WINU (104.9 MHz, "Alt 104.9") 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 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 ...

to Altamont and serving New York's

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 is owned by

Pamal Broadcasting Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, w ...

and airs an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

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 ...

. WINU has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 530

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. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on Pinnacle Road in

Helderberg Escarpment The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York, United States, roughly west of the city of Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of the Allegheny Plateau. It rises steep ...

tower farm in New Scotland, amid the

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

for other Albany-area TV and FM stations.

Station history

WIZR-FM Johnstown

WINU is one of several signals to have moved into the Albany market in recent years. Prior to its move in March 1999, it was licensed to

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

as the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to WIZR (930 AM). It first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

the air on June 26, 1968 as WIZR-FM. At first, it

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

ed its AM companion. In 1980, it began broadcasting a live and local oldies format which lasted until the station went dark in 1982. It returned to the air in 1983 once again simulcasting WIZR. In early 1984, it got its own

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 ass ...

as WSRD ("The Wizard") as it switched to a short-lived live and local album rock format. It flipped to a satellite delivered adult contemporary format in late 1984, and eventually to satellite delivered

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 w ...

in 1987. The oldies format would remain in place until early 1999. In early 1998, longtime WIZR/WSRD owner Joe Caruso obtained a

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)

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to move WZMR to the Albany suburb of Altamont. That put it in the Albany-

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

media 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 ...

making the station more valuable. In October 1998, Caruso sold the stations to Albany Broadcasting (today's

) for $2.2 million. Albany Broadcasting closed on the stations in March 1999 and quickly moved WSRD into its studios,

Moving to Albany

The new call letters for the station were WAAP. The transmitter site was initially on the Channel 23 tower with sister station

WAJZ WAJZ (96.3 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Voorheesville, New York, and serving the Capital District, including Albany, Schenectady and Troy. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary ...

, but was later moved to the

WYJB WYJB (95.5 FM) is a commercial 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 an adult contemporary radio format, switching ...

tower in November 2000. The format was changed to

modern 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 ...

as ''The Point'' when it began broadcasting from its new transmitter, on March 10, 1999. The switch to Modern AC was an attempt to capitalize on the then-recent flips of WXLE (now

WTMM-FM WTMM-FM (104.5 FM, " ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team") is a sports radio station licensed to Mechanicville, New York and serving New York's Capital Region and Saratoga County. The station is owned by Townsquare Media, and broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ...

) to

rhythmic oldies Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispan ...

, WRVE to a more mainstream format, and the then-stunting WKLI. It was WKLI which spoiled these plans, as Albany Broadcasting was sued by

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

, then-owners of the ''Point'' name, on the behalf of WKLI-owner-in-waiting Tele-Media. In response, the station relaunched as WZMR with the ''Z104.9'' branding and a

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

format. The ''Point'' name surfaced on WKLI (which changed to WCPT) that May. However, the ratings were not what Albany Broadcasting had hoped for.

Smooth Jazz

On October 2, 1999, WHRL (now WGY-FM) switched from

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the ...

, Albany Broadcasting took advantage of the format hole. Within two weeks, WZMR flipped to smooth jazz at 6:00 a.m. on October 18, 1999, as "Smooth Jazz 104.9." The final song played under WZMR's short-lived modern rock format was " You Get What You Give" by

The New Radicals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, also the first song played under the format. Though the return of smooth jazz was initially a success, ratings had declined at the station by early 2003. In June 2003, the format was tweaked to

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 ...

(as a complement to then-urban

). WZMR added R&B and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

to the smooth jazz playlist, with the branding ''104.9 Love FM''. However, the new format failed to attract listeners as well as advertising revenue, and the station was up for sale in 2004 to prepare

WNYQ WNYQ (101.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Hudson Falls, New York, and serving the Glens Falls section of the Adirondacks. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and airs a classic hits radio format, which leans toward classic roc ...

(105.7 FM) for a move-in. However,

Regent Communications 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 wit ...

would eventually buy that station after the sale to Pamal fell through, and Pamal instead retained WZMR.

Country and Active rock

After playing

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ...

in December 2004, the format was again changed on January 6, 2005, to a simulcast of

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

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 ...

Corinth, New York Corinth is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 6,531 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Corinth. The town is on the northeastern border of the county, north of Saratoga Springs. The to ...

