WYSN (1200 AM) 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 ...

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 ...

to serve Huntington, West Virginia, U.S. The station is owned by

Bristol Broadcasting Company "Bristol Broadcasting Company" is a radio station chain operating 29 stations in four Southern United States markets: the Tri-Cities area of upper-east Tennessee and southwest Virginia (receiving its name from the twin cities of Bristol, Virginia ...

. It airs a Southern gospel music format with some Christian programming, according to the station's own web site.

History

Early days

This station, as WPLH, signed on for the first time on November 29, 1946, with a "grand opening" program broadcast live from the Hotel Prichard in Huntington. WPLH transmitted at 1450 kHz with a 250

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 ...

non-directional signal. The Huntington Broadcasting Corporation, owned and operated by Flem J. Evans, advertised broadcasting, recording and transcription services as being available at the WPLH studios. The station offered a mix of live and recorded local programming, live

hillbilly music Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas we ...

from the Echo Valley Boys and other groups, plus national programming from the

Mutual Network 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 golden age of U.S. rad ...

. The callsign was said to stand for "Work, Play, and Live in Huntington."

Move to 1470

In 1952, control of Huntington Broadcasting Corp. passed to E.A. Marshall until he was succeeded by Charles Krause in 1956. In 1955 the station changed broadcast frequencies from 1450 kHz to 1470 kHz. Struggling financially, the station was sold to The Tierney Company in 1958. The new owners downsized the staff and moved the studio facilities to a smaller location. WPLH was sold again in 1960, this time to the Ohio River Broadcasting Corporation. The station's callsign was changed to WWHY, advertised as the "Fun Channel" and "Home of the Flyin' HY Guys." The new image was for the new format of pop hits and

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

. In the late-1960s and early-1970s WWHY was a power in the Tri-State area. The next two decades would see the station's format change several times and in the 1970s the callsign changed to WKSD (for "Kan't Stop Dancing" or "Kool Sound of Disco").

1980s

In March 1981, the license for this station was involuntarily transferred to Leo J. Meisel, interim trustee, after the station's owner fell into serious financial difficulties. The transfer was approved by the FCC on March 27, 1981, and the transaction was completed on April 22, 1981. This station was reassigned its former call letters WWHY by 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 jurisdicti ...

on July 9, 1981. In September 1985, the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...

filed to force Meisel to transfer the license to the FDIC. In March 1987, Meisel reached an agreement to instead donate the license for this station to the Marshall University Foundation, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 17, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on July 2, 1987. This transfer, arranged as part of a settlement agreement with the FDIC, caused the FDIC to drop its claim and the FCC to dismiss the transfer request. On July 10, 1987, the new owners had the station's call letters changed to WHRD to match the

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

sports nickname, the " Thundering Herd."

1990s

In July 1991, the Marshall University Foundation, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Southern Communications Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 27, 1991, and the transaction was consummated on October 23, 1991. In February 1995, Southern Communications Corporation signed a deal to sell this station to Simmons Broadcasting Company. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 11, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on May 20, 1995. In April 1997, control of station licensee Simmons Broadcasting Company was passed from David L. Simmons to W. Lee Simmons. This transfer was approved by the FCC on June 27, 1997.

2000s

In November 2000, Simmons Broadcasting Company (Lee Simmons, president) completed a deal to sell this station to Concord Media Group, Inc. (Mark W. Jorgenson, president/owner) for a reported $200,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 17, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on February 16, 2001. At the time of the sale, the station aired a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

format. In May 2003, Concord Media Group, Inc., agreed to sell this station to Mortenson Broadcasting through their Mortenson Broadcasting Company of West Virginia, LLC, holding company. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 12, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on January 30, 2004. The weekend of January 30, the station played TV show theme songs in a "Stunting effort" to attract listeners. On Monday February 2, the station debuted their short lived "Christian Talk format". On February 9, 2004, the new owners had the FCC change this station's callsign to WEMM to match its new FM sister station (which itself was changed from WEMM to WEMM-FM at the same time). From late February 2004 to September 2008, served as a simulcast partner to sister station

WEMM-FM WEMM-FM (107.9 FM, "Gospel 107.9") is a Southern Gospel and religious formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, serving the Huntington/ Charleston area. WEMM-FM is owned and operated by Bristol Broadcasting Com ...

(107.9 FM).

Move to 1200

Based on applications filed in January 2004 and November 2005, the FCC granted this station a construction permit on October 25, 2007, to change broadcast frequencies from 1470 kHz to 1200 kHz, increase daytime signal power to 22,000

s, change critical hours signal power to 8,000 watts, and decrease nighttime signal power to just 9 watts. The low nighttime power is required to protect the signal of clear channel AM WOAI in San Antonio, Texas, which also broadcasts at 1200 kHz. The station was assigned the WRWB call letters by the FCC on September 1, 2008.

2010s

The call sign was changed again to WNBL on November 1, 2010, to match the station's "Better Life Radio" branding. As WNBL, the station played music on weekdays with educational and inspirational programs on Saturday plus religious programs on Sunday. After construction and testing were completed in January 2011, the station received a new

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary f ...

for the new 1200 kHz frequency on February 8, 2011. The call sign was reverted to WEMM and the station was rebranded as "Shine 1200" on December 20, 2011. The new format is Gospel Music. On July 2, 2015, WEMM changed their call letters to WZPS and rebranded as "Spirit 1200". On January 3, 2017, WZPS changed their call letters to WYSN.

References

External links

{{Huntington WV Radio YSN Southern Gospel radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in West Virginia YSN