WSUS (102.3

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 ...

) 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

Franklin, New Jersey Franklin is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 4,912, a decrease of 133 (−2.6%) from the 2010 United ...

, and serving the Sussex County area of

North Jersey North Jersey, also known as Northern New Jersey, comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. As a distinct toponym, North Jersey is a colloquial one rather than an a ...

. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and has an

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 ...

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, ...

, switching to

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 ...

for much of November and December. The station is consistently the number one radio station in Sussex County. It carries the syndicated ''

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ; ) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as t ...

'' call-in and request show on weeknights, '' Ellen K'' on Saturday mornings and classic ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

with

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

'' shows on Sunday mornings. WSUS 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 ha ...

(ERP) of 590

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, making it a class A station. The

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 on Esto Lane in Hardyston Township, New Jersey and the studios are on Mitchell Avenue in Franklin.

History

Country and Top 40

The station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on . Its original

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 WLVP, named for Louis VanderPlatte, the station's founder. The studio, transmitter, and VanderPlatte's house were atop Hamburg Mountain, overlooking Franklin and Sussex County's central valleys. The station's power was 360 watts, and it initially had a

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and Southern Gospel format. In 1971, WLVP was sold for $75,000 to Peter Bardach, an advertising executive who lived in New Jersey and worked on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

. Bardach changed the station's

call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

to WSUS. (Bardach's company was Sussex County Stereo, even though WSUS itself broadcast a mono signal for several years before actually going stereo.) James Normoyle, a veteran

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 nightclubs or music fes ...

who used the name Jay Edwards, was hired as Sales Manager in 1972 and later became General Manager and part owner with Bardach. Normoyle eventually became the full owner. The station had a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

/Country hybrid format called "Town & Country". Half the songs played were current Top 40 Hits, and half the songs were country, including current hits and older songs. In 1975 WSUS changed its nighttime format to Top 40/

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, mixing Top 40 and Rock cuts both old and new. During the day, it continued the Top 40/Country hybrid format. In 1973 the station moved its studios from the mountaintop to 75 Main Street in Franklin. The transmitter remained on the mountain and the power was eventually raised to the current level of 590 watts. WSUS slogans included "All Hit Music" and "Dependable WSUS". The station had half-hourly newscasts on weekdays, known as "First Report News". WSUS consistently was at or near the top when ratings are measured. Sussex County occasionally was a rated market when WSUS and WNNJ would pay

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

to measure listenership in Sussex County. This is known as "Buying the Book". In such a practice, local stations in an area pay in order to get rated for their home county.

Adult Contemporary

In the winter of 1982, WSUS dropped the Top 40/Country hybrid format during the day and the Top 40/Rock format at night. It became an

radio station. The station became a slightly hotter AC by the late 1980s. The station continued with weekend specialty shows as well. In 1991, WSUS gradually moved into a regular mainstream adult contemporary format. In 1997 Jay Edwards sold WSUS to

Nassau Broadcasting Partners Nassau Broadcasting Partners LP was a company based in Princeton, New Jersey that owned radio stations in New England and the Mid-Atlantic United States. Nassau's stations, which included both AM and FM frequencies, were located in Maryland, New J ...

, and channeled his earnings into a brief career in harness racing. He died in 2002. Early in 1998 Nassau took over the station and revamped the format. The station used the slogan "The Best Variety of

Soft Rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

". It added ''Delilah'', a syndicated

love song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

s show, in the 7 p.m.-to-midnight time slot. The station also added new

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s as well. By now, the market was rated twice a year. In all but a few books, WSUS has been the number one station in the area. Occasionally now co-owned

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 ...

station

WNNJ WNNJ (103.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Newton, New Jersey and serving Sussex County. It airs a classic rock radio format focusing on the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and is owned by iHeartMedia The station is known as "103-7 ...

was on top.

Changes in ownership

In the winter of 2001

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 ...

purchased all the Nassau Broadcasting stations in the Sussex/Warren/Monroe County cluster except for WVPO, WSBG, and AM 960 located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The deal included WSUS, WHCY, WNNJ (AM) (now

WTOC (AM) WTOC (1360 AM) is a radio station licensed to Newton, New Jersey. Owned by Centro Biblico of NJ, Inc., the station broadcasts a Spanish-language Christian radio format. Until August 17, 2011, they aired an oldies music format with songs from ...

(FM), and local marketing agreements for WDLC and WTSX (which would end in the fall of 2004). WSUS remained an AC station with no changes. In exchange for these stations, Nassau was paid a good sum of cash plus WEEX and WODE-FM in the Lehigh Valley (which Clear Channel had to sell due to the merger with AM/FM/Chancellor). Clear Channel consolidated the studios of the Sussex and Warren County stations, all at 45 Ed Mitchell Avenue in Franklin. In 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia.

Former on-air staff

* Ansel Bartley * Dom Coles * Rick Davis * Jimmy Diele * Mark Fowser (news) * Frank Garrity * Jimmy Howes * Tom Kennedy * Lee Ryder (Stan Olochwoszcz) * Dave Margalotti (PM Drive/Program Director) * Robert Hantson (Bob Knight) * Pat Murphy * Pete Greco * Frank Truatt * Tom Rocco * Forest Green (Bob Morris) * Dave Searls (news) (now known as Doc Searls) * Vince Toscano (Vince Thomas) * Scott Davies * Donald Trapp * John Agress (news) * Linda Walsh (news) * Jeff Earnest (news) * Jerry Keenan (news) * Bob McDevitt (news) * David Matthau (news) * Jerry Morelli (sports) * Bob Gleason (sports) * Eric Slater * Bob Bober (air name: Bob Roberts) * Bob O' Brien * Rene' Tetro (air name: Johnny Fredericks) * Chuck O'Brien (changed to Jim Preston) * Country Dee * Frank Bruno * Wayne Scott * Dylan Reason-News * Dick Bartley-News * Scott Charles (Kienzlen) * Steve Thorpe (Weather) * Jerry Miller (News) * Racquel Williams (News) * Jack Dagostaro (sports)

References

External links

WSUS official website
*
Doc Searls remembers WSUS and Normoyle
{{IHeartMedia SUS Radio stations established in 1965 Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States 1965 establishments in New Jersey IHeartMedia radio stations