WODZ-FM (96.1

MHz 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 he ...

), branded as "The Eagle", 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 radi ...

broadcasting a

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 ...

format. Licensed to

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which li ...

, United States, the station serves the Utica-Rome market. The station is owned by

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 wi ...

as part of a cluster with news-talk station

WIBX WIBX (950 AM) is a commercial radio station in Utica, New York. It is one of Central New York's oldest radio stations, dating back to 1925. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media as part of a cluster with adult c ...

, classic rock-formatted

WOUR WOUR (96.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Utica, New York. It broadcasts a classic rock radio format, with occasional recent rock hits, calling itself "The Rock of Central New York." The station is owned by Townsquare Media a ...

, hot AC-formatted WLZW (Lite 98.7), and country-formatted WFRG (Big Frog 104).

History

WODZ-FM signed on in August 1968 as WKAL-FM, owned by Maurer Broadcasting Corporation and operating at 95.9 FM. The station originally simulcast its AM sister station, WKAL (1450 AM). In 1977, WKAL-FM dropped the simulcast in favor of

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 mu ...

. Maurer Broadcasting Corporation sold WKAL AM-FM to Wooster Republican Publishing Company of

Wooster, Ohio Wooster ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. Located in northeastern Ohio, the city lies approximately south-southwest of Cleveland, southwest of Akron and west of Canton. The population was 27,232 at ...

in 1980. In July 1984, WKAL-FM changed its call letters to WTCO, and became 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, "Top Country." The following year, the station, along with WKAL, was acquired by Howard Green and Donald Simmons, owner of WENY AM- TV and WLEZ in Elmira and

WOND WOND (1400 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pleasantville, New Jersey, and serving the Atlantic City radio market. It is owned by Longport Media and broadcasts a news/talk radio format. The radio studios and offices are located of ...

and WMGM FM- TV in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The new owners reverted the station's call letters to WKAL-FM on February 10, 1986, and implemented a

soft 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 sto ...

format. Target Communications bought WKAL AM-FM from Green and Simmons in 1987; soon after taking over, on February 1, 1988, the call sign was changed to WFRG-FM, and the station returned to country music, this time branded " 96 Frog". The new format was simulcast on 1450 AM, which also took the WFRG call letters (save for a short time in the early 1990s when the AM station broke away to become

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 ...

station WZLB); in addition, the station moved to its current frequency, 96.1. Target Communications eventually became Arrow Communications, which went into receivership in 1992, and then in November 1993, WFRG AM-FM was purchased by Forever Broadcasting, owners of

and dominant market leader

WLZW WLZW (98.7 FM) is a commercial radio station in Utica, New York, serving the Utica-Rome radio market. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and calls itself ''Lite 98.7''. It is part of a cluster with news-talk station WIBX, country-formatte ...

. Forever renamed the stations WODZ and launched an oldies format, with the country format and

WFRG-FM WFRG-FM (104.3 MHz), branded as Big Frog 104, is a country music radio station licensed to Utica, New York. Owned by Townsquare Media as part of a cluster with news-talk station WIBX, hot AC-formatted WLZW, classic hits-formatted WODZ and classic ...

call letters moving to 104.3 FM. The simulcast on AM 1450 continued until May 1999, when that frequency was sold to the

Bible Broadcasting Network The Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) is a listener-supported global Conservative Christian radio network staffed and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1971 by Lowell Davey, who was the network's president until his dea ...

and became WYFY (it has since reclaimed the WKAL call sign). Forever sold its stations in the market, including WODZ-FM, to Regent Communications (the forerunner to Townsquare Media) several months later. On January 2, 2015, WODZ shifted to classic hits and rebranded from "Oldiez 96" to "96.1 The Eagle."

References

External links

* {{Townsquare Media ODZ-FM Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1968 Rome, New York Townsquare Media radio stations