary music.

Automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

FM station 102.1

WAQY WAQY (102.1 FM) is a radio station in Springfield, Massachusetts, broadcasting a classic rock format. Since the late 1980s, the station has been known as "Rock 102". History 102.1 FM in Springfield signed on December 17, 1966, as WCRX. The call ...

(branded "Wacky Radio") went on the air in 1972 and took some of WHYN's audience. Jim Rising (James Marshall) was WAQY's first program director (circa 1976) after it began live programming. Rising came over from WHYN, where he had been the station's morning host, to program WAQY. He brought along WHYN's Johnny (Bekish) Michaels to be one of the DJs on WAQY. During the 1980s, WHYN transitioned to a more adult sound, airing

adult contemporary music 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 ...

and adding more news and sports. WHYN was the Springfield radio affiliate for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

until 2007 when 105.5 WVEI-FM (now

WWEI WWEI (105.5 FM; "SportsRadio 105.5") is a radio station in Easthampton, Massachusetts, serving Springfield with a sports radio format. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. Most programming is provided by Boston sister station WEEI-FM. History ...

) became the Red Sox home in Springfield. WHYN was also affiliated with ABC Radio. By the 1990s, WHYN was adding more talk programming and reducing its reliance on music, until it became a full-time talk station.

Ownership changes

The station has undergone several ownership changes over the years starting with the ''

Daily Hampshire Gazette The ''Daily Hampshire Gazette'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, and covering all of Hampshire County, southern towns of Franklin County, and Holyoke. The newspaper prints Monday through S ...

''; Guy Gannett Broadcasting (no relation to the present-day

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'') in 1980; R&R Broadcasting (Robinson & Reece) in 1985; Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting in 1987; Radio Equity Partners in 1994; and

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 ...

(now iHeartMedia, the current owner) in 1996. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation (a consortium of the ''Daily Hampshire Gazette'', the ''Holyoke Transcript-Telegram'', the Greenfield ''Recorder'', and the Springfield Newspapers) owned WHYN-AM-FM-TV. The stations were sold in 1967 to Guy Gannett Broadcasting. WHYN and WHYN-FM were sold to Affiliated Publications in 1980 while Guy Gannett retained WHYN-TV, which kept its original studio location and changed its call letters to WGGB-TV. The radio stations moved to downtown's "Marketplace" location, where their studios and offices remain, along with co-owned 100.9

WRNX WRNX (100.9 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Amherst, Massachusetts. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and the broadcast license is held by iHM Licenses, LLC. The station was assigned the WRNX call letters ...

, a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

station.

References

External links

WHYN News/Talk 560 website
* *
Rick Kelly's New England Airchecks WebsiteReelRadio Dot Com Aircheck RepositoryChris Tracy's Springfield Radio Tribute Site
{{IHeartMedia HYN News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1941 Mass media in Springfield, Massachusetts IHeartMedia radio stations 1941 establishments in Massachusetts