WZUN-FM (102.1

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 ...

"Sunny 102") is a commercial FM

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 ...

Phoenix, New York Phoenix is a village in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 2,382 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Alexander Phoenix. The village of Phoenix lies in the Lake Ontario lake-effect snow belt, with seasonal snow ...

, and serving the

Syracuse metropolitan area The Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in central New York, anchored by the city of Syracuse. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 662,5 ...

. The station is owned by Edward Levine's

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 ...

through licensee Galaxy Syracuse Licensee LLC. It airs 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 1980s ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. The studios and offices are on Walton Street in Syracuse. 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 off Van Buren Road in Van Buren. Programming is also heard on AM 1070 WZUN in Sandy Creek- Pulaski and 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 Wa ...

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Fulton Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...

, W291BU at 106.1 MHz.

History

The station first went on the air as WRDS in 1995. The station used the syndicated

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

service known as " The Touch" with the syndicated

Tom Joyner Thomas Joyner (born November 23, 1949) is an American retired radio host, former host of the nationally syndicated '' The Tom Joyner Morning Show'', and also founder of Reach Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com. Early ...

Show heard in the morning. On December 20, 2000, the station changed 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 ...

to WZUN. It aired 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, calling itself "Sunny 102." On September 12, 2009, WZUN switched from Soft AC to Classic Hits. Effective October 1, 2013, Galaxy Communications sold the station to Wayne Mack's WZUN Communications LLC for $1 million. The move was made primarily to address ownership caps in the market. Oswego and Syracuse are considered to be in the same market in terms of

FCC 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 jurisdictio ...

regulations. Galaxy owns two other stations in Syracuse, 100.9

WKRL-FM WKLL, WKRL-FM, and WKRH are a series of radio stations owned by Galaxy Communications. The FM stations, broadcasting at 94.9 MHz, 100.9 MHz, and 106.5 MHz respectively, are all branded as " K-Rock" and run an active rock format. ...

"K-Rock" and 99.5 WTKW "TK99," as well as two in the Oswego area. This meant Galaxy would have five FM stations in

Central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

, one more than allowed. The ownership of these stations was allowed under a

grandfather clause A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

, but a restructuring of Galaxy Communications's corporate structure resulted in the station cluster losing its grandfathered status. In March 2016, Galaxy combined WZUN-FM's DJs with WSEN-FM's on-air staff. The newly merged station at 102.1 was initially expected to carry the "WSEN-FM" call sign. This turned out not to be the case, as Craig Fox, who was purchasing FM 92.1, parked the WSEN call letters on his own rival station on 103.9 FM. WZUN once again came under the ownership of Galaxy Communications, after it got its grandfather clause status reinstated. Galaxy bought the 102.1 license back from Mack on February 29. The move was made as WSEN-FM's previous frequency, 92.1, was traded away to Craig Fox in a three-way station trade that involved Fox, Galaxy and the religious

Family Life Network The Family Life Network is a Christian radio network simulcasting via FM stations across Western and Central New York, as well as northern Pennsylvania from flagship station WCIK. It is owned and operated by the larger Family Life Ministries o ...

. These dealings resulted in Syracuse being a rare

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

with two Classic Hits station, 102.1 WZUN and 103.9 WSEN-FM. The station began sharing its call sign with its sister station on

AM 1070 The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1070 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission classifies 1070 AM as a United States and Canadian clear-channel frequency. KNX (AM), KNX in Los Angel ...

(formerly WSCP) in June 2018, with 102.1 becoming WZUN-FM and 1070 becoming WZUN. AM 1070 is now part of a simulcast with WZUN-FM.

References

External links

* * * {{Classic Hits Radio Stations in New York Radio stations established in 1995 ZUN-FM 1995 establishments in New York (state) Classic hits radio stations in the United States