WBYA (105.5 FM; "The Wolf") is a radio station licensed to

Islesboro, Maine Islesboro is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States, comprising Islesboro Island and several smaller islands. The population was 583 at the 2020 census. It has a summer colony accessible by state ferry service from Lincolnville Beach ...

, United States. The station serves the

Mid Coast MidCoast Council is a local government area located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 through a merger of the Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and City of Greater Taree Councils. T ...

area with a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format. The station is owned by Binnie Media, and broadcasts from a transmitter on U.S. 1 south of Northport. The station's competitor is

WMCM WMCM (103.3 FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a country music format simulcasting WBFB. Licensed to Rockland, Maine, United States, the station serves the Mid Coast Maine area. The station is owned by Blueberry Broadcasting. Histo ...

in Rockland.

History

The station went on the air as WAYD in February 1999, programming an

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

format branded as "The Bay". It was owned by Gopher Hill Communications, who also owned WQSS in Camden and WABI and

WWBX WWBX (104.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston with a hot adult contemporary format. The format started at 98.5 FM on February 9, 1991, and moved to 104.1 FM, replacing WBCN on August 12, 2009, t ...

in Bangor; the station was based out of the WQSS studios in Camden. On April 16, 2001, the station changed its call sign to the current WBYA, which had just been dropped by

WFZX WFZX (1490 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an urban contemporary music format. Licensed to Anniston, Alabama, United States, the station serves the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Area. The station is currently owned by Jeff Beck, through lic ...

in Searsport. Gopher Hill sold WBYA to Mariner Broadcasting in 2003; this came after the other three Gopher Hill stations were sold to

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

. Mariner kept the standards format, but dropped locally-produced programming in favor of the

Music of Your Life Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...

service.

Nassau Broadcasting Partners Nassau Broadcasting Partners LP was a company based in Princeton, New Jersey that owned radio stations in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Nassau's stations, which included both AM and FM frequencies, were located in Maryland, New J ...

acquired Mariner in 2004; under Nassau, the station switched to the "

Frank FM Frank FM is the branding used by Binnie Media for its radio stations airing a classic hits radio format. The Frank FM format was similar to the Jack FM format in that these stations play around 1000 songs in regular rotation at any time as oppo ...

" classic hits format on April 1, 2005. WBYA simulcast the morning show of Portland sister

WFNK WFNK (107.5 FM) – branded ''107.5 Frank FM'' – is a commercial classic hits radio station licensed to serve Lewiston, Maine. Owned by Binnie Media, the station services the Portland metropolitan area. WFNK has an effective radiated po ...

, and in addition to the classic hits format broadcast local high school basketball games and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

baseball. WBYA, along with 16 other Nassau stations in northern New England, was purchased at bankruptcy auction by WBIN Media Company, a company controlled by

Bill Binnie William Harrison "Bill" Binnie is an American industrialist, investment banker, and philanthropist, who is currently president of the Carlisle Capital Corporation, president of the media company New Hampshire 1 Network and owner of Carlisle One M ...

, on May 22, 2012. Binnie already owned

WBIN-TV WWJE-DT (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Derry, New Hampshire, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of True Crime Network. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision alongside Univision- owned station WUNI (channel 66). ...

Derry, New Hampshire Derry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,317 at the 2020 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the most populous community in Rockingham County and the 4th most populous in the ...

. The deal was completed on November 30, 2012. On February 18, 2017, Binnie Media moved the classic hits format to

WBQX WBQX (106.9 FM, "Frank FM") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits music format. Licensed to Thomaston, Maine, United States, it serves the Mid Coast region. It first began broadcasting in 1992 under the call sign WAVX. The station is ...

(106.9 FM), replacing the

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

programming of

WBACH WBACH was a radio network in the state of Maine in the United States, active from 1991 to 2017. Airing on four stations at its peak, the network broadcast a classical music format from studios in Kennebunk. Following the bankruptcy of Nassau ...

; WBYA then began stunting with a loop directing listeners to WBQX.W-Bach Signs Off in Maine
Radioinsight - February 20, 2017 On February 24, 2017, WBYA changed to a country music format, branded as "105.5 The Wolf"; the new format includes a simulcast of Portland sister station

WTHT WTHT (99.9 FM; "The Wolf") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Auburn, Maine, the station serves Greater Portland. It is owned by Binnie Media, with studios on Thomas Drive in Westbrook. Programming was simulc ...

's morning show. Following the format changes, WBYA retained Boston Red Sox broadcasts, while its high school basketball coverage was transferred to WBQX.

References

External links

* {{Country Radio Stations in Maine

BYA bya or b.y.a. is an abbreviation for "billion years ago". It is commonly used as a unit of time to denote length of time before the present in 109 years. This initialism is often used in the sciences of astronomy, geology, and paleontology. The ...

Radio stations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Maine Waldo County, Maine Country radio stations in the United States