WABY (900 kHz) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

Watervliet, New York Watervliet ( or ) is a city in Albany County, in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 10,375 as of the 2020 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, the capital of the state, and is bordered on the north, west, and south by the to ...

and serving 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 ...

. The station broadcasts 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 ...

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 was compelle ...

and is owned by Loud Media. By day, WABY is powered at 400

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 ...

s. But because 900 AM is a Mexican clear channel frequency, WABY must reduce power at night to only 70 watts to avoid interference. It uses a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...

at all times. Programming is also heard on

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tra ...

W231DU at 94.1

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 ...

in Clifton Park. It uses its FM dial position in its moniker, "K94.1."

History

The station went on the air as WSPN in the 1950s, in

Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...

, later changing call letters to WKAJ, in 1964. For many years the station broadcast an MOR type of format. In 1992, the call letters were changed to WBGG, and the format to Country. In 1994, the station changed its call sign to WCKM, and its format to Oldies. In 1996, the call letters reverted to WKAJ, and the format was changed to Nostalgia. In 1999, WKAJ became WUAM; the antenna was moved to Watervliet in April 2008, splitting from the simulcast with WABY to repeat Capital News 9's television audio. Since April 2011, the station has been relayed on 106.1 FM via translator W291BY, broadcasting from Albany, New York at 250 watts ERP.

Ernie Anastos Ernie Anastos (born July 12, 1943) is an American news anchor and the host of the show ''Positively America with Ernie Anastos''. He anchored the news at 6 p.m. on WNYW in New York City. He was also the anchor of the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts on Fo ...

sold his Albany-area stations—WUAM and its translator, WABY, WQAR, and WVKZ—to Empire Broadcasting Corporation in June 2012 at a purchase price of $1.2 million. The transaction was consummated on September 7, 2012. On May 27, 2014, WUAM changed its format to adult standards, branded as "Moon Radio". The station became WABY on July 3, 2014; the call sign was previously used by sister station WAIX, and before then on what are now

WAMC WAMC is a public radio network headquartered in Albany, New York. The network has 12 broadcast radio stations (transmitters) and 16 broadcast relay stations (translators, repeaters). The two flagship stations in the WAMC network are WAMC-FM 90. ...

and WYKV. On March 12, 2018, the adult standards format was dropped when Empire Broadcasting transferred its "The X"

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

format from WAIX to WABY. On May 15, 2018, WABY and its sister AM stations went silent (off the air). The stations' owner noted that, although the sale of an FM sister station cleared all of the stations' debts, the stations were still operating at a loss and that until a freeze on FM translator awards was lifted, the stations could not be sustained. The station was acquired by Saratoga Radio LLC on October 1, 2019, and the FCC approved the transaction on December 16, 2019. The station now simulcasts with WSSV and is known as 'Saratoga's Star Radio' On December 9, 2020, WABY changed their format from classic hits to a simulcast of classic country-formatted WNYV 94.1 FM Whitehall, branded as "K94.1".K94.1 Brings Classic Country To Albany
Radioinsight - December 9, 2020

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References

External links

* * {{Country Radio Stations in New York

ABY Aby or ABY may refer to: Places * Aby, Ivory Coast * Aby Lagoon, a lagoon in Ivory Coast * Abyy or Aby, Sakha Republic, Russia ** Aby Lowland * Aby, Lincolnshire, a village in England, UK * Åby, Norrköping Municipality, Sweden * Åby, Växjö Mun ...

Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1964 1964 establishments in New York (state)