WGY (AM)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

WGY (810 AM) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
licensed to
Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...
, and serving Albany,
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
and the Capital District of
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
. It
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...
s a
news/talk 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, interviews ...
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
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 ...
WGY-FM (103.1
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
). They are owned by
iHeartMedia 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 ...
with studios on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham. WGY is one of the first stations in the United States and the oldest to operate continuously in New York State, having launched on February 20, 1922. WGY is powered at 50,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s
clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...
, the maximum for commercial AM stations in the U.S. Its
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 ...
is off Mariaville Road, near the New York State Thruway in the Town of Rotterdam. The station's daytime signal provides at least grade B coverage from the northernmost suburbs of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to the
Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...
and Lake George, as well as parts of
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
. At night, WGY can be heard across much of the eastern half of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
with a good radio. In addition to a standard
analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an an ...
, WGY is also available online via
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...
.


Programming

Weekdays begin with a wake-up show hosted by Bob Lonsberry, shared with sister station WHAM in Rochester. That's followed by Dave Allen of sister station WSYR in Syracuse. The remainder of the lineup is devoted to nationally syndicated conservative talk shows: '' The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Michael Berry Show, The Jesse Kelly Show, Coast to Coast AM with
George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...
'' and '' This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal''. Weekends feature shows on money, health, law, retirement and religion. Syndicated weekend programs include '' Bill Handel on the Law, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Armstrong & Getty'' and '' Sunday Night with Bill Cunningham''. Most hours nights and weekends begin with an update from
Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...
.


History


Experimental years

WGY's original licensee was
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
(GE), a company headquartered in Schenectady that had extensive experience in radio research and development. In 1903
Reginald Fessenden Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-American electrical engineer and inventor who received hundreds of List of Reginald Fessenden patents, patents in fields related to radio and sonar between 1891 and 1936 ...
contracted with GE to help him design and produce a series of high-frequency alternator-transmitters. This project was ultimately assigned to Ernst F. W. Alexanderson, who in August 1906 delivered a unit which was successfully used by Fessenden to make radiotelephone demonstrations. In early 1915, GE was granted a Class 3-Experimental license with the call sign 2XI. That license was canceled in 1917 due to the United States' entry into World War I. 2XI was relicensed in 1920. Ernst Alexanderson continued alternator design research and developed more powerful transmitters that by 1919 were considered the best available option for long distance radiotelegraph communication. In 1919 GE's leadership in alternator manufacture led the U.S. government to promote the idea of the company taking over the assets of the
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (commonly called American Marconi) was incorporated in 1899. It was established as a subsidiary of the British Marconi Company and held the U.S. and Cuban rights to Guglielmo Marconi's radio (then ...
. This purchase was used to form a GE subsidiary, the
Radio Corporation of America RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
(RCA), which became the leading radio company in the United States. In 1921, GE signed a cross-licensing agreement with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company that made RCA the sales agent for radio equipment produced by the two companies. (In 1932 RCA became an independent company as part of an antitrust settlement). Alternator radio transmitters became obsolete by the mid-1920s due to advances in vacuum-tube technology, and another GE employee,
Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir (; January 31, 1881 – August 16, 1957) was an American chemist, physicist, and metallurgical engineer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry. Langmuir's most famous publicatio ...
, played an important role in this development. GE was a major manufacturer of radio vacuum tubes during World War I, and produced over 200,000 for the military during the conflict. Tubes of increasing power ratings were designed, and by the summer of 1922 Langmuir had introduced a 20-kilowatt version. Radio communication was initially generally limited to
Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
transmissions. By the early 1920s improvements in vacuum-tube capabilities made audio transmissions practical. Effective December 1, 1921, the United States Department of Commerce, which beginning in 1912 had been responsible for regulating radio stations, set aside two wavelengths for use by broadcasting stations: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather reports". On February 4, 1922, GE received its first broadcasting license, for a new station located in Schenectady which was authorized to transmit on the 360-meter entertainment wavelength and was issued the randomly assigned call letters WGY. (A few months later permission was granted to also broadcast on 485 meters.) The original transmitter produced an antenna power of 1,500 watts, which was three times the wattage of the standard "high-powered" station at the time. Unusual for the period, the station's studio and transmitter site were at separate locations. Broadcasts originated from a studio on the fourth floor of Building 36 at the General Electric Plant in Schenectady, which was connected to a T-top wire antenna located atop Building 40, another GE building about 1/3 of a mile (1/2 km) distant.


