WWYZ (92.5 FM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

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 ...

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

, and serving the Waterbury,

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

areas. It is owned by

iHeartMedia 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 ...

, and airs a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

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, ...

. WWYZ's studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford, and its

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 in Meriden, on

West Peak There are 21 mountain peaks named West Peak in the United States according to the US Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System. * West Peak Valdez–Cordova Census Area, Alaska, , el. * West Peak Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, ...

in the

Hanging Hills The Hanging Hills of south central Connecticut, United States, are a range of mountainous trap rock ridges overlooking the city of Meriden, Connecticut, Meriden and the Quinnipiac River, Quinnipiac River Valley below. They are a subrange of the ...

History

WATR-FM

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 August 1, 1961, as WATR-FM. It was owned by the Gilmore family, which also owned

WATR WATR (1320 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Naugatuck Valley. The station is owned by WATR Radio, LLC. It airs a full-service format featuring news–talk, as well as classic and modern hits from the ...

(1320 AM) and WATR-TV (channel 53; now

WCCT-TV WCCT-TV (channel 20), branded on-air as CW 20, is a television station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Hartford-licensed ...

channel 20). 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 ...

stood for the

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

, Waterbury. At first, WATR-FM

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) ...

the AM 1320 programming. In the early 1970s, it switched to an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

format. In 1973, it briefly changed to WENU-FM, before changing again to WWYZ. With the new call sign, the station referred to itself as "The Music Lover's WISE Choice".

Switch to country

In the 1980s, WWYZ broadcast a mix of formats from country to Top-40. In between late August and early September 1988, it became an all country formatted station.In July 1999, WWYZ was bought by AMFM, Inc.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2001 page D-81
/ref> The following year, AMFM was acquired by

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 ...

, which changed its name in 2014 to

References

External links

* * Waterbury, Connecticut Mass media in New Haven County, Connecticut Country radio stations in the United States WYZ IHeartMedia radio stations Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Connecticut {{Connecticut-radio-station-stub