WKLL, WKRL-FM, and WKRH, known together as K-Rock, are radio stations broadcasting an
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 ...
radio format to
Central New York and 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, ...
. Owned by
Galaxy Media Partners
Galaxy Media Partners (formerly Galaxy Communications) is a radio broadcasting company with radio stations entirely in the Central New York area. As of 2024, Galaxy owns 13 radio signals in New York.
History
Ed Levine, the company's presiden ...
, the stations provide coverage of
Utica-
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
area, the
Syracuse metropolitan area
The Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area comprising three counties in central New York, with the city of Syracuse as its core. The three counties are Onondaga, Madison, and Oswego ...
, and the
Oswego-
Fulton area, respectively. Galaxy has studios and offices in Utica and Syracuse.
The oldest of the three stations is WKRL-FM (100.9 MHz), licensed to
North Syracuse, which began as WSOQ-FM but was WEZG-FM from 1972 to 1993. It mostly ran an
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
format before slowly shifting to
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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
in the 1980s. In 1990, Galaxy (then known as The Radio Corporation) put WKLL (94.9 MHz), licensed to
Frankfort, on the air to broadcast a
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
format to the Utica area; it soon switched to an alternative format. The Radio Corporation acquired WEZG-FM in 1993 and began the K-Rock simulcast into Syracuse. WKRH (106.5 MHz) debuted in 1996. Aside from a brief period in 2004, stemming from an abortive sale, the simulcast has retained its name and general rock orientation since then. The Central New York K-Rock stations sponsored the annual
K-Rockathon music festival.
History
WEZG-FM
WSOQ-FM, adjunct to
WSOQ (1220 AM), began broadcasting in early 1972. On June 6, 1972, WSOQ-FM adopted a separate call sign from its AM sister and became WEZG-FM, reflecting its
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
format.
In 1983, after a vote among listeners over whether to switch to
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
US rad ...
was closely divided, WEZG-FM flipped to that format, while WSOQ became WEZG on the AM band and continued with easy listening.
The WEZG stations later changed to WSCY on AM and FM. The flip was not a success, and owner Sky Corp. elected to undo the flip and switch both stations back to their former easy listening format—which had been higher-rated—and WEZG call letters on February 28, 1984.
Sky sold the stations in 1985 to Lorenz Broadcasting Company of
Buffalo, who split them into separate formats; WEZG-FM continued with a more upbeat,
soft 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
sound.
In 1990, the WEZG stations were purchased by Larry Levite, owner of
WBEN in Buffalo.
WKLL
WKLL began broadcasting to the
Utica area on February 12, 1990. It was owned by Robert Raide and Ed Levine and originally was a
classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...
–formatted station known as "Classic 94.9". The LL in the call sign represented Ed Levine's daughter Lauren.
The station switched to a harder rock format after being unable to top
WOUR in the ratings.
As the K-Rock simulcast
Raide, Levine, and Frank Toce bought WEZG-FM and WNSS (the former WEZG AM) in 1993 and immediately assumed control under a time brokerage agreement. On October 15, the stations left the air.
On October 25, WEZG-FM became WKRL-FM and began simulcasting WKLL as K-Rock, touting itself as "the station 95X"—
WAQX-FM, which Levine had helped build in the late 1970s—"used to be". The K-Rock format distinguished itself from WAQX by playing harder rock geared toward a younger audience.
The Utica and Syracuse stations shared programming but had separate advertising for the Utica and Syracuse areas. Levine touted the fact that costs increased 20 percent with WKRL-FM in the fold but the revenue base tripled. In 1996, K-Rock shifted to a
modern rock
Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music.
...
(alternative) format.
The K-Rock simulcast was broken between March and April 2004 after Levine agreed to sell WKLL to Route 76 Radio, a subsidiary of Route 81 Radio of
West Chester, Pennsylvania
West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...
. Route 76, operating WKLL under a
time brokerage agreement, installed 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 which was to be simulcast with
WTLB. Galaxy Communications was unsatisfied with Route 76's decision to change formats on the stations without consulting Galaxy, and the deal failed to close. On April 26, 2004, Galaxy reassumed control of WKLL and reinstated K-Rock.
HD2 subchannel of WKLL
On September 8, 2016, WKLL signed on a new HD2 subchannel broadcasting a
variety hits format as "Tony FM". The subchannel also broadcasts in Utica on low-power W256AJ at 99.1, which formerly served as a translator station for
WRNY/WTLB/WIXT. An AM simulcast of the station was added on March 23, 2018 on
WIXT in
Little Falls.
Technical information
The three K-Rock transmitters serve an area running from Utica in the east to
Oswego in the west, with Syracuse in the middle.
References
External links
Official website*
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{{Active Rock Radio Stations in New York
KLL
Active rock radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1990
1990 establishments in New York (state)
Herkimer County, New York