WPYX (106.5 MHz "PYX 106") is a commercial FM

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 radi ...

licensed to

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

, and serving the Capital District. It broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

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 ...

and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. WPYX also carries

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

football games. WPYX 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 ...

(ERP) of 15,500

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 Wa ...

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 ...

is on Pinnacle Road in Helderberg Escarpment tower farm in New Scotland, amid the towers for other Albany-area TV and FM stations. WPYX broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

technology. Its HD-2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compressi ...

plays 1970s classic rock, branded as "Gran Turino Radio."

History

Middle of the Road and Top 40

In September 1967, the station

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 dig ...

as WDKC. It played middle of the road (MOR) music and was owned by Kopps-Monahan Communications, Inc., which also owned

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

powerhouse WTRY

980 AM 98 may refer to: * 98 (number) * Windows 98, a Microsoft operating system Years * 98 BC * AD 98 * 1798 * 1898 * 1998 * 2098 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the c ...

(today's WOFX). In 1971, 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 assig ...

was changed to WTRY-FM to match its AM counterpart. It continued as an MOR station during the day, but would simulcast WTRY's Top 40 format at night. In 1972, it returned to a full time MOR sound. In early 1973, the WTRY-AM-FM were sold, and WTRY-FM became WHSH, which then went to its first full-time rock format as the format was changed to a Top 40–

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 wel ...

hybrid with live DJs. The station was now known as "Wish" as well as "The Albany Stereo Giant" and "Your Albany Wish". Ownership

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

the station a year later in 1974, and changed the format to Oldies.

Beautiful Music and Album Rock

During Labor Day weekend, 1975, the format was flipped again, this time to

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...

, while keeping the "Wish" nickname. From 1975 to 1980, the station played quarter hour sweeps of mostly instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of popular songs, along with some Broadway and Hollywood show tunes. By 1980 there was an obvious hole for a mainstream Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) station in the Albany market. WHSH flipped to its current format on September 15, 1980, changing the call sign to WPYX and calling itself "PYX 106". WPYX used all live and local

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

s until April 28, 2009, when management replaced most of the local DJs with announcers from other cities who voice-track their shows, to make them sound as if they are in the Capital District.

Ownership Changes

WPYX and WTRY went through several changes in ownership over the years. These included Scott Broadcasting of Pennsylvania, television personality Merv Griffin and Capstar Broadcasting (which was controlled by billionaire mogul

Tom Hicks Thomas Ollis Hicks Sr. (born February 7, 1946), is an American private equity investor and sports team owner living in Dallas, Texas. ''Forbes'' magazine estimated Hicks' wealth at $1 billion in 2009, but it dropped to $700 million in 201 ...

). In 1999, Capstar merged with another Hicks-owned company, Chancellor Media Corporation, to form AMFM Inc. In 2000, the stations were acquired by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly 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 fou ...

when that company merged with AMFM. Clear Channel became iHeartMedia in 2014. WPYX has kept its same call letters and Rock format since .

HD Radio operations

In 2005, WPYX upgraded to IBOC digital radio alongside the rest of Clear Channel's Albany stations. On August 17, 2006, WPYX began airing an HD2 channel with a deep tracks classic rock format, known as ''Vinyl Vineyard'' which was later replaced with a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

format in August 2012. The classic country was eventually dropped. In September 2018, WPYX-HD2 began playing a

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 m ...

format called, "iHeartChristmas Lites." That format later gave way to "Gran Torino Radio," a format of 1970s

References

External links

* * {{New York Giants PYX Classic rock radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1967 IHeartMedia radio stations