WWHT (107.9
FM, "Hot 107-9") is a
radio station that is
licensed to
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
. The station is owned by
iHeartMedia
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 ...
and broadcasts a
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
(CHR) format. The studios and offices are located on Plum Street in Syracuse while its
transmitter is located near Sentinel Heights south of Syracuse.
It broadcasts in
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 ...
.
History
The station signed on the air as WONO in 1956, with a
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
format. In 1979, the station's new owner,
Roy H. Park
Roy Hampton Park (15 September 1910 – 25 October 1993) was an American media executive and entrepreneur. He is known for creating the Duncan Hines brand of packaged food products, and for his television/radio/newspaper conglomerate, Park Commun ...
Broadcasting, changed its
call sign to WRRB and installed a
country music format. Over the next decade and a half, 107.9 FM has changed formats and call letters several times; these formats included
adult contemporary,
album-oriented rock,
easy listening/classical (as WRHP), and country (as WHEN-FM, "Hit Country 108").
In 1996, WHEN-FM was sold to
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
, owners of country format competitor
WBBS (B104.7). On June 10 of that year, the station flipped to
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
(CHR) with new call letters WWHT. WWHT was one of a group of five stations included in a trade between Cox and
Jacor Communications in 1999 when Cox exited the Syracuse market. Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia
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 ...
) subsequently acquired Jacor in April 1999.
While classified as a mainstream CHR and playing mainstream
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
and
rock, WWHT focused heavily on
rhythmic and dance hits.
In 2010, WWHT added more rhythmic songs and reduced non-rhythmic content, a trend that several Top 40 stations were adopting at the time, and by January 2011 had shifted completely to Rhythmic Top 40. This resulted in WWHT being moved from the Mainstream Top 40 reporting panels of both
Nielsen BDS and
Mediabase panels to their respective rhythmic panels in November 2011. In October 2012, WWHT returned to Mainstream
Top 40, dropping almost all rhythmic-only content, but because most of the station's programming was
voice-tracked, Nielsen BDS did not include its playlist in its
Top 40/CHR panel. The station airs ''
Elvis Duran and the Morning Show'' originating from
Z100 In
New York City every weekday morning, ''
On Air with Ryan Seacrest'', ''On the Move with Enrique Santos'', ''Most Requested Live with Romeo'', and
''AT40'' from iHeartMedia's
Premiere Networks.
HD Radio
WWHT broadcasts in
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 ...
with three subchannels:
*WWHT-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the analog FM signal.
*WWHT-HD2 broadcasts "iHeart90s", a commercial-free all-
1990s hits channel from the
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
streaming radio platform. The HD2 subchannel serves as the originating station for this service.
*WWHT-HD3 Broadcasts "iHeart2000s", a commercial-free all-
2000s hits channel from the iHeartRadio streaming radio platform.
References
External links
*
WWHT's station history at CNYMedia.com*
{{coord, 42.956, N, 76.110, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
WHT
Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1956
1956 establishments in New York (state)
IHeartMedia radio stations