WINR (680 AM, "US 96.9") is a

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 ...

broadcasting a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format. Licensed to

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, the station 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 ...

History

WINR is Binghamton's second-oldest radio station, having commenced operations on August 5, 1946, as an affiliate of the

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

and located at its original frequency assignment of 1490 AM. WINR was founded by the Southern Tier Radio Service, Inc., a firm owned by Donald W. Kramer (1907–1986), a Binghamton attorney who later served as that city's mayor from 1950 until 1957. Early print advertisements for the station, such as in the ''

Binghamton Press The ''Press & Sun-Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving the area around Binghamton, New York. It was formed by the 1985 merger of ''The Evening Press'' (which was known as ''The Binghamton Press'' prior to 1960) and ''The Sun-Bulletin''. It ...

'' and ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

'' magazine featured the likeness of locally raised

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby who served as the inspiration for the WINR call letters ("Winner"). In April 1951 the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

granted WINR permission to relocate from 1490 to its present dial location at 680 AM; the move occurred in early 1952. In August 1954 WINR was awarded a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to build Binghamton's second television station, which became WINR-TV (channel 40) when it went on the air in November 1957. Several months earlier in January 1957, Southern Tier Radio Service sold WINR and its channel 40 permit to the ''Binghamton Press'', an arm of the then-

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

-based

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

-based broadcaster, while WINR-TV went to tower manufacturer Stainless, Inc., who changed that outlet's callsign to

WICZ-TV WICZ-TV (channel 40) is a television station in Binghamton, New York, United States, affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by INSP (TV network), Imagicomm Communications, the station has studios on Vestal Parkway Ea ...

. In recent years, WINR was host to the nationally syndicated nightly adult standards radio program "The Clinton Ferro Program" starring Clinton Ferro from 2000 to 2002. The show was syndicated in 82 markets nationwide until Ferro's passing in 2002. On January 25, 2012, WINR changed their format from adult standards to

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

, branded as "Oldies 680". On April 11, 2013, WINR rebranded as "Oldies 96-9" after the station added an FM translator, W245BV (96.9 FM) in Endwell. On December 8, 2014, WINR changed their format to classic country, branded as "US 96.9".Oldies 96-9 Binghamton Flips to Classic Country
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References

External links

* * INR IHeartMedia radio stations Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in New York (state) {{NewYork-radio-station-stub