WHAZ-FM (97.5
FM) 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
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
format. Licensed to
Hoosick Falls, New York
Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,501 at the 2010 census. During its peak, in 1900, the village had a population of approximately 7,000.
The village of Hoosick Falls is near the center ...
, United States, the station serves the easternmost portion of the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...
,
Bennington, Vermont
Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous t ...
, and
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contemporary ...
as a satellite of
WHAZ. The station is owned by Capital Media Corporation.
History
The station signed on July 4, 1991, as WNGN, a
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
station owned by Northeast Gospel Broadcasting.
The station was sold to Aritaur Communications in 1998,
who renamed the station WZEC with the intention of implementing a simulcast of
Pittsfield
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield ...
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 "cont ...
station
WBEC-FM (then at 105.5, now
WWEI; now on 95.9).
WNGN's programming was then merged into WNGX (91.9), which took the
WNGN call letters.
However, WNGN continued to run WZEC well into 1999, as the sale did not close until June 30; the next day, Aritaur sold WZEC, along with
WBEC and WBEC-FM, to Tele-Media Broadcasting,
who finally implemented the WBEC-FM simulcast by that September.
By the following May, the station had again changed format, this time to a
modern adult contemporary format, "The Point", modeled on sister stations WCPT (100.9; now
WKLI-FM
WKLI-FM (100.9 FM, "100.9 The Cat") is a commercial FM radio station, licensed to Albany, New York, and serving the Capital District, including Schenectady and Troy. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts a country music rad ...
) and
WKBE
WKBE (107.1 MHz, "Big Country 107.1") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Corinth, New York and serving Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts a classic country radio format.
WKBE has an ...
(then at 100.3, now
WFFG-FM
WFFG-FM (100.3 FM), known as "Froggy 100.3", is a country music radio station licensed to Warrensburg, New York, and is owned by Pamal Broadcasting. The radio studios and offices are on Everts Avenue in Queensbury, New York.
WFFG-FM has an eff ...
; now on 107.1).
The station was sold to Vox Media in 2002,
and shifted to
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 ...
in 2004.
Vox sold WZEC to Capitol Media in 2005,
who changed the call letters to the current WHAZ-FM and implemented a classic gospel format on November 7,
before switching to the simulcast of WHAZ by April 2007.
Translators
WHAZ-FM's programming was previously rebroadcast by four translators. The licenses for all four translators were cancelled 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 ...
(FCC) on August 8, 2017, due to the licensee failing to comply with the terms of an FCC consent decree.
See also
*
WHAZ (AM)
References
External links
HAZ-FM
Radio stations established in 1991
HAZ-FM
1991 establishments in New York (state)
{{NewYork-radio-station-stub