WFAS (1230
AM,
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
) was a commercial
digital-only radio station
licensed to serve
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
. The station was owned by
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
and broadcast with 1,000 watts from its studios and
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
site on Secor Road, in
Hartsdale, New York
Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City.
History
Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Gre ...
.
At the time of its closure, WFAS aired a
conservative talk 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, ...
with programming from
Westwood One
Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
, which is itself owned by Cumulus Media. News updates were supplied by
USA Radio News.
The station began all-digital HD Radio broadcasting on May 24, 2021, after notifying the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC).
History
WFAS's first license, as WBRS, was granted on August 19, 1926, to Universal Radio Manufacturing, Inc., located at 1062
Broadway in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York. In 1928 the station was taken over by the Westchester Broadcasting Corporation, which changed the
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 as ...
to WCOH and relocated to the
Greenville neighborhood in
Yonkers
Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...
.
Due to the limited number of frequencies available for the highly congested New York City region, it was common beginning in the mid-1920s to require multiple stations to share a common frequency. On June 15, 1927, WBRS was assigned to 1420 kHz along with two other area stations. On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of the
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
's (FRC)
General Order 40
The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
, the now-WCOH was reassigned to 1210 kHz on a shared time basis with three different stations.
In 1932 the call letters were changed to WFAS, and the station relocated to
White Plains. This call sign honored the two owners' husband and father, Frank A. Seitz, Sr. WFAS made its debut on August 11, 1932, from the
Roger Smith Hotel, on the corner of Post Road and Chester Avenue in White Plains. WFAS initially broadcast with 100 watts using a
T-top
A T-top (UK: T-bar) is an automobile roof with a removable panel on each side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between Pillar (car), pillars to the center of the next structural bar. The panels of a traditional T-to ...
antenna located on the hotel's roof.
In 1941, with the implementation of the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...
(NARBA), most stations on 1210 kHz, including WFAS, were reassigned to 1240 kHz. By March 1943, the station had moved to 1230 kHz, becoming a full-time operation which no longer had to share its frequency with any other stations. In 1947, the transmitter site moved to Secor Road in the Town of Greenburgh. Concurrent with that move, WFAS-FM (103.9) signed on the air on August 1, from the same location. The T-top antenna continued to be used as an auxiliary while the studios remained at the Roger Smith Hotel.
In 1948, WFAS and WFAS-FM moved to new studios and offices in the building of the ''White Plains Reporter Dispatch'' newspaper. By 1954, the studios had moved out of the City of White Plains into the Secor Road location. In 1963, the station increased power to 1,000 watts.
In 2011, WFAS began a trial of sports programming with Bob Wolfe, in addition to station originals such as ''Bruce Hall's Second Opinion'', which featured Bruce Hall and Roy G. Edwards, founder of Sports Mancave, which aired for 3 years before WFAS moved transmitters. ''Second Opinion'' hosted such events as the Westchester Golf Show, and had recurring guests of Clarke Judge, San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, and NFL Network contributor Russle Baxter.
In 2014, WFAS-FM changed its call sign to WNBM, moved its transmitter site to
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
and its studios to Cumulus'
Penn Plaza facilities in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...
, to become an
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 ...
station serving the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...
.
On February 3, 2016, WFAS changed
formats from
talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...
to sports, branded as "Sportsradio 1230", with programming from
CBS Sports Radio.
On April 20, 2021, it was announced that WFAS had notified the FCC of their intentions to convert to an exclusively digital HD Radio signal, their plan being to complete the process by May 24. The station would be the third AM station in the United States to do so, following
WWFD in Frederick, Maryland (broadcasting to the Washington D.C. area), and
WMGG near Tampa, Florida. However, unlike these other two stations, WFAS's programming was not also carried over an analog FM translator. With the announcement, WFAS would also flip to
conservative talk the same day, branded as "Digital AM 1230, New Talk for New York", featuring a variety of conservative talk shows otherwise not cleared in the market. CBS Sports Radio continued to fill weekend timeslots. On December 15, 2021, Cumulus announced that WNBM would begin simulcasting WFAS on January 3, 2022, giving the station an analog signal; the simulcast ended on February 6, 2023, after 103.9 (which had returned to the WFAS-FM call sign) was sold to
VCY America
VCY America, Inc. is a traditional, evangelical, conservative Christian ministry based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The VCY America Radio Network maintains a format of Christian talk and teaching, as well as traditional Christian music through its b ...
and became
WVBN.
On October 7, 2024, Cumulus Media surrendered WFAS's license to the FCC.
The
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
cancelled the station’s license on October 15, 2024.
References
External links
* (
Guide to reading History Cards) (covering 1927-1981 as WBRS/WCOH/WFAS)
{{Cumulus Media
1926 establishments in New York City
2024 disestablishments in New York (state)
Cumulus Media radio stations
Digital-only radio stations
Radio stations established in 1926
Radio stations disestablished in 2024
FAS (AM)
FAS (AM)
Defunct radio stations in the United States