Early broadcasts

The station was placed under the oversight of Martin P. Rice, who was the manager of the company's publication bureau. WGY's debut broadcast started at 7:47 p.m. on February 20, 1922, when Kolin Hager, or as he was known on the air, "KH", signed on with the station's call letters, explaining the W is for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y, the last letter in Schenectady. The first broadcast, "furnished by some of this city's best talent" lasted about one hour. It consisted of live music and announcements of song titles and other information. The station's second program took place two days later, and featured a speech about
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, delivered by W. W. Tranch, Schenectady's
American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
post commander, followed by a concert. 1942 advertisement for General Electric and WGY. WGY was a pioneer in the use of
remote broadcast In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast (usually just called a remote or a live remote, or in news parlance, a live shot) is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television or radio studio and is considered an electronic fiel ...
s originating from locations outside of the main studio, carrying out the first one just days after it signed on. On February 23, 1922, the station ran a telephone line connection to the
Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...
gymnasium, where New York governor Nathan L. Miller and others gave speeches commemorating the 17th anniversary of the
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...
. This was followed by a short concert. Other early programming included coverage of the Yale-Harvard football game live from
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
; the WGY String Orchestra live from the State Theater in Schenectady, and talks and presentations by various GE innovators, explorers, state and local officials. A few months after WGY began broadcasting, Edward H. Smith, director of a community theater group called the Masque in nearby Troy, suggested to Kolin Hager that WGY carry weekly 40-minute long adaptations of plays. A troupe was formed known as the WGY Players performing as radio's first dramatic series. On August 3, 1922, they presented
Eugene Walter Eugene Ferdinand Walter, Jr. (November 30, 1921 – March 29, 1998) was an American screenwriter, poet, short-story author, actor, puppeteer, gourmet chef, cryptographer, translator, editor, costume designer and well-known raconteur. During his y ...
's 1908 play ''The Wolf'', the first of forty-three dramatizations performed during the 1922-1923 season. Smith became a pioneer of radio drama sound effects during this first play when he slapped a couple of two-by-four boards together to simulate the slamming of a door. Initially the actors wore costumes and makeup on the theory that this would enhance performances, but the practice was soon discarded as unneeded. The WGY Orchestra was used to provide music between acts. Response was immediate, with the station reporting that the broadcast resulted in its receiving more than two thousand letters. On November 9 the Players presented on ''The Sign of the Four'' starring Edward H. Smith as Sherlock Holmes, and the world's only consulting detective joined the growing number of "disembodied voices floating through electromagnetic heaven." In 1923,
Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegraphy, wireless tel ...
, credited as the inventor of radio, paid a visit to Schenectady to see WGY's transmitter and studios.


TV experiments

Beginning in 1926, Ernst Alexanderson worked on an experimental mechanical television system. This led, on September 11, 1928, to the WGY Players broadcasting the first televised play, an old spy melodrama titled '' The Queen's Messenger'' and starring Izetta Jewel and Maurice Randall. Alexanderson's development of a portable and simplified television transmitter made the broadcast possible. The only viewers were newspaper and magazine writers watching the program on a 3x3-inch (7.6 cm) screen located three miles (five kilometers) away in the WGY studio. The broadcasts took place at 1:30 and 11:30 pm. In September 1922 the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming. Locally, both WGY and the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
station, WHAZ, were assigned to this new wavelength on a time-sharing basis. In May 1923 additional broadcasting frequencies were announced, and the Schenectady/Troy region was given exclusive national use of 790 kHz. WGY and WHAZ were assigned to share this new allocation. On November 1, 1927, WHAZ moved to a new frequency, giving WGY full-time use. WGY also used the first
condenser microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...
, developed by General Electric for radio studio applications, on February 7, 1923.Wheeler, Howard. History of WGY, W2XAF and W2XAD, memoir and personal papers of (WGY engineer), July 3, 1933


