WSYB (1380

kHz 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 uni ...

) is a

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AM radio station in Rutland, Vermont. Established in 1930, the station is owned by

Pamal Broadcasting Pamal Broadcasting, Ltd. is a family-owned radio group with twenty-three stations in medium-to-small markets in the Northeast. Based in the Albany suburb of Latham, New York, Pamal Broadcasting was founded in 1987 as Albany Broadcasting Company, ...

and broadcasts a classic hits

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, ...

as "100.1 WSYB". Local high school and college sports coverage include football, basketball, and hockey. WSYB is one of the oldest

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

s on the

Boston Red Sox Radio Network The Boston Red Sox Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 54 radio stations which carry English language coverage of the Boston Red Sox, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lawrence, Massachusetts station ...

. By day, WSYB is powered at 5,000 watts non-directional; to protect other stations on 1380 AM from interference, it reduces power at night to 25 watts. 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 ...

and studios are on Dorr Drive in Rutland, near Otter Creek. Programming is also heard on 250 watt

FM translator 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 tr ...

W261DE at 100.1

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 ...

; the station's branding reflects this.

History

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 December 10, 1930. It is the second oldest radio station in Vermont, after

WVMT WVMT (620 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Burlington, Vermont, and serving the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York. WVMT is simulcast on FM translator station W242BK at 96.3 MHz. The translator's owner, Vox AM/FM, LLC, o ...

in Burlington. WSYB was launched by Henry Seward and Philip Weiss, owners of a music store at 33 Center Street in Rutland. The station broadcast on 1500

kilohertz 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 ...

at 100 watts in 1935. It switched to its current frequency in the mid-1940s. The WSYB

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 ...

stands for, "We Serve You Best". Since the shut down of competitor 970 WHWB in 1993, WSYB remains the only AM radio station serving the local Rutland area. "The WSYB Christmas Fund" has been serving needy families in the Rutland community since the early 1970s. For many years, WSYB broadcast with a 5,000 watt omnidirectional signal with one tower from local sunrise to local sunset. At night, WSYB utilized two towers with 1,000 watts and a pattern that was aimed mainly northeast of the transmitter site. While the daytime signal provides ample coverage for Rutland County, the nighttime signal missed most of the county south and west of the transmitter site. On the other hand, with the night time signal aimed to the northeast, there had been reception reports from listeners in the Canadian Maritimes, England, and even Finland. In recent years, WSYB gave up its second tower and now broadcasts at a reduced power at night, but added an FM translator for listeners who prefer FM. Some of the owners for WSYB over the years have included Vermont Radio Inc, All Communications Inc., H & D Media, Excalibur Media, and

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 ...

. WSYB, its FM sister WZRT, and several other Clear Channel properties were swapped out to

in exchange for WRNX in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

. This swap gave Pamal ownership of five out the six commercial radio signals in the local Rutland area. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, WSYB featured an

adult contemporary music 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, sou ...

format along with news, talk and sports. It was an

of the

NBC Radio 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 ...

. As music listening increasingly moved to the FM dial, WSYB added more talk programming. By the 1990s, it had made the transition to a

talk radio 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, Interview (jo ...

station. On February 16, 2022, the station switched from talk to

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

as "Fox Sports 1380", carrying the

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

lineup. WSYB returned to a music format on October 2, 2023, when it became a classic hits station as "100.1 WSYB".

References

External links

* * {{Pamal Broadcasting SYB Classic hits radio stations in the United States Pamal Broadcasting Radio stations established in 1930 1930 establishments in Vermont