WSNO-FM (97.9

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 ...

, "97.9 & 105.7 The Penguin") is a radio station

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Au Sable, New York Au Sable, or Ausable ( ), is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 3,146 at the 2010 census. The name is from the Ausable River that flows through the town and means "of sand". The town is in the southeastern corn ...

, and serving the Burlington-

Plattsburgh Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding (and separately in ...

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. The station is owned by Great Eastern Radio, LLC. WSNO-FM broadcasts an adult hits format,

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) ...

on the second

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 ...

channel of

WWFY WWFY (100.9 FM, "Froggy 104.3 & 100.9") is a radio station licensed to serve Berlin, Vermont. The station is owned by Great Eastern Radio. It airs a country music format. The station has been assigned these call letters by the Federal Commun ...

(100.9 FM) in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and on

translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

W289CH (105.7 FM) in Barre.

History

The station was first licensed in early 2009 as WYME. At the outset, it did not offer programming on a regular schedule, and founding owner Radioactive, LLC had already put the station up for sale. 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 ...

was changed to WZXP on December 11, 2009; on July 23, 2010, the station signed on with an

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 ...

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format programmed by Diane Desmond and Russ Kinsley, whose "Album Station" programming had been heard on WCLX until 2009. On June 23, 2015, Radioactive, LLC filed a request with 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) for

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) st ...

(STA) for WZXP to remain silent, stating that the station went off the air on June 19, 2015, due to the loss of its programming source. The request was granted by the FCC on July 9. As of July 15, 2015, Kinsley and Desmond were still producing their "Album Station" format online and noted on their website that the format would no longer be heard on 97.9 FM.

On July 12, 2016, WZXP returned to the air with a classic country format as "97.9 The Moose". At that point, the station was operated by John Nichols, a co-founder of

WXXX WXXX (95.5 FM, ''95 Triple X'') is a commercial radio station licensed to South Burlington, Vermont, and serving the Champlain Valley. The station is owned by Sison Broadcasting, and airs a top 40–contemporary hit radio format. WXXX's studios ...

and WFFF-TV, and Aaron Ishmael. Ishmael's stations became part of Loud Media in 2020. The call letters were changed to WLUP on March 19, 2018. The WLUP and WLUP-FM call signs were formerly used by Chicago radio station WCKL prior to its 2018 sale to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

by Merlin Media; that company's CEO, Randy Michaels, owns Radioactive, LLC. On April 3, 2018,

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 ...

announced its acquisition of the WLUP call sign from Merlin Media as part of its purchase of another Chicago station,

WKQX WKQX (101.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, featuring an alternative rock radio format, format known as "Q101". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area. WKQX's ...

, with the intent of moving the call sign to a Cumulus-owned station; in June 2018, Cumulus applied to move the WLUP call letters to suburban

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, with the Au Sable station assuming new WXMS call letters. The change took effect on June 12, 2018. On October 1, 2021, WXMS dropped the "Moose" classic country format and began stunting with

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

; the change took place after Great Eastern Radio, as part of a $99,999.99 purchase of the station from Radioactive, LLC, replaced Loud Media as WXMS' operator. On January 1, 2022, the station launched an adult hits format as "The Penguin", simulcast with Great Eastern Radio-owned WSNO in Barre; the call sign was changed to WSNO-FM. All three of the initial members of WSNO's airstaff previously worked at WXXX. The sale to Great Eastern Radio was consummated on January 19, 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Burlington-Plattsburgh Radio SNO-FM Radio stations established in 2008 2008 establishments in New York (state) Adult hits radio stations in the United States