. After a weekend of stunting, WZMR flipped formats to

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

on February 13, 2006 as ''104.9 The Edge'', picking up the format abandoned by the former ''Edge'', 103.9 WQBK-FM and 103.5 WQBJ in December 2005. WZMR saw the most success during this time, with the station's ''Edgefest'' concerts, and brought in

John Mulrooney John Mulrooney is an American comedian, radio and TV show host, actor and writer. Mulrooney was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career on the NYC comedy scene at Rick Newman's Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Mulrooney transit ...

for its morning show. However, with WQBK-FM and WQBJ reverting to their previous active rock format in 2008, and WHRL tweaking from modern rock to active rock one year later, the future of WZMR's active rock format was cloudy. However, by the end of 2010, only WQBK-FM and WQBJ remained with the active rock format in the Albany market. At 10:49 a.m. on February 26, 2010, the final song under the ''Edge'' format, "

Cat Scratch Fever ''Cat Scratch Fever'' is the third studio album by American rock musician Ted Nugent. It was released on May 13, 1977, by Epic Records. Vocalist Derek St. Holmes, who had left the band during the recording of the album ''Free-for-All'', had com ...

" by

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock ...

, was anticlimactically interrupted, as WZMR returned to a country music format under the ''104.9 The Cat'' branding, taking on a similar playlist and imaging to co-owned

WJEN WJEN (105.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Killington, Vermont, and broadcasting to Rutland and Southern Vermont. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and airs a country music radio format known as "105.3 Cat Country." The ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

. The first song played under the new country format was " Building Bridges" by

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were so ...

Adult alternative and Sports

At midnight on October 10, 2013, WZMR began simulcasting on sister station

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 ...

. The simulcast lasted until December 13, 2013, when, for 24 hours, WZMR began stunting with sound effects of a man hiking. WZMR launched an

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 at midnight on December 14, 2013, branded as "104.9 The Peak." The first song on "The Peak" was ''

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant for their untitled fourth studio album (often titled ''Led Zeppelin IV'') ...

'' by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

. The "Peak" name is also used by co-owned

WXPK WXPK (107.1 MHz), branded as 107.1 The Peak, is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Briarcliff Manor, New York, and serving the northern suburbs of the New York metropolitan area. It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts an Adu ...

in the northern suburbs of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At Midnight on January 12, 2015, after playing "

Be My Wife "Be My Wife" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It was the second single from ''Low'' (1977), released on 17 June 1977. Its presence in ''Low'' tones down the electronic feel of the rest of the album. The song also features a more co ...

" by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, WZMR flipped to

sports talk 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-ai ...

under new call letters WINU and the "Win 104.9" moniker. The station was silent for four minutes after DJ John Clark signed off until 12 a.m., when it went straight to

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programm ...

with the hourly "Sports Flash" update. The station utilized programming from CBS Sports, picking up that affiliation from

AM 1240 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) * ''AM'' (Arctic Monkeys album) * AM (musician), American musicia ...

WPTR. The move gave Albany its fourth sports station joining WPTR, which has shifted to

NBC Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio was a sports radio network that debuted on September 4, 2012. The network content was produced by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and distributed by Westwood One, which is the corporate successor to the remains of ...

, WOFX (

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent compan ...

) and WTMM (

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN ...

). From 2015 to 2017, WINU aired

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

football games and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

baseball. Even after WINU's sports format ended, the station retained Patriots broadcasts for the 2018 season along with co-owned

WROW WROW (590 kHz) – branded ''Magic 590 AM and 100.5 FM'' – is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Albany, New York, and serving the Capital District, including Albany, Schenectady and Troy. WROW has a radio format featuring soft old ...

; however, the Patriots did not return for the 2019 season.

Alt 104.9

On March 16, 2018, at 5 p.m., WINU returned to an

format after nineteen years, this time branded as "Alt 104.9."Pamal Launches Alt 104.9 Albany as Rewind 105.7 Starts Stunting
Radioinsight - March 16, 2018

Previous Logo

References

External links

* {{Pamal Broadcasting

INU Inu or INU may refer to: * Krisnan Inu (born 1987), New Zealand professional rugby league * Irbid National University, Jordan * Incheon National University, South Korea * International Network of Universities * Nauru International Airport, the sole ...

Modern rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1968 Pamal Broadcasting 1968 establishments in New York (state)