Network radio

On January 4, 1923, the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...
(AT&T) made the first network radio broadcast, using special telephone lines to relay a program from its New York City station, WEAF, to a Boston station. On June 3, 1923, WGY participated in AT&T's second network test, which linked WEAF to WGY, KDKA in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, and KYW in Chicago. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) responded by developing a network operation centered on its New York City station, WJZ, and in December 1923 made its first test network connection with a hookup to WGY. The WJZ network never advanced beyond a few affiliates, and struggled with the low fidelity of relying on
Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
lines to link stations. In 1926, RCA bought out AT&T's network operations, and WGY affiliated with the newly established WEAF-based
NBC Red Network The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
. In the Albany market, WABY affiliated with the
NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Co ...
, which later became ABC Radio, while
WOKO WOKO (98.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a country music radio format, format. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, United States, the station serves the Burlington-Plattsburgh, New York, Plattsburgh area. The stati ...
became a CBS affiliate. WGY remained with NBC Radio until it folded in 1989. In 1925, WGY helped organize the New York State Radio Network, formed with WMAK in Buffalo, WHAM in Rochester, WFBL in Syracuse and WGY. In 1924, the transmitter site was moved to its current location in the Town of Rotterdam, then known as South Schenectady. This site was also home of GE's experimental shortwave radio stations W2XAF (31.48 meters or 9.525 MHz) and W2XAD (19 meters or 15 MHz). WGY's power levels were steadily increased, first to 5,000 watts, then 10,000 watts and finally to 50,000 watts on July 18, 1925. By 1928, the WGY transmitter was capable of operating at 150,000 watts, and an application was made to increase to this power. However, this was three times the limit allowed by 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 ...
(FRC), and the application was denied. Temporary broadcasts were carried out at the 100 kW (August 4, 1927) and 200 kW (March 9, 1930) power levels. From those broadcasts, the station received reception letters and telegrams from as far away as New Zealand. Plans were to make those power increases permanent, but were never carried out.


Clear channel status

The March 28, 1928, reauthorization of the Radio Act of 1927 included a provision, known as the Davis Amendment, which mandated an "equality of radio broadcasting service" within the United States. This specified an "equitable allocation" among five regional zones. Effective November 11, 1928, 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 ...
implemented a major reassignment of transmitting frequencies, as outlined by its General Order 40 Band Plan. This plan designated 40 U.S. clear channels, divided eight to each region, with KGO in Oakland, California, on 790 kHz, included as one of the Region 5 assignments. The only other station assigned to 790 kHz was WGY. KGO and WGY were both owned by GE, with WGY considered the company's showcase station. GE was able to effectively transfer KGO's clear channel assignment from Region 5 to WGY's Region 1, by increasing the power of WGY to 50,000 watts, while limiting KGO to 7,500 watts. (Directional antennas were not developed until the early 1930s, so both stations operated with non-directional antennas.) Any question about the propriety of this action became moot after the Davis Amendment was repealed on June 5, 1936. By 1935, the engineering staff of WGY began work to replace the T-top antenna system with a single vertical radiator tower. At the time, the station was plagued with signal fading at a distance of 30–100 miles (50–160 km) from the transmitter site due to cancellation by out-of-phase co-channel signals from the same source. The ideas for this tower were formed from experiments at WJZ in New York. From this, a square, half-wavelength (on 790 kHz) 625 foot (190-meter) tower was constructed in 1938. The half-wavelength design greatly reduced high angle radiation, thus solved the close in fading issues, and this antenna is still in use today. In 1938 the station's studios were moved from Building 36 into a brand new building on River Road, in Downtown Schenectady. These studios were torn down in 1961 to make way for Interstate 890. At that time the studios were moved to 1400 Balltown Road in Niskayuna, New York, co-located with GE owned-and-operated
WRGB WRGB (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Schenectady, New York, United States, serving the Capital District as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CW affiliate WCWN (channel 45). The two station ...
-TV Channel 6.


Move to 810

In 1941, the stations on 790 kHz, including WGY and KGO, were moved to 810 kHz, 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). In 1942, during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a concrete wall was built around the base of the transmitter tower to prevent saboteurs from shooting out the base insulator on the tower and taking the station off the air. As the "
Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...
" ended, WGY evolved into a full service, middle of the road format of popular music, news and talk. It was the
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
of General Electric's broadcasting group until 1983, when it was sold to Sky Communications and soon after to Empire Radio Partners, Inc. General Electric's Schenectady operations also pioneered television by putting WRGB-TV on the air, which signed on as W2XB in 1928; and FM radio station W2XOY, later WGFM, then WGY-FM, and today
WRVE WRVE (99.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed in Schenectady, New York, Schenectady and serving the Capital District, New York, Capital District and Upper Hudson Valley in New York (s ...
, which signed on in 1940 and is credited as the first FM station to broadcast in stereo around the clock. Dame Media, Inc. acquired WGY-AM-FM during proceedings in a
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
bankruptcy court, late 1993.


All talk and news

The AM station eliminated its remaining music programming and became an all-news/talk station on Memorial Day Weekend, 1994. Dame moved the studios to One Washington Square at the end of Washington Avenue Extension, in the west end of Albany, in late 1994, where they remained until 2005. In 1999, Dame Media sold its entire radio group 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 ...
based in
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
. Clear Channel combined all of its Albany-area radio station facilities into the former CHP (Community Health Plan) building on Route 7 (Troy-Schenectady Road) in Latham, in August 2005. After being one of the founding members of the NBC Radio Network, WGY announced in June 1989 that it would end its 63-year association with the network and change to
CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...
, replacing WQBK AMFM, that September. WGY news director Peter Rief said that the quality of NBC's radio product had declined following the sale of the radio network to
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 ...
. The station then switched to
ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
in July 1994, which allowed WGY to add
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
to its lineup. In August 2005, Clear Channel Communications switched the majority of its news/talk radio stations, including WGY, to
Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...
as a boost to that network's launch. Paul Harvey remained on WGY for an additional year. In 2009, WGY received a Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)
Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...
Award for its coverage of the 2009 Capital Region ice storm. On September 20, 2010, WGY began
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...
ing its programming on WHRL, renamed to WGY-FM. On February 6, 2012, WGY began an affiliation with
AccuWeather AccuWeather, Inc. is a private-sector American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services. AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers. The company adopted the name 'AccuWeather' in 1971. AccuWeather is headquar ...
for its weather coverage. It discontinued its ties with
The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel ...
after more than a decade. In 2014, Clear Channel Communications changed its corporate name to
iHeartMedia 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 ...
. Several notable former WGY personalities include Mike Gallagher, who hosted afternoon drive in the mid-1990s before moving to WABC in New York, and is now part of the Salem Radio Network. Other notable hosts include Mark Williams, J. R. Gach and Andrew Wilkow of
Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...
who was heard in afternoon drive and later in late mornings. Another WGY weekday local show was hosted by Al Roney, who was replaced by Glenn Beck on February 25, 2010. Don Weeks retired in 2010 after spending 30 years as WGY's morning host. He died in 2015 at age 76.TimesUnion.com "Legendary WGY Host Don Weeks Dies" March 11, 2015
/ref>


See also

* 1928 in television *
List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States reviews the first standard radio broadcasting stations that were authorized in the United States. This review begins with the introduction of the broadcasting service in the United S ...


References


External links

* * (covering 1927-1981)


Further reading

* (earlyradiohistory.us) {{Authority control 1922 establishments in New York (state) Clear-channel radio stations IHeartMedia radio stations News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1922 GY Schenectady, New York